Food for Thought

I found an article weighing the KFC "Double Down" (a "sandwich" with two chicken breasts instead of bread) against some other popular fast-food items.   This post doesn't really pertain to technology, but nutrition is a science, plus I found it interesting.  This thing apparently costs around $5.50, and has about 540 calories.  Compare that to McDonald's Premium Crispy Chicken Ranch BLT sandwich, which has around 580 calories.  To put 500 calories into perspective, think about it in terms of the suggested (2000 calories per day) diet.  One of these sandwiches should count for 1/4th of your intake for the day.  Honestly, that doesn't seem that bad (assuming you don't tack on fries and a large coke for a meal), but the killer here is the sodium.

Both the KFC Double Down and the McDonald's Crispy Chicken BLT have around 1400 mg of sodium.  The National Academy of Science recommends 1500 mg of sodium per day, and NO MORE than 2300 mg per day.  Now, I know a lot has been said about the obesity epidemic and heart disease in America, and the perpetuation of its growth by the fast food industry, but this ties directly in with new legislation regarding health care reform.

I found it interesting, when looking over parts of the bill, that fast food chains and vending machines will now be REQUIRED to post nutritional information directly on their menus, and as someone who watches what he eats, I am pretty happy about this.  Maybe this will get more Americans thinking before ordering the 1260 calorie "Big Cheese" baked potato at Pimento's Cafe and Market.  I also think that this will motivate restaurants to make calorie cuts to their high-numbered items, which is a good step to make, but should more be done?  Does a government who wants to make health care universal not also have a duty to ensure its citizens' health through preventative measures, like restrictions on food items?  Should fast-food chains be allowed to sell items containing 93% of your daily sodium intake?