Scary News I found on ABC.NEWS.com

It's not very catchy, but fast food restaurants may as well update their greetings, considering the negative effects their food can have on our health, our hearts and, now, our livers.
In a new study, 18 slim, healthy Swedish men and women took on a fast food diet, eating meals from popular chains twice a day for four weeks while refraining from exercise.
At the end of the experiment, blood tests showed evidence that the subjects eating fast food had liver damage. They also had gained an average of 16 pounds.
The subjects were eating "an outrageously high amount" of calories, said Keith-Thomas Ayoob, associate professor of pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. Ayoob said the calorie intake was almost double the average daily caloric intake of most Americans, which is about 2,700 calories.
Studies have shown that a diet high in fat and calories — the magic recipe for delicious, greasy fast food — puts people at greater risk for obesity and type 2 diabetes, both of which can lead to cardiovascular diseases and heart failure. But the Swedish study, the goal of which was to double calorie intake and increase body weight by about 15 percent, showed that the liver is also at risk when you roll up to the drive-through window.

Source:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/PictureOfHealth/story?id=4286176

A Super-Sized Problem

"The extra fat is the big enchilada here, the equivalent of about three sticks of butter daily," Ayoob said. "The liver is basically using its compensatory mechanism to accommodate all this extra stuff."
The liver processes fats in the blood. Excessive calories and fats overload the organ, causing fat to build up in the liver cells and leading to liver damage.
The study echoes another experiment that received both attention and an Academy Award nomination. In the 2004 documentary Super Size Me, filmmaker Morgan Spurlock followed a strict fast food diet for 30 days, eating only items from McDonald's. He consumed an average of 5,000 calories each day, equivalent to about nine hamburgers, and gained 24.5 pounds.
This doesn’t seem to stop major fast food giants from crating more and more extravagant “fatty” burgers to the public. The national obesity ratio is not a problem for them, its all about dollars and cents.

White Castle fries up tasty fashion

Retailers say White Castle logo T-shirts, hooded sweatshirts, wristbands and even briefs, have taken off with fashionistas and trend-starved teenagers on the hunt for a new fad.

"It started last summer with the logos of old baseball teams," said LaVelle Olexa, senior vice president of fashion merchandising at department store chain Lord & Taylor. "It's part of a whimsical trend in the contemporary market, an attitude that takes inspiration entirely from pop culture."

Marshal Cohen, analyst with NPD Group, agreed with Olexa's views.
"In part, it's the popularity of everything retro, but it also shows the power of culture over fashion," said Cohen. "The fashion inspirations lately are not coming from established designers but from the entertainment industry, from popular culture, music and the movies." Personally I don’t understand how a burger joint log could be considered fashionable

The Blame Game

OK. This is an article I found at businessweek.com. I think this is the typical thing that the media AND lazy parents try to do. THE BLAME GAME. If its not Rap music or Marilyn Manson, its Video Games, its not any of the above, its fast food. Its always some bodies fault but their own. Listen, if your kids are over weight, its probably not a good idea to take them to get a happy meal 3 times a week because your too lazy to cook!

Fast Food Ads Fueling Obesity Among Hispanic Kids

(HealthDay News) -- The large number of fast food commercials on Spanish-language television in the United States may be contributing to the obesity epidemic among Hispanic youths, new research suggests.
Among American children, Hispanics have the highest rates of overweight and obesity.
Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Children's Center reviewed 60 hours of programming airing between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. (heavy viewing hours for school-age children) on Univision and Telemundo, the two largest Spanish-language channels in the United States. The stations reach 99 percent and 93 percent of U.S. Hispanics, respectively.
The stations averaged two to three food commercials an hour, with one-third of them specifically targeted to children. Almost half of all food commercials promoted fast food, and more than half of all drink commercials featured soda and drinks with high sugar content. The study was published in the Feb. 18 online issue of the Journal of Pediatrics.
"While we cannot blame overweight and obesity solely on TV commercials, there is solid evidence that children exposed to such messages tend to have unhealthy diets and to be overweight," lead investigator Dr. Darcy Thompson, a pediatrician at Hopkins, said in a prepared statement.
To reduce the impact of food commercials, young children should be restricted to two hours or less per day of TV, and parent should talk to their children about healthy diet and food choices, the researchers said. Children younger than 2 shouldn't be allowed to watch any TV.
The Hopkins team also recommended that pediatricians caring for Hispanic children should be aware of their patients' heavy exposure to food commercials and the possible effects of that exposure. In addition, public health officials should lobby policy makers to limit food advertising that targets children.

Arby's owner to acquire Wendy's in all-stock deal

After at least two rejections, billionaire Nelson Peltz has finally succeeded in landing Wendy's in a $2.3 billion deal that would add the chain known for its square burger and chocolate Frosty dessert to his ownership of Arby's and its roast beef sandwiches.
Atlanta-based Triarc Companies Inc., owned by Peltz, said Thursday it will pay about $2.34 billion in an all-stock deal for the nation's third-largest hamburger chain started in 1969 by Dave Thomas. Wendy's had rejected at least two buyout offers from Triarc.
Thomas' daughter, Pam Thomas Farber, said the family was devastated by the news.

Arby's Buys Wendy's

It was announced Thursday that Triarc owned Arby's fast food chain bought Wendy's fast food chain in a 2.34 billion dollar stock deal. Dave Thomas (deceased 2002) started Wendy's in 1969 and named it after his youngest daughter 'Melinda Lou' who was nicknamed Wendy. The Thomas daughters Pam Thomas Farber and Wendy are both upset by the sale, claiming that "It's a very sad day for Wendy's and our family" according to the Associated Press.An interesting line in the lengthy Associated Press article reads: Triarc said it will also change its name to include the Wendy's name. Does this mean that Arby's and Wendy's will be sharing a new name? I've sat here playing with trying to combine the name a little bit and their really isn't any way to combine these two old favorite names together unless Arby's would like to become Ardy's.

Fast Food chains launching new chicken products

Fast food chains are responding to America's increasing appetite for poultry, launching new chicken products.
Wendy's stores this week completes the rollout of a flour tortilla chicken wrap line in U.S. stores. The Chicken Go Wraps are the latest item to compete with McDonald's Corp.'s successful snack wraps.
KFC introduced a toasted version in February. Last month, it announced it plans to begin selling grilled chicken nationally next year.
This comes as McDonald's U.S. stores are starting to sell a fried chicken biscuit sandwich for breakfast. The Oak Brook-based McDonald's will introduce a southern style chicken sandwich for lunch later this year, and franchisees are touting juicer crispy chicken in the chain's sandwiches, salads and wraps.
.Wendy's International Inc. reported bad winter weather and a calendar shift due to the calendar shift with the Easter holiday contributed to a 0.1-percent decrease in U.S. same store sales, compared to an increase of 3.7 percent the same period last year.

According to www.suntimes.com on April 4th 2008

The top 5 most profitable Fast Food Chains in America for 2007

I found out the top most profitable and poplar fast service restaurants for 2007 @at http://www.entrepreneur.com/howto/restaurant.html. I’m not surprised to see subway on the top of the list. With a more health aware public eye and marketing.
Top 5 Quick-Service Franchises
1.Subway
2.Dunkin' Donuts
3.Domino's Pizza
4.Sonic Drive In
5.McDonald's

Fat Profits

It was a patriotic statement that went a bit too far afield: an attempt to create the "ultimate picnic burger." Called the Fourth of July Burger, it was tested last summer at seven locations by the West Coast fast-food chain Carl's Jr. and consisted of a huge beef patty topped with pickles, ketchup, mustard, potato chips, and a hot dog. Stacked high and loaded with fat and calories, it was the food equivalent of the national anthem played through a sousaphone, a perfect distillation of a peculiarly American form of balls-out, postmodern gluttony that, at least outwardly, we're all supposed to be ashamed of right now.Yet for all its pomp and glory, it didn't quite work. When John Koncki, director of product development for Carl's Jr., talks about it now, he comes across a little wistful. It tasted really good, he says, but the name and the concept proved too much for the testers. "Sometimes," the earnest Koncki says, "some of the sandwiches are so unique that consumers can't wrap their heads around them."The uniqueness isn't the only thing that's hard to get your head around. During the past few years, CKE Restaurants, the parent company of Carl's Jr. and Hardee's, has employed an audacious go-for-bloat approach that defies just about everything you've come to assume about the business of modern fast food. In an age when other chains have been forced to at least pretend that they care about the health of their customers and have started offering packets of apples and things sprinkled with walnuts and yogurt, Hardee's and Carl's Jr. are purposely running in the opposite direction, unapologetically creating an arsenal of higher-priced, high-fat, high-calorie monstrosities—pioneering avant-garde concepts such as "meat as a condiment" and "fast-food porn"—and putting the message out to increasingly receptive consumers with ads that are often as controversial as the burgers themselves.That message may be revolutionary or totally evil or maybe both, but in any case, it goes like this: Anyone can make Americans fat (hell, everyone already has), but only one fast-food company can make them fat and allow them to feel good about it, even get them to feel like they're making a statement and striking a blow against the forces of political correctness. It's downright Jeffersonian in its own weird way, and judging by the growth of both chains, it's working extraordinarily well. Since 2000, CKE's average sales per store have increased by 31 percent, a rate greater than any other burger chain's, save for the nostalgia-mongering Sonic drive-ins, with which CKE is tied. And its stock soared, from about $2 in 2001 to more than $22 last June, before slipping back to around $15 at the end of the year.

Health Magazine, rates the most healthy, and the not so healthy fast food resturnats in America.

Health Magazine is out with its best bets for fast food on a budget.
The magazine put nearly 100 drive-throughs and sit-down restaurants to the test, after finding that more consumers are demanding healthy options when they eat out.

Health Magazine analyzed the menus of 43 sit-down chains and 53 fast-food joints. Some of those with the safest options according to their report are:
· Uno Chicago Grill
· Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes
· PF Chang's
· Olive Garden
· Denny's
· Chipotle

The magazine said these restaurants have whole-grain options, trans-fat free foods, low-cal, low-fat and low sodium fare.
As for the not-so-healthy list, Health Magazine lists the following restaurants:
· Chili's
· O'Charleys'
· Cracker Barrel
· Pizza Hut
· Taco Bell
The magazine said a serving of crispers tops 1,890 calories at Chili's, Pizza Hut is too cheesy and Taco Bell is packed with sodium.
Most dietitians said you can find something healthy just about anywhere you go by substituting. "Ask if you can get an entree grilled instead of fried, ask if you can substitute a salad or veggie instead of a French fry, ask if you can get a marinara sauce instead of a white creamy sauce," said dietitian Amy Goodson

UK McDonald's Parking Fee

From the Guardian Unlimited in the UK, it appears that McDonald's restaurants are fining customers who stay in their parking lot too long.And it is no small fine either: £125 (about $255). Cameras in the parking lot take photos of license plates and a bill is sent to the car's owner.(The sign shown isn't an actual one. We made it at Ronald McHummer.)
"The question of just how long it should take to eat fast food is being answered by the burger giant McDonald's, which is making customers finish within 45 minutes or face a charge of £125."Motorists who care to linger over their McMeals for any longer at some drive-throughs are receiving demands from a private company that manages car parks for the burger chain."

And you thought that Big Mac Value meal was expensive

580 Calories Per Slice, Mama Mia!

Yes, that's right, a single slice of Pizza Hut's new Double Deep Meat Lover's Pizza has 580 calories! 330 of those calories are from fat.Touted by Pizza Hut as an "innovation," the Double Deep "features so many toppings that Pizza Hut needed to use a specially folded crust to hold them in."

Brian Niccol, Pizza Hut CMO admits, “Double Deep Pizza is abundantly topped for big appetites.”Here's the rest of the nutritional stats for a single slice of Pizza Hut's Double Deep Meat Lover's Pizza: 580 calories, 330 calories from fat, 36 grams total fat, 14 grams saturated fat, 1.5 grams trans fat, 100 mg cholesterol, 1990 mg sodium, 31 grams carbs, 2 grams fiber, 3 grams sugars, 31 grams protein.