What does it mean to be a fast-food restaurant? Does it entail cheap food prices? Fast service? Offering fatty and high caloric foods? Picking up your meal at the counter instead of being served? Having a \for here or to go"" option? I would have to say that all of these are pretty good indicators of a typical fast-food chain.
Yet, what about places like Panera Bread that market themselves as being a step up from your typical fast-food restaurant? They advertise healthy alternatives to greasy foods by offering multitudes of soups, sandwiches and salads, none of which sound remotely bad to the health-conscious person.
However, one night I got on the Internet to look up their nutritional information and, to say the least, it was appalling! I learned that the Garden Veggie sandwich has 23 grams of fat, 570 Calories and 1490 mg of sodium! Or there is the smoked ham and swiss sandwich that is described as being made with 96 percent fat free smoked ham, which has a grand total of 34 grams of fat, 650 Calories and a whopping 2350 mg of sodium.
What is going on here? I would expect these high numbers from their pastries and desserts, but never from their seemingly-wholesome menu. Heck, I could eat a quarter pounder with cheese from McDonalds and that would be as healthy if not healthier than these sandwiches (25 grams of fat, 510 calories).
The same goes for Cousins' Subs. I think most people assume Cousins' menu is as healthy as Subway, Milio's and Jimmy John's. For example, when you feel like eating a little bit healthier and decide to get a sub, all four of these places seem like viable options.
Yet, you are not eating any healthier by choosing Cousins Subs. A 7.5 in. turkey sandwich has 32 grams of fat and 559 Calories (including mayonnaise and cheese). Even worse, a seemingly harmless 7.5 in. tuna sandwich is loaded with 60 grams of fat and an astounding 832 Calories, it is the fattiest item on their menu (compared to a mere 8 grams of fat at Milio's and 30 grams of fat at both Subway and Jimmy John's).
This just doesn't seem right. Most consumers are under the assumption that they are being somewhat healthier by eating a sub sandwich, when, in reality, the consumer would be better off eating two pieces of Papa John's cheese pizza, which has only 16 grams of fat and 420 Calories.
Arby's is yet another fast-food chain that leads the consumer to think they are adopting a somewhat healthier menu by offering their Market Fresh sandwiches and wraps. These sandwiches and wraps, however, contain anywhere from 27 to 47 grams of fat, depending on which one you order. The strange thing is, Arby's does not need to ""act healthy"" when, in fact, their roast beef sandwiches are not all that bad for you. A regular roast beef sandwich has a mere 13 grams of fat and 320 Calories. Even a giant roast beef sandwich only contains 19 grams of fat and 450 Calories, which is pretty minimal compared to other fast-food competitors. So why don't they advertise this more?
Then there are places like Hardee's, which has taken a completely different approach in their marketing. When their stocks were going down and they were nearly out of business, they decided to embrace their fat-friendly menu and advertised their fatty products with pride.
The Monster Thick Burger speaks for itself. It is comprised of 2/3 pounds of angus beef, topped with a generous portion of mayonnaise, bacon, American cheese and butter-flavored shortening. There is obviously no nutritious value in this sandwich, yet it is extremely popular among consumers! After Hardee's began this new marketing strategy, their stocks boomed. It seemed people could not get enough of the fatty goodness Hardee's had to offer.
I realize American obesity rates are skyrocketing and eating fatty fast food is probably not the best solution to this epidemic. Yet, I think Hardee's is on the right track in that it is letting people know that what they see is what they get.
Unlike most other fast food chains, you don't have to be wary of its nutritional value. Most of Hardee's food is not healthy and that's that.
If I am going to eat a fatty, heart-clogging meal, I would rather do it right by chomping into a big, greasy cheeseburger rather than an unassuming turkey sub sandwich.
Kat is a junior majoring in psychology. E-mail her at krpeterson@wisc.edu.
