During the past year, I have observed a seemingly increasing sensitization of people to the health risks posed by eating fast food. At the same time, I have found that the media has been rather eager to condemn the industry. Never have I seen so many articles that take burgers, fries, pizzas, and hot dogs to task. Forget putting the industry under a microscope. Fast food is being dissected with the same zeal that television's favorite forensic experts take apart crime scenes in fictional Las Vegas, Miami, and New York.

On October 18, 2007, BBC published a piece entitled "Fast food salt levels 'Shocking.'" Not a full day later, MSNBC responded with "Fast-food Portions Keep Getting Bigger." Three weeks after that, Digg.com's faster riser was entitled "Surprise Ingredients in Fast Food." So the evil fast food outlets are serving salt ridden food in enormous portions with mystery ingredients?

As I keep reminding fast food crusaders, you get what you pay for. What did McDonald's pioneer all those years ago that North Americans readily embraced? A fixed menu with limited options. No service. No cutlery. Assembly line efficiency. Low prices. When focus changes from food to streamlining food preparation, is it really surprising that food quality plummets? Fast food suffers from achieving economies of scale.

As evidence, please look to two examples of this year's fast food advertising.

Burger King's Whopper
Source: Flickr c/o digg.com


New York Fries
Source: adrants.com c/o digg.com

Both advertisements celebrate fast food for what it is: value priced food that is convenient. Burger King is flogging a larger sandwich for the same price as a competing sandwich. New York Fries is reminding its customers that, since they still use real potatoes, people needn't bother making their own fries.

Now I am not saying that the general public should be accepting of the fast food industry moving towards edible plastics because gas is so expensive that low grade beef is too costly to ship. I just want to point out that we must be realistic. Yes, there must be oversight to ensure that mass produced food doesn't become mass produced poison. At the same time, we should not expect culinary masterpieces made with the finest organic ingredients when the people behind the counter are making minimum wage.

Ever since the release of the movie Supersize Me, food from McDonald's and its contemporaries have become quite the popular target. Just as the movie saw its director Morgan Spurlock suffering from a self-inflicted diet of McDonald's food, media seems to be force feeding consumers negatively spun stories on the latest discovery. To reporters and writers, please remember that there is a market for fast food. Your consumers will eventually grow tired of sensationalized stories. Besides, if you really want to target food abominations, think Texas county fairs. There, deep fried banana splits, chicken-fried bacon strips, and fried chocolate-covered strawberry waffle balls on a stick are common place.

This Just In: An example of a positively spun article about fast food appeared on UK's "The Sun" website last June. It accepts the fact that there are fast food items that are less than healthy, but identifies healthier choices. Here is a summary:

• Pizza: Pizza sauce is made from tomato paste, which contains concentrated amounts of lycopene, an antioxidant.
• Tomato-based Indian Curries: Indian curries employ spice mixes that almost always include tumeric (a warm spice). Tumeric contains curcumin, an antioxidant
• Thai Rice: Rice contains tricin, a chemical effective in fighting cancerous cells.
• Sushi and Sashimi: Both are made with fish that are high in omega-3 fatty acids (e.g. tuna and salmon), which are good cardiovascularly
• Lamb Shish Kebab: Apparently, lamb is the least fattening kebab option. Lamb contains iron, which is good for "keeping blood healthy"

It seems that the author who penned two of my favourite books on food, Cook's Tour: In Search of the Perfect Meal and Kitchen Confidential, has some very strong views on TV cooking personality Rachael Ray and her agreeing to become a spokesperson for Dunkin Donuts. Dunkin Dontus is an international coffee and donut retailer.

According to msnbc, courant.com, and monstersandcritics.com, Chef Bourdain stated in an interview that her endorsing Dunkin Donuts is tantamount to "endorsing crack to kids." And, given how pervasive obesity has become amongst Americans, young and old, her participating in Dunkin Donuts' multi-platform marketing campaign is "evil."

The images come from viewimages.com's coverage of Dunkin Donut's inaugural "Running of the Cups" benefit event in New York City, which celebrates police officers and fire fighters. The event took place on July 10, 2007.

Dunkin Donuts, headquartered in Canton Massachusetts, signed up Rachael Ray sometime during the winter 2007. Brand president, Robert Rodriquez, released a statement on March 8, 2007, wherein he expresses that "...there is tremendous synergy between Dunkin' Donuts and Rachael Ray." "Rachael's philosophy of creating quality meals quickly without pretense for busy people with busy lives is the same driving force behind the Dunkin' Donuts brand."

Rachael Ray is indeed influential. Her growing media presence - cooking shows, cookbooks, magazines, and talk show - is unparalleled for cooking personalities. However, the media is what concerns me here. Chef Bourdain's views on the responsibilities of being a wealthy and powerful celebrity was not the main subject of the interview in question. It was a portion of the interview. Nevertheless, media agencies have centered on this particular portion and reported on it, painting Chef Bourdain as a "gastronomical blowhard", a "crotchety cook", and a "prickly chef." In turn, they have labeled Rachael Ray, somewhat more positively, as a "foodie superstar", "Dunkin Donuts shill" , and a "Food Network cutie", pitting one against the other.

The media have effectively sensationalized someone's personal opinion and obscured an important issue. Dunkin Donuts only claims that they have asked Rachael Ray's insight in creating "better for you" food to include in their menu. They never stated that they intend to act on her insight. Neither have they stated that their food was as wholesome or healthy as the person they signed to market it.

How healthy are donuts after all?

BTW, to monstersandcritics.com, sensationalizing someone's words is one thing. Adding a visually ambiguous picture of flesh, skin, and hair goes a little far. In moderation, eating donuts does not produce "side effects" pictured in your article.