51 Facts About Fast-Food You Probably Didn't Know Before

The french fries you order at a fast-food restaurant may not be made from potatoes. McDonald's french fries, for example, are made from potato starch, wheat starch, and corn oil.

A chicken sandwich from a fast-food restaurant can have more than 500 calories. French fries and chicken sandwiches are some of the most popular items on fast-food menus.

The first fast-food restaurant opened in 1948. It was called White Castle and it served hamburgers and french fries. Many fast-food restaurants are now offering healthier menu options, such as salads and wraps.

Fast-food restaurants are often criticized for serving unhealthy food. They are a major source of calories in the United States. Fast-food restaurants are becoming increasingly popular in other countries.

A study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics found that fast-food consumption was associated with obesity among children and adolescents. Some fast-food chains, such as Subway and Panera Bread, offer healthier menu options.

Fast-food restaurants are a major source of sodium in the United States. A majority of Americans eat at fast-food restaurants at least once a month.

The first drive-thru restaurant opened in 1948. The first fast-food restaurant to offer drive-thru service was In-N-Out Burger.

A majority of fast-food restaurants are owned by large chains. Fast-food restaurants are a major source of income for many families. Some fast-food restaurants are now using biodegradable packaging materials.

Fast food is not just for humans - many fast-food chains offer pet food options as well. Some fast-food restaurants offer catering services for special events.

The first chicken nugget was created in the ’50s.

History

During urban development, the idea of instant, already cooked food was introduced. In cities for proper preparation of food, space and staffs were lacking in this era.

Homeowners used to avoid cooking foods in searing oil because they were scared that fire from cooking might burn down a large space. These reasons made urbanites purchase meats that were prepared before, or starches, as well as bread and noodles.

In Roman cities, sellers used to set up stands in the street which used to serve food and drink.

The timeline was post-World War II American economic boom when Americans started spending relatively more and the culture of consumerism happened.

Once eating outside was considered a luxury but when people started working outside the household, quick service coupled with inexpensive food for workers, and working families became a necessity.

Roman people used to live in insulae, which were apartment blocks with multiple floors. For food, they were dependent upon vendors or the nearest marketplace to buy baked goods and cured meats.

In the early mornings a common pick for quick snack was bread soaked in wine. Fried dough coupled with soups as well as stuffed buns were quite a common Chinese snack.

In the middle ages people started having pies, waffles, flans, pancakes, wafers, pastries and cooked meats as quick snacks in London and Paris.

Pilgrims, as well as people who did not have enough money to build a house with a kitchen or were just incompetent to cook, were catered to by fast-food establishments.

With the development of trawler fishing in United Kingdom local shellfish or seafood, e.g. oysters, eels were used in fast foods and in the quay areas they were cooked directly.

Later in 1860 fish and chips became a British favorite. Fish and chips started at Oldham's Tommyfield Market at a blue plaque and became a staple food of Victorian working class.

During 1952 in a fast food outlet in Guiseley, West Yorkshire, Harry Ramsden sold 10,000 portions of fish and chips, which was put in the Guinness Book of Records. Cornish Pastry, deep fried Mars bars, were some regional variation in British fast food.

With an increase of automobile sales in United States after World War I drive-in restaurant chains started getting popular. Billy Ingram as well as Walter Anderson introduced White Castle, a hamburger chain in 1916 with limited menu, high-volume, low-cost and high-speed service.

Here customers were allowed to watch the food preparation. In 1921 A&W Root Beer started the franchising concept with their distinctive syrup. Howard Johnson was an example in restaurant franchising with standardizing menus and advertising.

In 1920 curb service became popular and in 1940, carhops used to use roller skates. Even during the great recession Americans kept consuming fast-foods at the same pace.

Government tried to marginalize fast-food restaurants in the worry of an obesity epidemic and related illnesses.

In South Central Los Angeles 45% are fast food outlets with minimal seating. Happy meals became the new normal where they serve American food burgers, chicken sandwiches, french fries, and soda.

Variants

In US and UK Chinese takeaways are quite common. However they go beyond Chinese cuisine and serve other Asian foods, mostly variations of noodles, rice or meat.

There is a trend where restaurants serve in Smorgasbord style. In here customers are the ones to choose the size of the container and fill it with the foods they prefer.

Few outlets may charge you by weight not variety of items. In popular cities over a minimum amount these outlets can deliver foods at your doorstep for free of cost.

Lately in the western world Sushi has been getting popular. It is a Japanese fast food. It is basically cold sticky rice flavored with a sweet vinegar, fish topping, filled with cucumber, fish, seafood or chicken and wrapped in nori.

Pizzas are quite a casual option where Domino's pizza, Pizza Hut, Papa John's and Sbarro come into play. They serve limited and standardized options.

Fish and chip is the most common fast food option in New Zealand, United Kingdom and Australia. The dish is served as deep fried battered fish with deep-fried potato strips.

Kebab houses from Turkey or Lebanon, Middle East, are getting popular in New Zealand, United Kingdom and Europe but not in the United States. They serve meat from a rotisserie, with salad and sauce of your choice, and wrap it with a warmed flatbread.

A must-try variation is Dutch fast-food. A typical meal would have Friet or Patat (basically French fries) with some chopped onions, Oorlog, deep fried meat portions and salad. The sauce, Fritessaus is the highlight here. It can be sweet, vinegary and a mayonnaise replacement.

There are few other options in sauces, spiced tomato sauce aka curry, Indonesian peanut sauce aka Pindasaus or Piccalilli. In the meat portion they serve Frikandel, skinless minced meat sausage and Kroket, meat ragout wrapped in breadcrumbs.

There are a few global outlets like Nando's who serve Portuguese fast food. Some of their specialties are Frango Assado, marinated grilled chicken and Espetada, turkey or pork meat on sticks. Few other variations are Bifanas, pork cutlet, wrapped in a sandwich, Francesinha and Francesinha poveira.

Pasztecik Szczeciński, is a polish dish from a native bar, Pasztecik, on Wojska Polskiego Avenue 46 in Szczecin, Poland.

Vada pav, dahi vada, panipuri are some Indian fast-foods to boost your appetite. A variation is Brochettes, a street food from West Africa, it is basically char-grilled meat sticks.
 

Employment

Due to the high turnover U.S. Bureau of Labor are expecting more opportunities for the under-privileged people.

U.S. Bureau of Labor made a statistical analysis in 2010, which concluded that 4.1 million U.S. workers got their job in food preparation and serving industry.

The researchers at the University of California -Berkeley made a survey, which said 5.4 million U.S. workers are working for the food industry and dependent on on at least one public assistance program.

Last mentioned data had shown in April, 2011  62,000 new workers started working with McDonald's. During hiring  a million applications were received but their acceptance rate was 6.2%.

People in the age of 25 to 28 are the ones to apply for these jobs. Major fast-food restaurants prefer employees with Human Resource Management diploma and diploma in Fast Food Management while hiring.

In Australia 17% of native people work in the fast-food industry.

Globalization

During 2006 the global fast-food market encountered an exponential growth by 4.8%. The total value was worth up to £102.4 billion with £80.3 billion transactions.

In 126 countries on 6 continents McDonald's has their 31,000 outlets. McDonald's extending their global scale to Russia, can be considered as an example to analyze the globalization process.

As an American venture they had to set up some strategy to align with the eating habits of Muscovites, natives in Moscow. In Russian food and culture Muscovites are concerned about the locality of foods they consume.

McDonald's was required to implement some customary changes in their outlets. On 31st January, 1990 their first outlet was inaugurated in Moscow and surpassed the former opening-day records for customers served.

McDonald's has their largest outlet in Orlando, Florida, United States with 25,000 feet of play tubes, an arcade and play center.

There are few other commonly famous fast food outlets. Subway has the fastest growth for serving the cheapest fast-food globally. They have an average of  39,129 restaurants in 90 countries. In 1984 for the first time they set up their non-US outlet in Bahrain.

KFC has its outlets in 25 countries. Pizza hut had expanded up to 97 countries, with 100 locations in China.

Taco Bell has its outlets at 278 different locations in 14 countries just outside United States.

Burger King has expanded in more or less 65 countries at 11,100 different locations.

Other Miscellaneous Facts

In the United States for advertising purposes fast-food outlets spend $4.6 billion and this is responsible for the improvement in sales by 8% from 2009 to 2012. McDonald's spent three times more than the advertisers of essential commodities and here one universal example would be their mascot Ronald McDonald.

A research team from Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College published a report. They claimed people who have watched any advertisements on fast-food, they are more likely to come to these subsequent fast food outlets. The target audience of fast-food industry is Black and Hispanic youth.

The Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity manifested that fast-food industry put $318 million on Spanish-language TV channels and $99 million on TV channels with majorly Black viewers.

Advertising on these made an increment by 8% in 2012. Even big global outlets like KFC and Burger King participated in this.

The Council of Better Business Bureaus initiated a campaign to advertise only more healthy products to children, but in the end, it could not add up to the industrial monopoly.

The fast-food industry is criticized for worker exploitation, animal cruelty, cultural degradation, negative health effects from those sugar, trans fat and saturated fat, shifts in people's eating patterns.

Deregulated food markets are held responsible by World Health Organization for the obesity crisis. Local governments in US once tried a failed attempt to marginalize the number of fast-food restaurants in certain areas.

FAQs

What was the 1st fast-food?

A: White Castle is considered as the first fast-food chain and they used to serve sliders, which are small, square hamburgers.

What does fast food do to your brain?

A: Fast-foods diminish the ability of a human brain to think, learn and remember. It may be responsible for blood sugar fluctuation, which leads to anxiety, panic attacks, insomnia and the trans fat may give you heart disease.

How popular is fast-food?

A: Being inexpensive and convenient at least 83% of average American households spend 10% of their salary to have junk foods once a week despite them having more calories than whole organic foods.

What's the oldest fast-food chain?

A: White Castle is known for being the oldest fast-food chain.

Why is it called fast-food?

A: During 1950 the fast-food term was started with a drive-through restaurant in the United States.

What state eats the most fast-food?

A: The people of Mississippi spend their big chuck of money eating fast-foods.

Who invented fast-food?

A: The fast-food was invented in White Castle by Walter Anderson and former reporter Edgar W.

What year did fast-food start?

A: Fast-food started getting popularity from 1921.

Who eats the most junk food?

A: Most junk food consumers are male, and African-American, and prefer fast-food in lunch than any other part of the day.

How big is the fast food industry?

A: The fast-food industry in the United States is worth $296.55 billion.

What's the cheapest fast-food franchise?

A: Subway is chosen as the cheapest fast-food franchise by millions of customers.