Temporal Trends in Fast-Food Restaurant Energy, Sodium, Saturated Fat, and Trans Fat Content, United States, 1996–2013

Details

• Journal Article:
  Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD)
• Personal Author:
  Urban, Lorien E. ; Roberts, Susan B. ; Fierstein, Jamie L. ; Gary, Christine E. ; Lichtenstein, Alice H.
• Description:
  Introduction
  
  Excess intakes of energy, sodium, saturated fat, and trans fat are associated with increased risk for cardiometabolic syndrome. Trends in fast-food restaurant portion sizes can inform policy decisions. We examined the variability of popular food items in 3 fast-food restaurants in the United States by portion size during the past 18 years.
  
  Methods
  
  Items from 3 national fast-food chains were selected: French fries, cheeseburgers, grilled chicken sandwich, and regular cola. Data on energy, sodium, saturated fat, and trans fat content were collated from 1996 through 2013 using an archival website. Time trends were assessed using simple linear regression models, using energy or a nutrient component as the dependent variable and the year as the independent variable.
  
  Results
  
  For most items, energy content per serving differed among chain restaurants for all menu items (P ≤ .04); energy content of 56% of items decreased (β range, −0.1 to −5.8 kcal) and the content of 44% increased (β range, 0.6–10.6 kcal). For sodium, the content of 18% of the items significantly decreased (β range, −4.1 to −24.0 mg) and the content for 33% increased (β range, 1.9–29.6 mg). Absolute differences were modest. The saturated and trans fat content, post-2009, was modest for French fries. In 2013, the energy content of a large-sized bundled meal (cheeseburger, French fries, and regular cola) represented 65% to 80% of a 2,000-calorie-per-day diet, and sodium content represented 63% to 91% of the 2,300-mg-per-day recommendation and 97% to 139% of the 1,500-mg-per-day recommendation.
  
  Conclusion
  
  Findings suggest that efforts to promote reductions in energy, sodium, saturated fat, and trans fat intakes need to be shifted from emphasizing portion-size labels to additional factors such as total calories, frequency of eating, number of items ordered, menu choices, and energy-containing beverages.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Caloric Restriction/standards Cardiovascular Diseases Energy Intake* Fast Foods Fatty Acids Food Analysis/standards Food Labeling/trends Humans Linear Models Longitudinal Studies Restaurants/standards Sodium, Dietary Trans Fatty Acids

  More +
• Source:
  Prev Chronic Dis. 11.
• DOI:
  http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd11.140202
• ISSN:
  1545-1151
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• Volume:
  11
• Collection(s):
  Preventing Chronic Disease
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:985a1c25fe3b2157c152932458c065fafb0b8baba0eefe2c8e20ab0be19156d3e1f666153295112039156bda5ef74b7033fe31fe31a05b83562face354aaeddc
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/26564/cdc_26564_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 409.68 KB ]