Friday, April 29, 2011

Hand Breaded to what end?

We can add this to the same obfuscation category as the "natural cut" french fry-

Sorry for the ten dollar word, but as I sat staring at the screen wondering just what to call this advertising tactic it was the only word that came to me.  Hand breaded and natural cut are not euphemisms - the foods are really prepared in that way - but the phrases are certainly intended to confuse the consumer and to make things unclear - so obfuscate it is -

What are the advertisers, and in this case it's Hardees, trying to cover up?  I am thinking the 21 grams of fat in the 5 piece meal.  In other words, hand breaded does not mean grilled - it doesn't even mean baked - it is still a food fried in oil (having similar fat and calories as those that are NOT hand breaded).  Much in the same way as those natural cut french fries are in fact, FRIED.  And as I was writing this and going back and forth between fast food websites, I began to wonder if both of these word trickeries were from Hardees and in fact, it is so. 

Hand breaded chicken tenders and natural cut fries - put them together and you have 35 grams of fat which I believe is close to many persons recommended total fat amount for the day - oh, and just for fun - that also includes 1760 mg of sodium(salt) -

What is to be lauded here is that the companies ARE posting the nutrient content on line in easy to read formats.  In the end, you decide what you want to eat, when and where - my main goal is that you know what that decision entails with regard to fat, cals, sugar, salt etc.

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