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Eating the Right and Healthier Fast Food Divya Patel University of North Carolina Charlotte ENG 1102

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People these days have easy access to fast food and they forget to eat healthy. Many people have tried to eat healthy and balance their diet with workout, but it still didnt help. Fast food have made a nutrition plan that is convenience and healthy. Subways menu offers variety of different choices. Subways napkins have nutrition calories written for customer to read and follow up with there. It tells how many calories a person can gain from a sandwich. There are many things to avoid at subways such as cheddar chesses, mayonnaise, special sauces, high fat meats, and white bread. These low fat menus contain only 203 and 380 calories, which gives a boost up for the entire healthier eaters. Having low calories on sandwiches a person can get chips, drinks or cookies as on side. A large soda has more sugar and has more calories than sandwich getting water keep you hydrated with zero calories. Instead of eating cookies salad or soup is a good healthy choice. Furthermore, my usual meal for subway is getting all the veggies on my sandwich since Im a vegetarian and according to subways nutrition chart its about its usually about 230 calories just for the sandwich as observing my location I see many people different kinds of meat in their sandwich which contains more calories compare of a regular veggie sandwich. In my opinion I think subway is more healthier compare to other fast food because other fast are made inside their back room and subway is actually made it front of the customers. I think it all depends on people choices making the right and healthy choices. According to Decision Analyst study finds that 42% of Subway customers choose this restaurant because it has a good selection of healthy

!"#$%&'%()*& & items, compared with only 3% of Taco Bell consumers who select this restaurant for its healthy menu. (Cristi Allen, 2010) Moreover, many people have easy access to many other fast food restaurants and McDonald is one of the biggest restaurants compared with subway restaurants. Theyre also are competed with their menus and prices. McDonalds restaurants has added salads and apple slices and grilled sandwiches. Subway also has apple slices, juices, salads and yogurt for customers more healthy choices. Lenard Lesser a researcher from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation studied and as a result he uncovered looking at the advertisement he assume that they are aggressive comparing other fast food restaurants and that actually make people make better choices he also said We wanted to look at outcomes. We wanted to find out what young people were actually ordering. He asked ninety-seven 12- to 21-year-olds to purchase a meal at Subway on one day and at McDonalds on another day. They used their own money and gave a budget of $5. The end result wasnt clear but he suggested eliminating the sugary drinks and French fries and for subway asking for half the meat and twice the veggies. In my opinion, I think these suggestions make sense you can still the food by consuming smaller amount of food with less calories. Furthermore, Another experiment was statement that effects of health and nutritions information placed into menus and food labels. It resulted shows that when favorable nutrition information or health claims are presented, consumers have more favorable attitudes towards the products. It had also mentioned NLEA Nutrition Labeling Education Act they have increased the useful information on the food labeling but not the all food labeling is controlled by NLEA. Some excluded food such as

!"#$%&'%()*& & restaurant, vending machines and airplane food. According to the National Restaurant Association, Americans spent 45 % of their food in 1997, the reason because many restaurants are not required to present nutritions information of their menus. The health claims since the FDA ruled in 1997 food served in restaurants must be consistent with the claim under NLEA. In my opinion, I think its would be better to have a different organization to look over the food and nutrition labeling instead of just one organization controlling everything. Moreover, as mentioned earlier Subway and McDonalds as biggest competitor. Subway has been riding the marketing messages as a healthy fast food. Many consumers have lost their weight form eating subways sandwiches and exercising at the same time. Jared fogle was a freshman is Indiana University and was about 450 pounds who lost 245 pounds just by eating sandwiches and exercising everyday. His friend wrote an article about in his college newspaper by adding before and after pictures. Further it lead to men health magazine, which surprised everyone and his friend and made it nationally. He was also contacted by subway for their commercial. This was a big change in Jared life and later on he made his own foundation about importance of balance diet and regular physical activity. Morgan Spurlock who gained more weight just by eating McDonalds. Wes Wingograd subways companys spokesman said out motto had been Eat fresh since 2001. Its idea is the fresh side the dace that they dont fry anything because they have lots of veggies on the sandwiches and the meats are low fat. Another thing he mentioned was that its public participation and sandwich are made in front of you and subway itself from different location is franchise owned. He also mentioned Jared Fogle who went form being unhealthily obese to a healthy just by eating subway

!"#$%&'%()*& & or exercising. He is one of the advertising dynamos in commercials. Subway didnt ask him to eat their food regularly to lose weight it was his choice and it got to people because it was a regular guy. During my observation I have seen it people coming to subway and getting their lunch everyday. I aunt also mentioned some regular customers that comes everyday to have lunch. Sometimes the customers mentioned how theyre losing their weight just by eating subway and it actually works but it all depends how you eat and also burns your calories. Furthermore, subway is not a name born food chain in Britain. The US may think it warm, convenient and protected, but to Britain they thinks its smelly, cold and desolate. Somehow subway had claimed at the top of fast food. They like to promote itself as healthy alternative. In 2002 subway announced 2,000 outlet and Ireland setup by 2010. The biggest point Britain is making is that is basically called subs as a regular sandwich are called and most importantly the author is giving his opinion about its disgusting smell and more like nausea, but considering the food still remain as a king. I Personally think is kind of disturbing smell and make me feel like Im sick but when I get used to the environment it not that bad or when Im hungry. I think the best suggestion would be keeping the exhaust fan bigger to better circulation of the air. Additionally, some studies has been done that tells how fast food restaurants serve higher calorie side dishes, drinks, or desserts that claims to a health fast food as subway and also how serving low calories of food still leads to more calories and obesity rates. One of the studies was done which they asked the consumers who finished eating McDonalds and subway to estimate the numbers of calories in their meal. It was about nine weekdays long and every fourth person was a to take a survey and answer

!"#$%&'%()*& & some questions. The questions were not about food but the interviewer just recorded the type and size of the food and drink from the wrapping that was left over on the tray. For drink they asked the customers if that you a regular or diet soda. Later on, the nutrition information provided from the actual fast food store was then compared with the person meal about 392 people were approached while finishing up their meal and only 65% people agreed to participate at subway and about 378 were approached at McDonalds only 70% agreed to participate. Moving on, they asked forty-nine regular customers of Subway and McDonalds the survey question, The food served here is healthier (Pierre Chandon and Brian Wansink, 2007) in a form of strongly agree or disagree as the result they Subways meal contains 21.3% fewer calories than same calorie McDonalds meal. I think mostly people dont look at calories because many people are in a rush. I personally dont really pay attention to the sodium, saturated fat, etc., but I do look over the nutrition plan but fail to follow the list.

& During my observation I see many people in rush because the environment is always in a hurry. I think usually people get slack off because they dont have time to make meals at home. Subway actually provides a meal plan if you take a look over the

!"#$%&'%()*& & napkins and they have quite good information about eating healthy food. Many people wear business suits and theyre usually busy socializing with friends or their business colleagues as grabbing their lunch together. Fast food usually gets to people because it inexpensive, they're easy to get to, and they are quick. Moreover, to improve healthy eating people should cook or make their own sandwich from home because it fresh and easy to make. One of my recent experiences from a fast food restaurant was that I had a meal from taco bell for lunch and next day I had really bad cramps and I wasnt able to control my body and had to excrete everything the next day. I would say it was my worst occurrence from a fast food restaurant afterwards I dont really relay on fast food anymore. I take my time to make my own meal from home. I personally prefer eating a subway meal because there are many things that I choose form their menu since Im a vegetarian I have an option to eat healthier. I could never eat McDonalds because they only make food that contain meat the only meal I can eat is salad but still I would prefer more variety to my item. Furthermore, I personally think subway is more convenient and healthy fast food according to their nutrition plan. I think consumers should look over and pay more attention to the descriptions on the menu. At my observation site I saw many people getting water instead of sodas. There are know as hidden calories and has about 425 calories. In addition to that regular chocolate chips cookies contains about 220 calories if compared with a 6 veggie delight sandwich that only contains 150 calories. The next step would be removing the high calorie dressing such as mayonnaise, chipotle sauce and most importantly how much you put on your sandwich. Lastly, paying attention to what your eating and savor each bite. Chewing your food helps digest your food faster

!"#$%&'%()*& & and makes you fell more satisfied. Moreover, things to avoid would be salt, bacon and other kinds of meats. Fast food restaurant have very high sodium level that leads to higher blood pressure. Bacon and other kinds of meat to add more flavor into sandwich, but they have higher in fat calories instead you can order more veggies and mustard to add some flavor without fat. I think people should follow or at least look over the nutrition plan to eat healthy. This chart represent the health meal a customer can get from subway. Fast food has become basic in out American culture by hectic work schedules, family responsibility and it forces us to use out free time or busy time to get our nutrition outside from our home. As we know eating hamburgers, French fries and consuming soft drinks are not part of healthy diet but as we recognize that fast food arent going anywhere there going to be present in the future. Many fast foods has start making nutrition plan and also listing all the calories that helps customers consume the right and healthy meal. List of our Best Choices deli and sub sandwiches Calories Total Fat Saturated fat Trans fat 6" Ham sub* 6" Roast beef* 6" Oven Roasted chicken* 6" Subway club* 6" Turkey breast* 320 280 5g 3.5g 1.5g 1.5g 0g 0g 290 310 320 4.5g 4.5g 4.5g 1g 1.5g 1.5g 0g 0g 0g

!"#$%&'%()*& & 6" Turkey breast and ham* 6" Veggie delight* 6" Sweet onion chicken teriyaki* 230 380 2.5g 4.5g 0.5g 1.5g 0g 0g 290 4g 1.5g 0g

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References &

Kozup, John C., Elizabeth H. Creyer, and Scot Burton. "Making Healthful Food Choices: The Influence of Health Claims and Nutrition Information on Consumers' Evaluations of Packaged Food Products and Restaurant Menu Items(." JSTOR. N.p., Apr. 2003. Web. 02 Oct. 2013. <http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/30040520?uid=3739776>.

"Official SUBWAY Restaurants' Nutrition Information;." Official SUBWAY Restaurants' Nutrition Information;. Subway, n.d. Web. 02 Oct. 2013. <http://www.subway.com/nutrition/nutritionlist.aspx>.

"Robert Wood Johnson Foundation." RWJF. N.p., 6 May 2013. Web. 02 Oct. 2013. <http://www.rwjf.org/en/about-rwjf/newsroom/newsroom-content/2013/05/is-subwayhealthier-than-mcdonalds-.html>.

The Biasing Health Halos of Fast!Food Restaurant Health Claims: Lower Calorie Estimates and Higher Side!Dish Consumption Intentions Pierre Chandon and Brian Wansink Journal of Consumer Research Vol. 34, No. 3 (October 2007), pp. 301-314 Published by: The University of Chicago Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/519499 Subway Nutrition Information." N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.subway.com/nutrition/files/nutritionvalues.pdf>.

!"#$%&'%()*& & "Among Fast-Food Restaurants, Subways Nutritional Claims Are the Most Trusted, According to a Study by Decision Analyst." Among Fast-Food Restaurants, Subways Nutritional Claims Are the Most Trusted, According to a Study by Decision Analyst. N.p., 10 Feb. 2010. Web. 02 Oct. 2013. <http://www.decisionanalyst.com/publ_data/2010/FastfoodTrust.dai>.

"Step Aside McDonald's, Why Subway Has the Most Fast Food Stores in the Country." Mother Jones. Scott Thill, 13 Oct. 2009. Web. 02 Oct. 2013. <http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2009/10/step-aside-mcdonalds-whysubway-has-most-fast-food-stores-country>.

"How Subway Tops the Fast-food Chain." The Guardian. N.p., 11 Mar. 2011. Web. 02 Oct. 2013. <http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/mar/11/subway-fast-foodchain-mcdonalds>.

Stacey R. Finkelstein, and Ayelet Fishbach. "When Healthy Food Makes You Hungry." JSTOR. The University of Chicago Press, 10 Mar. 2010. Web. 02 Oct. 2013. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/652248>.

"Fitting Fast Foods Into A Heart-Healthy Diet." Heart and Vascular Health & Prevention. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://my.clevelandclinic.org/heart/prevention/nutrition/fastfood.aspx>.