THE FAST FOOD NUTRITION GUIDE

Public-health-conscious food writers campaign for labelling of contents by fast-food chains, but the apocalyptic tone of the diet recommendations is not likely to win many converts: contemplating triple cheeseburger, how many will want to read words on the order of ""and then comes the heart attack""? Many charts are included that rate foods according to various contents. Again, it is moot how many fast-food freaks will become born-again health nuts on learning that salad-bar cauliflower is extremely low in fat. An unhappy tone reigns through much of this. A morbid anecdote compares the state of arteries of US soldiers autopsied in Vietnam, as opposed to the native peoples there. To crown it all, there is an innovation the authors call a ""Gloom Factor,"" namely, how dangerous and destructive the fast foods you plan to gobble will be. Surely no diner will want to approach eating out with this sort of negative frame of mind. Too, there are inevitable contradictions for anyone who wants to put the data in these charts to practical use. For instance, to gain calcium, one would be best eating a large Dairy Queen Chocolate Shake, but that item also has the most calories of any fast food. What to do? The author recommends that Dairy Queen customers eat only the ""fish sandwich, single hamburger, and small ice-cream cone."" In sum, a well-intentioned but not authoritative grapple with the fast-food mess, distinctly unappetizing even for those fast fooders with cast-iron stomachs.