Listen 25:55
Corby Kummer om BPR, 3/5/2019
Fast food has gotten more and more unhealthy over the last 30 years, according to a new study from researchers at Boston University and Tufts University that tracked menu items from 10 major fast food chains.
During that time, portion sizes have ballooned and calorie counts and sodium content have increased, the study found.
Joining Boston Public Radio to share his take was Corby Kummer, a senior editor at The Atlantic, an award winning food writer and a senior lecturer at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition and Policy.
Kummer reminded consumers to be wary of all the ways fast food chains have tried to rebrand themselves as healthier options.
"It reminds you that you have to keep an eye on the ball," he said. "When industry [leaders] like McDonald's will talk about their cage-free eggs ... what they're doing at the same time is increasing the amount of fat and sodium."
According to the study, "the average entree weighed 39 grams more in 2016 than in 1986 and had 90 more calories. It also had 41.6 percent of the recommended daily allotment of sodium, up from 27.8 percent," reported The New York Times.
Kummer said fast food's growing portions have warped people's conceptions of what a serving size should look like.
"People are used to cupcakes three times the size of what they were in the 70s or 80s," he said.
