| Drive down any suburban or city street and you will | | | | a food product if they do not know the full |
| witness an overload of fast food marketing. Brightly | | | | ingredients list. Some may be shocked to know that |
| colored signs, cheap value meals, happy cartoon | | | | Dannon strawberry yogurt gets its coloring from |
| logos, and a familiar smell will fill your senses. Fast | | | | Dactylopius coccus Costa, a female insect that feeds |
| food restaurants have established themselves as a | | | | on berries and produces berry colored larvae. "The |
| leader in our nation's daily menu. What is the net | | | | insects are collected, dried, and ground into a |
| affect fast food and its ingredients have on our | | | | pigment. It takes about 70,000 of them to produce a |
| health? What, if any, moral and social obligations do | | | | pound of carmine, which is used to make processed |
| fast food companies have to their | | | | foods look pink, red, or purple" states |
| consumers?Obesity is believed to lead to diabetes, | | | | Schlosser.Another example of a misleading ingredient |
| heart disease, hypertension and other illnesses. Over | | | | label comes from Burger King. Its strawberry milk |
| 60% of Americans are considered over weight, and | | | | shake lists artificial strawberry flavor as one of its |
| the rise in diabetic individuals has increased | | | | ingredients. By taking a closer look, we learn that the |
| dramatically. In 1999 there were 42 billion people on | | | | following ingredients make up the artificial strawberry |
| direct diabetes medicine. That figure has more than | | | | flavoring: amyl acetate, amyl butyrate, amyl valerate, |
| doubled in less than three years."Fast food is literally | | | | anethol, anisyl formate, benzyl acetate, benzyl |
| shortening the life span of our citizens," states Lynn | | | | isobutyrate, butyric acid, cinnamyl isobutyrate, |
| VanDyke, certified sports nutritionist, personal trainer | | | | cinnamyl valerate, cognac essential oil, diacetyl, |
| and owner of McDonalds serves 46 million fast food | | | | dipropyl ketone, ethyl acetate, ethyl amyl ketone, |
| meals every single day. As the documentary Super | | | | ethyl butyrate, ethyl cinnamate, ethyl heptanoate, |
| Size Me points out, each McDonalds employee is | | | | ethyl heptylate, ethyl lactate, ethyl |
| trained to up sell the size of each order. This increase | | | | methylphenylglycidate, ethyl nitrate, ethyl propionate, |
| in meal and drink proportions is becoming so widely | | | | ethyl valerate, heliotropin, hydroxyphenol-2-butanone |
| acceptable that cars now come with larger cup | | | | (10% solution in alcohol), a-ionone, isobutyl |
| holders.The fast food process truly begins with the | | | | anthranilate, isobutyl butyrate, lemon essential oil, |
| ingredients. As Eric Schlosser mentions in his article | | | | maltol, 4-methyllacetophenone, methyl anthranilate, |
| "Why McDonalds French Fries Taste So Good", the | | | | methyl benzoate, methyl cinnamate, methyl heptine |
| federal Food and Drug Administration does not | | | | carbonate, methyl naphthyl ketone, methyl salicylate, |
| require companies to disclose the ingredients of their | | | | mint essential oil, neroli essential oil, nerolin, neryl |
| color or flavor additives so long as all the chemicals in | | | | isobutyrate, orris butter, phenethyl alcohol, rose, rum |
| them are considered by the agency to be generally | | | | ether, y-undecalactone, vanillin and solvent. Simply |
| recognized as safe, or GRAS. Unfortunately, | | | | stating artificial strawberry flavoring is not educating |
| consumers are not able to tell a products full | | | | consumers on what they are eating and what |
| ingredient list by reading the nutrition label. Terms | | | | possible effects these food products could have on |
| such as 'artificial' and 'natural flavoring' are often seen | | | | their bodies.Fast food companies have a responsibility |
| at the very end of most ingredient lists. We are | | | | to list all of their ingredients. It is a basic consumer |
| completely unaware of exactly what constitutes a | | | | and human right to know what we are ingesting. |
| natural or artificial flavor.Fast food companies owe it | | | | McDonalds and other companies complain that giving |
| to their consumers to disclose all ingredient | | | | away all their ingredients will result in them losing their |
| information. Many people have special dietary | | | | secret recipes. As a culture we must face the reality |
| restrictions due to allergies or religious affiliations. | | | | that these ingredients and fast food products are |
| Some people simply prefer not to eat a product that | | | | making us extremely overweight and very |
| contains any animal or any part of an animal. | | | | ill.McDonalds is the fast food leader of the world. |
| According to Schlosser, "The Vegetarian Legal Action | | | | They market to young children by providing |
| Network recently petitioned the FDA to issue to | | | | playgrounds, happy meals, and cartoon characters. |
| labeling requirements for foods that contain natural | | | | Unfortunately, these children do not know about the |
| flavors." At this point in time, it is difficult for anyone | | | | horrible side effects that eating fast food has on |
| to refrain from using animal products or added | | | | their bodies. "On average, Americans now eat about |
| coloring or any a specific chemical to do | | | | four servings of french fries every week" says |
| so.Consumers cannot make educated decisions about | | | | Schlosser. |