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Fast Food Nation: Philippines
By Timothy Daiss

“Give me a burger, and an order of fries and a Coke.”

“Would you like to upsize the fries and Coke,” asks the pimple-faced 18-year old behind the counter.

“Yeah why not? And add an apple pie.”

Lines from everyday life. Lines we have repeated hundreds, if not thousands of times. Lines invading our lives and permeating cultures worldwide. Welcome to the fast food universe.

In his book Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the American Meal, investigative journalist Eric Schlosser examines the local and global influence of the American fast food industry.

Some of his findings were shocking, while others proved controversial. In his award winning book Schlosser examines the link between fast food and obesity, as well as how the top three soft drink companies Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Cadbury-Schweppes spend large sums of money, including school funding programs, to increase consumption of their products by American children. He also discusses the horrors of slaughterhouses that supply much of the meat for the fast food franchises.

In another chapter entitled "Your Trusted Friends," Schlosser takes a critical look at what he claims is a deliberate targeting of children by fast food corporations. Think of Ronald McDonald and you get the idea…

Finally, in what seems to be the most poignant assertion of the book, Schlosser states that, just as in the United States, "the fast food companies have targeted their worldwide advertising and promotion at a group of consumers with fewest attachments to tradition: young children.”

In other words fast-food-America went global.

SPREADING THE GOSPEL OF FAT AND GLUTTONY
Traveling around Asia the last few years, I have seen first hand how American fast food has permeated countries with otherwise healthy diets.

During my stay in Tokyo in early 2006, I was both amused and shocked at long lines there. The lines weren’t going into a disco on Saturday night nor the theater. The lines snaking around the corner in downtown Tokyo led to McDonald’s. I stood too, among the fresh faced 20-something crowd, waiting for my fix of Coke, burgers and fries.

No wonder obesity rates in Asia are also increasing.

Next stop: Jakarta.

Two years ago I spent time in Jakarta, hanging out with a group of Indonesian friends. When I said:” Let’s eat!” they were eager to comply. Thinking I was in for some traditional Indonesian delicacies, I was surprised when Winda enthusiastically remarked:

“What about KFC!”

“KFC”? I muttered, thinking it was a joke at my expense.

But KFC it was. The decision was unanimous, with one vote of dissention, mine. I didn’t want KFC, but not wanting to play the part of the arrogant foreigner, I obliged.

Again in Hong Kong a few months ago, a similar scenario played out during my visit there.

But what about the Philippines?

FAST FOOD PINOY STYLE
One word sums up fast food in the Philippines: Jollibee.

Not that American fast food chains aren’t here and thriving. They are.

McDonald’s “McDo”, KFC, Wendy's, Pizza Hut and others have carved a permanent niche not only in the fast food market place but also in the Pinoy vernacular.

“Love ko ’to” is as familiar as “salamat po”and “kumusta.” And, what Filipino hasn’t heard 8-6236 (8-MCDO—McDonald’s delivery number) a thousand times or seen it plastered all over bill boards and newspapers?

THE BEE
Yet as popular as McDo is, Jollibee is the country’s leading fast food chain.

“What began as a two-branch ice cream parlor in 1975 offering hot meals and sandwiches became incorporated in 1978 with seven outlets to explore the possibilities of a hamburger concept. Thus was born the company that revolutionized fast food in the Philippines,” states the Jollibee website.

Jollibee has grown exponentially. From a handful of stores 32 years ago, they now boast of more than 600 stores and over 50 international stores.

However, Jollibee Foods Corporation, as of 2008, had 1,466 stores in the Philippines, namely, Jollibee (627), Chowking (377), Greenwich Pizza (236), Red Ribbon Bakeshop (194), Délifrance (28) and Manong Pepe's (4).

Jollibee like McDonald’s and other American fast food chains, target kids. In fact its founder Tony Tan Caktiong and his brothers traveled to the U.S. back in the 1970s to learn the tricks of the trade from chains like McDonald’s.

It’s little wonder that the colorful “bee” is a knock-off on the Ronald McDonald clown. “Jollibee,” the bee mascot introduced by the brand in 1980 is probably the most widely recognized character in the Philippines. Move over Ronald McDonald.

FAST FOOD HAZARDS
But at what risk does the average Filipino consume fast food? The Philippines already has a high rate of diabetes. And with the promulgation of fast foods like Jollibee, McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut and more recently Krispy Kreme, that rate can only continue to increase.

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the U.S., eating at fast-food restaurants more than twice per week is associated with more weight gain and insulin resistance in otherwise healthy young adults.

Young adults who frequently eat fast food gain more weight and have a greater increase in insulin resistance in early middle age, according to a large multi-center study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).

After 15 years, those who ate at fast-food restaurants more than twice per week compared to less than once a week had gained an extra ten pounds and had a two-fold greater increase in insulin resistance, a risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Diabetes is a major risk factor for heart disease.

So, next time you bite into a McDonald’s Big Mac or a Jollibee Champ burger consider this:

A McDonald's Big Mac combination meal with a regular order of fries and Coke has 1,070 calories: 430 calories from fat, 48 fat grams, 1310 mg of sodium and 75 mg of cholesterol.

Jollibee however doesn’t place a high priority on publicizing its products nutritional information. It has no nutritional information available at either its stores or on its corporate website. And, an email to its headquarters went unanswered.

Yet its Champ burger (1/3 pound beef), fries and a Coke surely has comparable amounts of fat, sodium and cholesterol as its McDonald’s counterpart, provoking the question:

Is eating this unhealthy food really worth it?

Better chew on it a while.

The answer may kill you.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU
My column “Hong Kong Be Damned,” a few weeks ago, about an OFWs trouble in Hong Kong, generated a lot of reader response. In light of this, if you know any OFW story that deserves to be told, let us know.

We are asking you to help us report the story by telling us what’s going on. Contact me using the twitter link. http://twitter.com/tdaiss or at the email below-

Tim is a journalist, author of four non-fiction books, an ESL teacher and public speaker. He has written for numerous publications in the US as well as international magazines, newspapers and websites. He holds a B.B.A. in Finance as well as a Master’s. He can be reached at timothygsu85@yahoo.com or at http://twitter.com/tdaiss.

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