The Origin of Fast Food Restaurants

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The phrase fast food was originally part of the title of a trade
magazine called Fountain and Fast Food Service. The magazine was
renamed Fast Food in 1960. The February issue contained the
following statement: "delicate scallops are really fast
food...because they come ready to cook." And in July of the same
year we find this remark, "Fast food type restaurants do the
lion's share of business for breakfast and noon meals eaten out."
White Castle is generally recognized as the very first fast food
restaurant in America. It made its appearance in 1921. White
Castle started out by selling hamburgers for 5 cents. Needless to
say it has become very successful, and many competitors followed.

The world's largest fast food chain is McDonald's. It first appeared in San Diego, California in 1948. Ray Kroc joined the original McDonald's founders in 1954 and expanded the franchise.He was originally a distributor of an industrial milkshake mixer that McDonald's used.

Wendy's was founded in 1972. It introduced the 'drive-thru' window which is so popular today.

The 'fast' in fast food is there for a reason. It is designed to serve the customer as quickly as possible. In order to do this,fast foods are highly processed (I view this as tampering with natural foods) with standardized ingredients, cooking and production methods.

Fast food franchises' cooking methods are especially suspect in today's accelerating obesity rates. Items such as french fries and burgers are deep fried in partially hydrogenated oils (also known as trans fats.) When vegetable oils are hardened into margarine or shortening, trans fatty acids are formed.

Trans fats are found in fast food staples such as french fries and fried chicken. But these fats go beyond just fast food restaurants. Processed food manufacturers use trans fats in doughnuts, cookies, crackers, pastries, cereals, and waffles.Trans fats are cheaper than oil, they extend the shelf life of the products, can be used over and over again and they are frequently used to provide flavor and texture.

Trans fatty acids are much more dangerous than the saturated fats they replaced. They have been found to increase the blood levels of low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) while at the same
time lowering the levels of high density lipoprotein (HDL). LDL cholesterol is the 'bad' cholesterol and HDL is the 'good' cholesterol. Trans fats also clog the arteries, are linked to type 2 diabetes and other serious health problems such as heart disease.

Along with high trans fat products such as french fries and fried chicken, fast food restaurants also serve high sugar content sodas. And now they don't just serve the small standard sized soda. You can choose the super-sized drinks. One meal from any one of these franchises can provide plenty of empty calories from their high fat and sugary products. These foods are engineered to taste good. Fast food franchises have succeeded because they do satisfy the palate.

Source: Ezinearticles

Posted in: Food Franchises