Risks of Fast Food

The fast food, in Italian fast food, is a type of food distribution born in Anglo-Saxon countries, which since the 1980s has spread rapidly throughout almost the whole world; fast food is a collective catering method (fixed or mobile) focused on the production and FAST delivery of food ECONOMIC, with a SUSTAINABLE cost for the average population.

NB. fast food is ALSO the noun for food itself.
The low nutritional value of the foods distributed in fast food restaurants, associated with a commercial strategy focused on profit optimization, significantly compromises the healthiness of the meal, exposing consumers to significant risks.
stuffed sandwiches (hamburgers and variants, hot-dogs, pita stuffed with kebabs, etc.), fried (croquettes, falafel, french fries, mozzarella, battered vegetables, crab claws, croutons, tortillas, etc.), pizzas and other baked goods, bruschetteria, stuffed wraps (especially with fatty cured meats, cheeses and sauces), sweet pastas (croissants, crafen etc.), sauces of all kinds (mayonnaise and creams, ketchup, mustard, mustard etc.), ice creams, cakes and muffins, etc. . Among these fast food foods, most are also considered junk food or "junk" food.
NB. Fizzy and / or sweet drinks and beer are also considered junk food or junk food.

Risks inherent in fast food

The risks of fast food are numerous and concern various hygiene and food aspects:

Risks of fast food related to the nutritional quality of junk foods - junk foods
Risks of fast food linked to toxic molecules
Risks of fast food linked to food poisoning
Risks of fast food related to food diseducation
Risks of fast food linked to the incompetence of nutritionists

Junk food - junk foods

The risks of fast food linked to "junk foods" are numerous and an entire chapter would not be enough to describe them in a sufficiently exhaustive manner. What is certain is that all forms of fast food do NOT have an adequate nutritional balance; this statement could be countered by stating that the suitability of each food in the diet must be assessed on the basis of the DAILY contextualization of the meals. However, by carefully observing all the products mentioned above, it is quite clear that each of them has one or more negative characteristics such as:

High energy density
Low quantity of water (drinks aside), few mineral salts and vitamins typical of fresh vegetables
Notable contribution of: saturated, hydrogenated fats and cholesterol; but also of sucrose and / or sweeteners, and alcohol
Low amount of dietary fiber
High ration of sodium chloride
Low concentration of essential fats.

The risks of frequently eating fast food are linked to weight gain (fat mass), to the potential alteration of lipid metabolism (hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia), carbohydrate (hyperglycemia and diabetes) e blood pressure (prehypertension and hypertension), and vitamin deficiency, mineral salts And dietary fiber typical of fresh vegetables and fruit.

Toxic molecules

The risks of fast food caused by the high concentration of toxic molecules mainly concern contamination by:

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and related EPOXIES (hepatic metabolites)
Acrolein and formaldehyde
Acrylamide

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons derive from the carbonization of food fats and proteins; they are dangerous for human health because they increase the risk of cellular DNA mutation causing CARCINOGENESIS especially in the esophageal, gastric, intestinal and hepatic tissues.
Acrolein and formaldehyde, on the other hand, are released ONLY by the combustion of glycerol present in fats: being volatile substances, they significantly increase the risks of: irritation of the ocular and nasal muscles, esophageal tumors and probably leukochemias.
Acrylamide is freed from the carbonization of carbohydrates and it too promotes the risk of carcinogenesis.
These molecules are released due to certain types of cooking such as: frying, grilling and grilling, and are present both in fast-food foods and in the "air of kitchens and / or restaurant rooms, causing damage to both" operator than to the consumer.
NB. It should be noted that all the toxic catabolites indicated above, which significantly increase the risk of carcinogenesis, are enclosed in a single meal based on hamburgers and fries; on the contrary, poorly balanced foods of Italian origin (wraps, sandwiches with salami, pizza, etc.) DO NOT significantly increase the aforementioned risks.

Food poisoning

In fast food restaurants there is a good chance of contracting some food diseases; in reality it would be more correct to talk about both infections and intoxications and toxinfections, since it is possible to get sick both from pathogenic bacteria (or viruses) and their toxins or both.
The risks of contracting these diseases are mainly linked to the consumption of UNhealthy foods, therefore contaminated (such as minced meat), which moreover do not reach sufficient cooking temperatures in the center of the food.
In this regard, some think (including not very competent nutritionists) that "good cooking" can sterilize foods making them harmless ... nothing more dangerous! Remember that ONLY the bacterial load and PROTEIN ESO-toxins can be destroyed by cooking [Gram positive (+) bacteria], while Gram negative (-) bacteria possess LIPID membrane ENDO-toxins thermoSTABLE capable of causing food poisoning EVEN after the death of the bacterium itself! Ultimately, a contaminated food always favors the risks of food poisoning and the commercial policy of fast food ("low cost and high yield!") Can favor its distribution to the public and contagion.

Food miseducation

As if that weren't enough, getting people (especially young and very young) used to eating at fast food restaurants is a non-educational factor that significantly increases all the above risks ... especially in the presence of food abuse (increasingly frequent). Children get used to very sweet, salty and "greasy" flavors, consolidating bad eating habits also pursued in home nutrition.

Incompetence of nutritionists

A "final observation deserves" to be made on the specific knowledge and relative professional skills of the nutritionists who work in fast food restaurants. Let me be clear, with this paragraph we do not intend to make "all the grass a bundle", but to document a situation as widespread as worrying.
Working inside a fast food restaurant is not always a lifestyle choice and is more often an "obligatory" path; it can be deduced that, in addition to the lack of professional stimuli, the nutritionists who work inside a fast food restaurant do not possess a range of specific and suitable PROFESSIONAL TRAINING for this work activity. By virtue of the Italian regulations in force (useful for reducing all the risks in the sector), kitchen and distribution operators are required to attend the "mandatory micro-courses" provided by the competent authorities which, in my opinion, cannot absolutely replace the path didactic by technical-professional hotel or similar institutes.
Unfortunately, the lack of essential notions on cooking techniques, processing, conservation, cleaning, management, food chemistry, etc. it significantly contributes to increasing all the risks associated with the handling and marketing of food, worsening the healthiness (already questionable in itself) of the widespread restaurants and fast food foods.