From Wallet To Waistline: The Hidden Costs of Super Sizing, was issued by the National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity (NANA), a coalition of over 225 national, state and local health organizations. The report compares the price, calories, and saturated fat in differently sized foods from fast-food chains, convenience stores, ice cream parlors, coffee shops, and movie theaters. Among the findings:
- Upgrading from a 3-ounce Minibon to a Classic Cinnabon costs only 24% more, yet delivers 123% more calories. The larger size also provides almost three-quarters of a day's worth of artery-clogging saturated fat.
- Switching from 7-Eleven's Gulp to a Double Gulp costs 42% more, but provides 300% more calories. Those 37 extra cents deliver 450 extra calories-more than you'd get in a McDonald's Quarter Pounder.
- It costs 8 cents more to purchase a McDonald's Quarter Pounder with Cheese, small French fries, and small Coke (890 calories) separately than to buy the Quarter Pounder with Cheese large Extra Value Meal, which comes with a large fries and large Coke (1,380 calories). "McDonald's actually charges customers more to buy a smaller, lower-calorie meal," Wootan said.
- Moving from a small to a medium bag of movie theater popcorn costs about 71 cents-and 500 calories. A 23% increase in price provides 125% more calories and two days' worth of saturated fat. (And that's unbuttered popcorn!) According to the report, the practice of "bundling"—turning a fast-food sandwich into a "value meal" by adding sides like fries and a soft drink-is responsible for some of the largest increases in calorie content. And fountain drinks proved to be especially bad health bargains. They cost the least to upgrade and deliver the biggest calorie boosts (and they provide some of the highest profit margins for retailers).
That's why consumers should decline to take advantage of "more-for-less" marketing practices, even if it may seem cost-ineffective, says Polk. "It's penny-wise and pound-foolish to order more food than you really want, just because it seems like a bargain," she says. "Let restaurateurs and retailers know that you want reasonable portions at reasonable prices. After all, restaurants pride themselves on responding to customer demand."
9 comments:
Wow. Again, I totally missed that at Spark People! Once the semester is over I really need to read their stuff more!
Thanks for pointing it out.
Thanks for sharing that! You know I once got into it with a cashier at a Burger King a few years ago.
I wanted a combo, but with a small fry. She told me that combos only came with medium, large or the super-size. I told her I didn't care if she charged me for the medium, I just wanted her to put a small on my tray. She would not seem to understand for nothing.
I eventually had to ask for the manager and explained to him what I wanted. He also said that he couldn't do that. I ended up threatening to sue because Burger King does advertise "Get it your way" and damn it I wanted a small fry! lol
Finally, he told me that the only way I could have a small fry was if I paid for each item separate. I said fine and did so.
However, I did send a letter and placed many phone calls to the corporate office to complain and needless to say, I received plenty of coupons for small fries in the mail! lol
The best part of all is that Burger King did change their policy and now you can get a small fry in a combo even though it is not advertised. All you have to do is ask!
whoa, that 24% versus 123% is truly staggering.
DAMN CINNABONS FER BEING SO ALLURING :)
MizFit
Wow. How did I miss that on spark people? Thanks for posting that! What crazy and scary facts!
And thank you for the wonderfully nice comment you left on my blog. You made my day!!!
Thanks for sharing the information! Unbelievable.
If I decide to eat at a fast food restaurants I stick with the happy meals. Fast food is so high in fat and calories, it just pisses me off that it tastes SOOOO good:)
thanks for stopping by my blog! and wow thanks for sharing this info... the fast food world is crazzzzzy!!
WOW!!! That's quite eye opening!
yikes! Thanks for sharing that. Not that I eat much fast food these days - but it's certainly good to keep it in mind.
Dr. Eades was blogging about the soda pop that people consumed while he was at a restaurant the other day.....three fills of regular soda (before, during and after the meal). Can you imagine the amount of HFCS in those three drinks? Yikes, again!
Hey,
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