What is fast food. History of fast food

The modern pace of life leads to the fact that a person does not have enough time for proper and healthy nutrition. This led to street food became very popular. Everyone who has been in the city must have come across hot dogs, shawarma and belyash, which are sold at every turn. Moreover, such food is inexpensive and cooks quickly, for which it got its name. But what is fast food really and is it possible to eat such food at all, you need to figure it out.

Fast food in antiquity

It's hard to believe, but already in ancient Rome, fast food was quite common. Some houses didn't even have a kitchen. After all, the Romans preferred to eat in a variety of eateries, which could easily be found on every corner. Merchants treated buyers with all sorts of dishes. Just at this time, the progenitor of pizza appears - a flatbread made from yeast dough. She was oiled olive oil and used as a plate, and then eaten. Oddly enough, even peculiar hamburgers were prepared at that time. The Romans fried flatbreads from beef and ate them with bread. But this fast food was healthy and fresh, so it did not bring harm to health. But fast food was common not only for the inhabitants of Rome. In China, for example, noodles were sold in the markets, which were prepared in a matter of minutes. And the Indians were not averse to eating chapati cakes, which were seasoned hot sauce. Fast food in Russia also existed in the form of selling traditional pies.

The rise of the street food industry

The first company that began to produce fast food was the White Castle. It happened in 1921 in Kansas, USA. It was they who began to serve their customers hamburgers, which were still completely unfamiliar to ordinary Americans. Low price like excellent taste, only pleased the guests of the diner. After all Tasty dinner for five cents everyone could afford. At the end of the 40s, the White Castle began to acquire the first competitors. One of them becomes then nobody else famous company"McDonald's", which conquered the whole world. But the "White Castle" currently exists only in the United States.

Types of fast food

If we talk about what fast food is, then the most simple interpretation these English words will " fast food". That is, any dish, the preparation of which takes only a couple of minutes, can be safely attributed to this category of products. They can be divided into the following types:

Any snacks that can be purchased in restaurants fast food(French fries with and without fillers, hot dogs, shawarma, pizza and others);

If your meal can be diluted with boiling water, then this is also fast food (noodles, cereals, soups and mashed potatoes);

A variety of snacks that you can buy at any kiosk or store (crackers, popcorn, nuts, chips, cookies).

Thus, everything that you can eat without looking up from your business is fast food.

Benefits of fast food

Surely everyone has already heard a million times that fast food is very harmful, but still the rate of its consumption does not decrease. Why is this happening? The main reason is the fast pace of life. A person works from morning to night, and he simply does not have time to dine calmly. And when he comes home in the evening, he gets so tired that it does not give him the opportunity to cook a full dinner. All this benefits businessmen selling fast food. Fast food restaurants are constantly filled with visitors. But this is not the only reason. Another very strong incentive to acquire something harmful is pleasant taste, which is maintained with the help of flavoring additives.

Harm of fast food

Although street food is very convenient, it causes great harm to human health. Firstly, this is due to the large number of calories that lead to a set overweight. But after all, buying such a snack, a person wants to quickly get enough, and high nutritional value and allows you to achieve this result. That's why low calorie and cannot be feature such food.

Secondly, the harm of fast food is displayed on all the internal organs of a person that are part of of cardio-vascular system And gastrointestinal tract. The preservatives that are contained in such a snack kill the heart and lead to diabetes. Thirdly, often the preparation of such dishes takes place in conditions of high unsanitary conditions, which can lead to diarrhea, food poisoning and other diseases. It is simply impossible to deny the harm of fast food, but there is no benefit from it.

Harmless consumption of street food

Even understanding what fast food is, people continue to buy hot dogs and shawarma. After all, there are situations when, besides this, you simply do not have time to eat something else. At the same time, it should be understood that there is a category of people for whom such a diet is completely contraindicated. Of course, these are patients with problems of the stomach and heart. The high cholesterol content in such treats can kill an unhealthy person. Diabetics should also categorically avoid eating these foods due to high content Sahara. If a person is healthy, he can occasionally treat himself to such a snack, if he really wants to. But this should not happen more than once a week.

The impact of fast food on children

Constantly eating fast food, adults have taught children to eat it, because it is very tasty and attractive. Scientists conducted a study that showed that in the United States, 40% of children every day receive at least half of their nutritional energy from fast foods. This statistic is amazing, because every parent knows about the dangers of such food, but still allows their child to eat improperly. Nothing beneficial organism can't get by digesting street snacks. Trans fats, preservatives and dyes, which are stored in a huge amount in an ordinary hamburger, are killing the growing generation. Among the diseases that threaten your child, first of all, obesity should be attributed. It limits life excess weight prevents a person from actively moving and leads to new diseases (diabetes, arrhythmia, joint disease, etc.). Gastritis and ulcers will also not give a quiet life to a small person. The minimum age at which you can safely introduce a child to street food must be at least six to seven years old. But the best thing a good parent can do is teach their children to eat right.

If a person does not want to harm his body, he should generally refuse to eat street food. But if it so happens that an addiction to junk snacks has already formed, you need to gradually get rid of it. the best way out will reduce the amount of consumption of such products from day to day. And then stop eating them altogether. If you do not want to get poisoned, then it is better not to buy fast food in the stalls on the street, especially in summer. After all, the conditions of storage and preparation can be far from sanitary standards. Before eating a hamburger, it would be better to eat something liquid. So the stomach is easier to take a hit from junk food.

If you know firsthand what fast food is, due to constant employment, it would be best for you to choose a decent canteen or cafe in advance. You can eat there full lunch. So it will be much more useful, even if it is not homemade food. You should also remember that you need to chew any dish slowly, without rushing. This will help relieve additional stress on the stomach.

Thus, modern life leads to the fact that a person, even without wanting it, constantly consumes fast food. Prices and availability make it so popular. But it is worth remembering great harm and try to eliminate it from your diet.

The name "fast food" comes from the English phrase fast food, that is, fast food. Many today associate the concept with the process of "eating on the go." Fast food has become an integral part of the diet in modern world, but even in ancient times it gained immense popularity. If the ancient Greeks preferred to cook their own food, then the inhabitants ancient rome often completely abandoned this process. There were houses in which there were even no kitchens, and these were not only the houses of the patricians, but also the dwellings of ordinary citizens. In every town there were many bazaars and eateries that sold all kinds of prepared food.

Were very popular yeast cakes who were smeared with olive oil and used as edible plates. After many centuries, the same cakes, but already covered with baked vegetables, meat and cheese, began to be called Italian pizza. The Romans also had hamburgers - fried beef cakes eaten with bread. In The History of Food, Professor Fernandez-Armesto says that the typical ancient Roman ate more fast food than the New Yorker of today. Only this food was more natural and healthy than modern counterparts.

In other ancient states, fast food was no less popular. Souks in China sold hot noodles, and in India they sold chapati cakes seasoned with spicy sauce and chicken pieces with rice and curry sauce. In European countries, various cakes were also popular, and in some countries, pies.

American fast food originated in 1912 with Horn & Hardart's opening of the first fast food restaurant called the Automaton. The first fast food restaurant had originated in Philadelphia a decade earlier, but it wasn't until New York City that it revolutionized the food scene and became so popular that it became a tourist attraction.

Fast food became an industrial industry in the 1920s, and also in America. The White Castle Company was founded in Kansas in 1921 and pioneered the industry. "White Castle" offered a signature dish - hamburgers, which were a curiosity for Americans at that time. The stable price of food also pleased customers, because, despite any historical and economic changes in the world, hamburgers before 1946 cost only 5 cents. Some customers of the establishment began to think about the dangers of such food, and then the owners of the establishment hired people who came in white coats for hamburgers. It seemed that even doctors eat fast food, which caused an additional influx of buyers. One of the unique effective marketing moves of the time!

Competitors at the "White Castle" appeared in the late 40s. The newly formed company McDonald's, which began as a small restaurant that sold barbecues to motorists, began to produce hamburgers in 1948. In 1954, establishments with the same trademark began to open throughout the country.

Like any product, fast food products require special packaging. As soon as paper became not a luxury item, but a tool used for household purposes, they began to wrap food in it. It was a period of early industrialization at the end of XVIII - early XIX centuries. Familiar to us paper bags appeared only in the middle of the twentieth century, but then they looked different, and they were made from different paper. The first paper packaging looked like simple bags or bundles. Paper is still the most hygienic product packaging available today in a variety of functional shapes and sizes.

Today, paper bags for fast food not only protect products from exposure external environment, and a person - from the possibility of getting dirty when transferring food or while eating. There are, of course, advertising functions of such packaging - even those who do not eat fast food at first glance recognize these products by their logos. Large chains also use paper packaging, which is their contribution to the global concern for the environment.

Hello, dear readers of the blog site. Today I want to talk about what fast food is, because. it is very popular in our world.

Fast food () means - "fast food". Such eateries, darkness-darkness in every city. And the most surprising thing is that we very often use them, without even thinking that this food can be harmful.

5 global reasons to give up fast food

Fast food includes not only cultural establishments like McDonald's, but also food fast food: mivina vermicelli, instant soups; chips, crackers, etc.

Yes, they may be delicious, but on the other hand they are very harmful, here are 5 main reasons for not eating this food.

1. The biggest cause is obesity

One trip to fast food provides at least 1000 kcal, or even more, given that the daily norm of an adult is 1700-2200 kcal. Having a quick bite, a person only dulls the feeling of hunger, and does not saturate him, because. they contain very few nutrients and nutrients.

In addition, all these goodies are washed down with sweet soda. And after a couple of hours, there comes not only a feeling of appetite, but brutal hunger! Having reached the next snack point, either home or fast food again, a person pounces on food and eats more than usual - all this leads to improper weight gain - obesity.

Reason 2. Great risk of catching a sore

Fast food - speaks for itself - this is fast food, people eat almost "on the run", they do not fully chew food and it gets into the stomach in pieces. This causes various problems with the work of the stomach.

Frequent use is not healthy food, which is sold in fast foods, leads to atherosclerosis, hypertension, the liver is destroyed, immunity is weakened, ulcers and gastritis appear. I recommend that you read the article "" so as not to succumb to various infectious diseases.

Usually, cold cola, fanta or sprite are popular in such establishments. These drinks are served cold hot food cold drinks are not recommended.

Let's say you eat meatballs or sandwiches and drink cold cola. This process of eating leads to a complication of digestion of food, which in turn also leads to illness and obesity.

Nutritionists say that such food disrupts metabolism, due to the large number of calories, fats, cholesterol, carbohydrates, food additives, flavor enhancers, preservatives, salt and other chemicals. The body does not receive the right fiber for digestion and instantly clogs, leading to constipation, bloating and worsening general condition human health.

Reason 3. Fast food - hits the pocket

No matter how strange it may sound, but eating in fast foods is expensive! Calculate how much you spend per month on fast food? (with regular visits to establishments). This can also include the cost of visiting doctors and treatment.

When purchasing food, at the checkout you will be offered fries or sauce in any way, in addition to the main order, and you willingly take it, which leads to even more costs.

Reason 4. Fast food is too cheap...

Yes, that's right - and there is no contradiction with the previous paragraph here. To save a place in the sun, not fall in the eyes of competitors and keep prices low, manufacturers go to any tricks and tricks.

They recruit inexperienced personnel, use stitched products, use nutritional supplements to suppress or impart various flavors.

The other day, purely by chance, I stumbled upon a TV program in which a former McDonald's employee revealed the secrets of the kitchen. In a nutshell - it's a tin! The staff does not wash their hands, if something falls on the floor in the kitchen, it still goes on sale. At the end of the post interesting video I recommend to watch!!!

Think about whether you really want to eat at fast foods? After all, you eat those foods that at home would be thrown into the trash. In these establishments, everything is the same - the same, only everything is beautifully decorated and seasoned with spices.

Reason 5. Fast food is the enemy of children's health

Every year, children are more and more more get sick with various diseases: diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, endocrine disruption and immune system and many other diseases associated with a weakened immune system.

The child's body is at the stage of formation, and frequent use various hamburgers, cheeseburgers, sweet soda and other things, significantly affects the health of children, examples above.

Manufacturers know how to lure children to them, they make bright wrappers, they add toys to the food bag - well, how can children refuse this? Parents, in turn, themselves, like children, buy into this trick, take the children to the institution, thereby killing their own and their health ... And then they complain about why the children are mentally retarded or often get sick ...

On this I have all the guys. Of course, you decide what to eat and what not to eat! I would be grateful if you could answer a few questions.

Do you visit fast food establishments, how often? How much money do you spend on each trip? How often do you take your kids to fast food restaurants? What motivates you to return there again and again? Did you draw any conclusions from this article and the video you watched?

Subscribe to blog updates and stay up to date with the latest news!

sp-force-hide ( display: none;).sp-form ( display: block; background: #ffffff; padding: 5px; width: 560px; max-width: 100%; border-radius: 0px; -moz-border -radius: 0px; -webkit-border-radius: 0px; border-color: #dddddd; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; font-family: Arial, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; background- repeat: no-repeat; background-position: center; background-size: auto;).sp-form .sp-form-fields-wrapper ( margin: 0 auto; width: 550px;).sp-form .sp-form -control ( background: #ffffff; border-color: #cccccc; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; font-size: 15px; padding-left: 8.75px; padding-right: 8.75px; border-radius : 4px; -moz-border-radius: 4px; -webkit-border-radius: 4px; height: 35px; width: 100%;).sp-form .sp-field label ( color: #444444; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold;).sp-form .sp-button ( border-radius: 5px; -moz-border-radius: 5px; -webkit-border-radius: 5px; background- color: #0089bf; color: #ffffff; width: auto; font-weight: 700; font-style: normal; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; background: linear-gradient(to top, #005d82 , #00b5fc); box-shadow: none -moz-box-shadow: none; -webkit-box-shadow: none;).sp-form .sp-button-container ( text-align: left;)

Fast food in Europe

Already in antiquity, fast food was very popular. If in Ancient Greece still preferred to cook food in their household, the ancient Romans often refused to cook at all, in some houses there were not even kitchens. But in every city there were a lot of eateries and bazaars, where they traded all kinds of foods.

Yeast dough cakes smeared with olive oil were very popular; they were very convenient to use as edible plates. Many centuries later, these flatbreads, covered with baked cheese, sausages and vegetables, became known as Italian pizza. The Romans also had their own hamburgers. They fried beef cakes, which were supposed to be eaten with bread. Professor Philip Fernandez-Armesto, in his book The History of Food, states that the average ancient Roman ate more fast food than, say, a modern New Yorker. The difference is that the fast food of the ancient Romans was fresher and healthier than today's hot dogs and hamburgers.

Respected fast food in other countries. In China, long before the appearance of "doshirak", they traded in the bazaars hot noodles fast food, chapati with spicy sauce and rice with chicken pieces in curry sauce were popular in India. In Europe, various kinds of cakes were also very respected, and in some countries they did not disdain pies.

McDonald vs White Castle

Fast food as an industry originated in the 1920s in America. Until that time, Americans preferred to cook their own meals at home, but with the rapid industrial growth and development of the automotive industry in the country, they no longer have enough time to cook. It was then that the first restaurants selling fast food appeared.

The pioneer in this field was the White Castle Company, which opened in 1921 in Kansas. The White Castle's specialty was hamburgers, which at that time were a curiosity for Americans. Potential buyers were pleased with the stable price of food: despite the Great Depression, World War II and inflation, the company until 1946 sold its hamburgers for five cents.

When some visitors began to think about whether such food is harmful, the owner of the network, Billy Ingram, came up with a tricky move. He hired several young men who, for a small fee, came daily to the White Castle in white coats and ordered hamburgers there. Visitors mistook them for doctors and calmed down. Since even doctors eat hamburgers, it means that they are really safe for health.

In the late 1940s, White Castle began to have competitors. The most serious of them was the young company McDonald's. It all started very modestly: two brothers Dick and Mac McDonald's, who traded in small restaurant barbecue for Californian motorists, decided to switch to the production of hamburgers. In 1948, they succeeded, and incomes increased dramatically. In 1954, they were met by salesman Ray Kroc, who offered to open establishments throughout the country under the same brand. The brothers agreed, and things went well. In 1956, there were 14 McDonald's restaurants in the United States, in 1960 - 228, in 1968 - 1000, in 1975 - 3076, in 1980 - 6263, in 1984 - 8300, in 1990 - 11800. Now McDonald's has over 30,000 restaurants in 119 countries, while White Castle has only about 380 restaurants in the US.

However, in recent years, the mighty McDonald's has begun to experience problems. After the company of fighters for healthy eating calling for a boycott of fast food, sales in the United States and other developed countries began to decline, some restaurants even had to close.

Fast food in Russia

Our dishes today largely coincide with traditional dishes Soviet Catering(abbreviated as "public catering" - the organization of collective eating on the same menu). Such establishments in the USSR included canteens, in which they ate most of urban residents during working or school hours: workers, employees, students, schoolchildren. Catering as a phenomenon was born much earlier - at the beginning of the twentieth century, in the era of industrialization. Peasants who had recently moved to the city worked at the first factories and factories. They lived in barracks provided by the owners. The workers, as a rule, did not have the opportunity to eat at home, and the owners began to arrange workers' canteens for them. Since that time, the number of catering establishments in the Soviet Union has grown steadily.

Public catering officially took Viennese cuisine as a model. The main dishes were sausages, schnitzels, cutlets. It would seem, well, what is special? Food is like food. But over the course of several decades, Soviet catering workers managed to turn an ordinary collective meal into a phenomenon that still disgusts many citizens. former USSR. If they suddenly found out that they eat “Viennese” dishes every day, that is, traditional Austrian cuisine, they would be very surprised! The menu of each dining room consisted of salads, first and second courses and dessert. When compiling it, the calorie content of dishes, the ratio of proteins, fats and carbohydrates were taken into account, but the presence required amount vitamins and microelements were not discussed. The main thing was to feed people well with food that did not bring instant harm. To do this, the products were subjected to repeated deep heat treatment: boiled or fried, and then baked in the oven.

Depending on personal preferences, the visitor could choose between pieces of herring with vinaigrette or a dense lump potato salad, chicken broth and milk soup, a piece of overcooked fish and cutlets with mashed potatoes, pasta or porridge. For dessert, there were invariably tea, jelly, compote. Universal standardization killed culinary originality from the very beginning delicious meals and offered them in an unimaginable combination. It was empty food, the same for everyone - a gray cutlet with sticky pasta could be offered to you in the canteen of any corner of the USSR.

Soviet catering died in the 90s of the twentieth century. It was replaced by "fast food" - translated from English as "fast food". The first fast food establishment was the huge corporation McDonald's, which by that time had covered the whole world. Once upon a time, McDonald's, and Burger Keane, and KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken), and dozens of other companies began their journey around the world from small outlets in the Western United States at the same time when Soviet public catering. In the 1990s, the habit of eating at fast foods became for Americans national tradition. Small private firms became transnational food giants not at the direction of the General Secretary of the CPSU, but thanks to technological progress and the laws of economics.

Americans in the 1950s, without exception changing into personal cars, needed a new approach to nutrition. For the sake of hurrying customers, expedited service appeared. Portion " fast food” could be obtained without leaving the car. Grateful motorists love the new establishments. Soon the fast food chains that brought huge profit their owners, spread throughout the United States, and later around the world.

Roadside wind blows colorful bags onto the road, which are wrapped in takeaway food in fast food establishments. At the entrance to big cities, on roadside poles, you can see bright signs inviting motorists to these same establishments. Now it is a sign of modern life. They grow like mushrooms, all similar to each other. The question arises by itself: what kind of food is in them - harmful, healthy?

When American fast food establishments first appeared in the countries of the post-Soviet space, every citizen of the country wanted to go there. The disgusting smell of the Soviet canteen was replaced by a specific smell fried butter, and broken chairs and eternally dirty plastic tables - cozy interiors. Happy visitors were filled with a sense of pride from the fact that French fries served in Dnepropetrovsk are no different from New York ones. But when the euphoria passed, it became clear that a hamburger patty is no better than a catering one, and many dishes are generally not suitable for food, because they are too high in calories and tasteless. If you carefully study the composition of this very fast food, there is bewilderment, is it food at all? In dishes great amount homogenized fats, emulsifiers, flavourings, colorants, salt, sweeteners and flavor enhancers. The list of ingredients for this food looks more like a report from a chemistry lab than a recipe from cookbook. All these are food additives, many of which have an adverse effect on the human body. In the food offered by fast food establishments, an excessive amount of fats and carbohydrates and no vitamins at all. True, in Lately, after numerous public criticism, salads appeared on the menu, but this did not change the balance of power between vitamins and carbohydrates.

In the United States, the alarm has long been sounded about the mass enthusiasm of the population for fast food. There was once a trial in Federal Court in Manhattan. The indictment called fast food "a major culprit in the national epidemic of childhood obesity." The lawyer represented the interests of three obese teenagers, including a 15-year-old boy, whose weight was 180 kilograms (he had a habit of eating at fast food establishments up to 4 times a day). All over the world, victims of such nutrition are filing massive lawsuits. However, fast food ads claim that hamburgers and big macs can be eaten every day. Doctors increasingly testify that such food contributes to obesity, increases the risk of diabetes, hypertension, allergies, and even cancer. It becomes obvious that eating fast food is harmful!

Term fast food(from English fast - fast, food - food) implies several concepts, including not only fast food itself, but also similar products and dishes. To provide consumers with public fast food, eateries are intended, which in colloquial language are called eateries. Some time ago, the world's largest fast food chain was McDonald's.

The fast food industry appeared in the 20s of the last century in America. So, in Kansas in 1921, the White Castle Company was opened, whose signature dish there were hamburgers - outlandish at the time. Due to the stable price and novelty, such fast food products immediately gained a lot of fans.

What is interesting: the doubts that arise from time to time about the safety of products were quickly dispelled thanks to the cunning move of the company owner. It consisted of the following: specially hired people dressed in white coats gave the impression that even doctors buy hamburgers.

In the late forties, White Castle began to have competitors, the most serious of which was McDonald's. According to statistics, the development of this company's network shows the spread of fast food: for example, in 1956 there were 14 McDonald's restaurants in the United States, and today this corporation owns more than 30,000 establishments located in 119 countries around the world.

results latest research indicate that fast food restaurants are the most visited catering establishments in Russia. Over the past few years, about 70 percent of the residents of large cities of our country have become their visitors. At the same time, young people are recognized as true lovers of fast food, which is due to such indicators as socially active behavior, mobility and less commitment to healthy eating and lifestyle of young people.

Among the main dishes of fast food stand out such as hamburgers, sandwiches, hot dogs, corn dogs, pizza, shawarma, dener kebab, burritos, pancakes, french fries, falafel, as well as fish and chips. Of the drinks, the most common are carbonated soft drinks - Coca-Cola, Sprite, Dr. Pepper, Pepsi, as well as milkshakes.

It is important that recently, especially after the campaign of supporters for a healthy diet who call for a boycott of fast food, sales in America and other developed countries have begun to decline sharply. The fact is that semi-finished products that are widely used in fast food chains, along with other “factory-made” food, may contain a large number of chemical food additives.

For example, according to some sources, fast food poses a danger to nervous system person. It has been proven that a diet rich in saturated fats and sugars (food disintegrants, flavors and dyes) provokes damage to the structure of the brain, has a destructive effect on nerve tissue, and also triggers inflammatory processes. In addition, it was found that when regular use fast food dishes, there is an excess of fluid in the amygdala, which indicates damage to nerve tissues.

IN similar products(in particular, potato chips, biscuits, crackers) proven to contain trans isomers fatty acids, which can account for 30 to 50 percent, since most of them are made using hydrogenated fats. Their adverse effect on a person is manifested in a violation of immunity, an increase in the risk of developing oncological diseases and diabetes, decreased testosterone levels.

In addition, with the systematic and uncontrolled consumption of such fast food dishes, the metabolism of prostaglandins, which are found in almost all organs and tissues and are responsible for regulating many processes in the human body, is disrupted). In addition, with such nutrition, the work of cytochrome c oxidase, the main enzyme that neutralizes carcinogenic and a number of medicinal toxins, is disrupted.

If you like the information, please click the button