The night-walkers of Uganda

Tick the words or phrases would you expect to read in an article about junk food.
b
urg
er 
super-size 
fries
apple 
adverts
snacks
cereal 
drive-in
breakfast
tray 
judge
calories
New York
health
Glasgow
cosmetic
hot dogs
TV
home-cooked
Add some more ideas of your own.
____________ ____________ ____________ ____________
ü
213

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What’s in the Big Apple?
For every salad, McDonald’s sells eight double 
cheeseburgers. 
Andrew Clark in New York
September 13, 2007
In a recent court case concerning America’s junk 
food industry, a group of fast food restaurants in 
New York persuaded a judge that they shouldn’t 
have to write the number of calories in their 
meals on in-store menu boards. 
Judge Richard Holwell said that New York’s 
Board of Health was not allowed to demand that 
larger restaurant chains write calorie figures
next to prices for food such as a McDonald’s Big 
Mac meal (1,430 calories) or Burger King’s triple 
Whopper with cheese (1,230 calories). 
The court case was the city’s latest effort to do 
something about obesity which is worse in New 
York than in the rest of America. More than half 
of the Big Apple’s residents are overweight and 
a third are clinically obese. Among children, US 
obesity levels have tripled since the 1970s. 
Mary Bassett, New York’s deputy commissioner 
for health promotion and disease prevention, 
says Americans consume nearly 50% of their 
food outside the home. Huge helpings, high 
salt content and fatty ingredients mean that the 
average calorie intake in restaurants is far higher 
than in home-cooked food. 
“When people shop in supermarkets, they can 
see a nutritional fact chart on the box which 
tells them what they’re getting. When you buy 
food in a restaurant, you have no idea what the 
nutritional content is,” says Dr Bassett. 
“Most people know that a large portion of fries is 
unhealthy”, argues Dr Bassett, “But, I don’t think 
many people would guess that a McDonald’s 
deluxe breakfast contains nearly all their 
recommended calorie intake for the day.” 
However, the big fast food chains complained 
that it is expensive and unfair – and that they 
already provide plenty of information on their 
websites. 
Chuck Hunt, a spokesman for the New York 
State Restaurant Association, says: “The correct 
way to deal with this is through education, not 
through rules.” 
The industry argues that calories are only one 
of many ways to measure how healthy food is. 
Putting them on a menu, says the association, 
will only “confuse” people. 
The fast food industry has been trying hard to 
present a caring, sharing image and restaurants 
now sell salads, shakes, milk and fruity nibbles. 
Last week, Burger King announced it was 
launching ‘apple fries’ – slices of apple cut to 
look like chips – to persuade young customers 
to eat healthier food. But, for every salad 
they sell, McDonald’s still sells eight double 
cheeseburgers. 
A few chains are taking responsibility. Subway, 
which sells fresh sandwiches, has decided to 
display calories on its menus. Its spokesman, 
Les Winograd, says it was to the firm’s
advantage: “We have a reputation for offering 
healthier alternatives to traditional fatty fast food.” 
In response to pressure, the industry has 
stopped marketing the worst of its food to 
children. The Council of Better Business Bureaus 
has asked companies to stop targeting under-
12s. Burger King, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, McDonald’s, 
Kellogg’s and Kraft have already agreed to this 
request. Currently, children in America see an 
average of 21 adverts a day for sweets, snacks, 
cereals and fast food. 
Experts say the fast food industry’s New York 
court case cancels out such positive action. Kelly 
Brownell, director of the Rudd Center for Food 
Policy and Obesity at Yale University, says: