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David Zinczenko's Don T Blame The Eater

Decent Essays

David Zinczenko’s essay, “Don’t Blame the Eater,” stresses the connection of fast food restaurants to obese children. With his parents spilt up, and his mother working long hours to support the family, as a child Zinczenko had a limited choice of fast food restaurants such as Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Pizza Hut for both lunch and dinner. Just like today those were the only affordable meals for teenagers. Due to this, at the age of 15, Zinczenko becomes obese (212 pounds). Unlike a lot of people with similar issues, he he turns his life around by joining the Navy Reserves. Zinczenko notes that fast-food restaurants are located almost everywhere, attract to children, are cheap, and are easy to access. Hence why he believes that …show more content…

According to him, “There are no calorie information charts on fast-food packaging, the way there are on grocery items. Advertisements don’t carry warning labels the way tobacco ads do” (Zinczenko 463). Zinczenko that fast-food companies are “vulnerable,” and he urges the industry to protect its consumers (464). Zinczenko is right about the need of nutritional information for fast-food; however, common sense dictates that people should know not to eat at fast-food restaurants every day.
When deciding what to eat for dinner, the nutritional value of food can be an important aspect of the decision. However, unlike grocery items and tobacco products, fast-food items do not require nutrition labels. Zinczenko emphasizes to his audience that the nutritional information, provided by the fast-food companies, can be confusing to understand:
“One company’s Web site lists its chicken salad as containing 150 calories; the almonds and noodles that come with (an additional 190 calories) are listed separately. Add a serving of the 280-calorie dressing, and you’ve got a healthy lunch alternative that comes in at 620 calories. But that’s not all. Read the small print on the back of the dressing packet and you’ll realize it actually contains 2.5 servings. If you pour what you’ve been served, you’re suddenly up around 1,040 calories…and that doesn’t take into account that 450-calorie …show more content…

However, it is important to remember that this essay was written in 2002; today, many fast-food restaurants have a variety of salads, and they serve fruit, juices, and milk on their children’s meals now. However, I do agree with what Zinczenko is calling for: fast-food restaurants need to display the nutritional values of their food. Like the warnings on tobacco and alcoholic items, fast-food nutritional information can be there to warn consumers about what they are about put into their

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