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Western fast food companies are aggressively expanding in Brazil

nytimes.com

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Re: Western fast food companies are aggressively expanding in Brazil

#21

Post by shihching »

icelancer wrote: post #18
shihching wrote: post #13

> At one meeting, a representative from the food industry accused Anvisa of trying to subvert parental authority, saying mothers had the right to decide what to feed their children, recalled Vanessa Schottz, a nutrition advocate. The same argument is used in the US to thwart limitations on sugary beverage purchases and other junk food with SNAP -- these compose 10-20% of purchases, 50% of which goes to Wal-Mart, alon…

>>The same argument is used in the US to thwart limitations on sugary beverage purchases and other junk food with SNAP Those living under the poverty line don't like being hit with condescending statements coming from those who are supposedly trying to help them, either. Conservatives/Republicans at least call the poor lazy. Liberals/Democrats who want to restrict sugar/luxury items from EBT/SNAP often make ridiculou…

Paternalist liberal arguments versus beverage lobbies and PR firms will indeed ring hollow and have failed. Rather than merely advocate for curbs, and lose, I would like to see the Nestle type companies prosecuted for responsibility for the negative health outcomes, and then we adjudicate the relative responsibility of 'free' consumers purchasing products known to be toxic (as will likely be surfaced during discovery of internal lab tests alongside public health studies) compared to the selling corporations. As is, the Nestles, and their ownership entities, corner both cheap unhealthy and more costly healthier foods -- effectively playing the spread of the income and wit of their customers.

Few Republicans have the candor to accuse the poor of sloth outright, instead indirectly consigning them to the oblivion of work requirements and the cheap food products low wages can buy.

I do sympathize with the mothers I see on the L fobbing off screaming children with high fructose corn syrup -- and I seek a betterment of their condition, and my own, not by leaving them solely to their own devices, but by assigning responsibility to the more powerful actors here and seeking state restraint as the remedy with sufficient scale and force to succeed.

Advertising can conceal the entire toolbox of dissimulation, hence the coordinated efforts to undermine regulation limiting the hocking of known toxicities. The market drive to eat will find and create food within the bounds of law, as it does, to such horrifying effect in Brazil as the United States.

Re: Western fast food companies are aggressively expanding in Brazil

#22

Post by lerax »

pkaye wrote: post #14
dasil003 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a Brazilian-American who spent many years in both countries from the 1980s until today, you're misrepresenting things a bit. First of all, the juice concentrates are a newish thing, 20 years ago it was still common to make fruit juice from scratch at home every day. Also, farofa is fried (more like sauteed, it doesn't need that much oil) yucca flour, which is a world away from refined white flour. Growing up, lunc…

What is in a typical Brazilian breakfast in you opinion?

BTW, the main Brazilian meal is usually lunch.

Re: Western fast food companies are aggressively expanding in Brazil

#24

Post by tomcam »

icelancer wrote: post #18
shihching wrote: post #13

> At one meeting, a representative from the food industry accused Anvisa of trying to subvert parental authority, saying mothers had the right to decide what to feed their children, recalled Vanessa Schottz, a nutrition advocate. The same argument is used in the US to thwart limitations on sugary beverage purchases and other junk food with SNAP -- these compose 10-20% of purchases, 50% of which goes to Wal-Mart, alon…

>>The same argument is used in the US to thwart limitations on sugary beverage purchases and other junk food with SNAP Those living under the poverty line don't like being hit with condescending statements coming from those who are supposedly trying to help them, either. Conservatives/Republicans at least call the poor lazy. Liberals/Democrats who want to restrict sugar/luxury items from EBT/SNAP often make ridiculou…

> Conservatives/Republicans at least call the poor lazy

Not the ones I read. Could you cite some mainstream examples?

Re: Western fast food companies are aggressively expanding in Brazil

#25

Post by lerax »

flachsechs wrote: post #7
crazygringo wrote: post #4

As an American who lived in Brazil for 8 years, honestly I'm not sure this is any worse than traditional food. A typical Brazilian lunch is a piece of meat with beans, sides of rice, french fries, and fried flour (farofa) -- that's right, 3 carbs of empty calories (2 fried) and no real vegetables -- all washed down with mostly-added-sugar "fruit juice concentrate" (cashew apple is really common). Bar snacks are 100%…

don't forget the caipirinha, usually a double or triple shot of sugarcane rum mixed with sugar syrup and fruit juice (more sugar)... sometimes served with granulated cane sugar on the rim of the glass. needless to say, it gets you hammered in a hurry. or the local beer... honestly i think the healthiest restaurant food i saw in brazil was the appetizer salad bar at the churrascaria, which is of course the kind of pla…

Oh man... so much (wrong) bias about Brazil :/

Re: Western fast food companies are aggressively expanding in Brazil

#26

Post by Animats »

Japan seems to have fought this off. Japan has explicitly rejected "fat acceptance" as public policy. Under the 2008 "Metabo Law", everyone between 40 and 75 is weighed and measured annually and sent to counseling if overweight. Employers are involved and apply pressure to employees.

Re: Western fast food companies are aggressively expanding in Brazil

#27

Post by candiodari »

Animats wrote: post #26

Japan seems to have fought this off. Japan has explicitly rejected "fat acceptance" as public policy. Under the 2008 "Metabo Law", everyone between 40 and 75 is weighed and measured annually and sent to counseling if overweight. Employers are involved and apply pressure to employees.

> Employers are involved and apply pressure to employees.

That sounds like hell.

Re: Western fast food companies are aggressively expanding in Brazil

#28

Post by sagivo »

In Israel fast food costs more than normal food. Vegetables are relatively cheep to the US ($3 for avocado??) And in general "fast" food is not a value people appreciate over "healthy". One of the ways to fight obesity is by taxation and lowering the costs of healthy food. When salad will cost less than a burger (and there's no economic reason it shouldn't) people will choose it.

Re: Western fast food companies are aggressively expanding in Brazil

#29

Post by candiodari »

dasil003 wrote: post #11
crazygringo wrote: post #4

As an American who lived in Brazil for 8 years, honestly I'm not sure this is any worse than traditional food. A typical Brazilian lunch is a piece of meat with beans, sides of rice, french fries, and fried flour (farofa) -- that's right, 3 carbs of empty calories (2 fried) and no real vegetables -- all washed down with mostly-added-sugar "fruit juice concentrate" (cashew apple is really common). Bar snacks are 100%…

As a Brazilian-American who spent many years in both countries from the 1980s until today, you're misrepresenting things a bit. First of all, the juice concentrates are a newish thing, 20 years ago it was still common to make fruit juice from scratch at home every day. Also, farofa is fried (more like sauteed, it doesn't need that much oil) yucca flour, which is a world away from refined white flour. Growing up, lunc…

Fruit juice is pretty bad on the calories regardless of added sugar or not. I mean, the sugar doesn't help, and has other bad effects (teeth, most notably).

But the issue with fruit juice is just how much fruit you need to make it. One glass of apple juice is 3-4 apples. An apple is 60-80 calories. That makes that glass about 300 calories, which is ridiculous.

It's a bit less bad with orange juice, although like lemon juice it has other problems (they're very acidic, at least as bad as coke).

So one glass of juice should be somewhere between 20-25% of your total meal calorie intake. As in, if you drink (one glass) of juice, 2 loaves of bread is now your limit. With water, you can do 3.

But the sugar. Well, the sugar takes the 250-300 calorie glass to 300-350. Not good, but ... not going to make the difference. That's like taking a bit more jam on the sandwich.

Re: Western fast food companies are aggressively expanding in Brazil

#30

Post by rabuke »

sagivo wrote: post #28

In Israel fast food costs more than normal food. Vegetables are relatively cheep to the US ($3 for avocado??) And in general "fast" food is not a value people appreciate over "healthy". One of the ways to fight obesity is by taxation and lowering the costs of healthy food. When salad will cost less than a burger (and there's no economic reason it shouldn't) people will choose it.

Don't make it sound like taxation and some legislation is making salad cheaper, it's just that everything is so expensive here you think a 15$ salad is normal.
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