As we all know, when we take a burger, fries, and soft drinks from our favorite fast food restaurants, it is not always healthy. But, the chains developed and marketed several of their ‘healthier’ options over the last 10 years. McDonald’s have their ‘Happy Meal’ options, Subway have the ‘6 under 6’, and even you can get grilled chicken options in your favorite restaurant which is a bit healthier than the regular dishes.
But according to the new study by Deakin University, the Australian fast food chains are doing nothing to promote health and nutrition in the nation. The chains in Australia have had their nutrition policies evaluated for the first time this year, and the results came unimpressive.
The new ‘Inside our Quick Service Restaurants’ study scored the top 11 fast food chains in Australia according to their internal nutrition policies. That study is originally to highlight the obesity prevention awareness in Australia. The team gave 48 out of 100 to Subway which ranked first, followed by 42 out of 100 to McDonalds’s, and 31 to Nando’s. But surprisingly, Domino’s Pizza only got 3 out of 100 in the new study.
More surprisingly, only 2 out of all the 11 studied chains, Subway and Nando’s, openly displayed their internal nutrition policies when researchers approached them for the study. Other chains just directed them to the respected company’s website to get the detailed nutrition information.
And now, the researchers want an urgent review of all the fast food chains of Australia or the sake of obesity prevention in the nation. They also call for the regular water than the high-sugar soft drinks and low-calorie meals for the kids to cut the sugar and calorie levels from their diet. They also came with the idea that the high-calorie fast food advertisements should be restricted, especially to the kids of Australia.
They came with the solution as most of the average Australian person would opt for the readily-available, good value, inexpensive foods which are marketed to them. The study also shows that more than 1 million Australian citizens are now getting directly influenced by the food courts and fast food restaurant chains about their meal choices.