Want some fries with that?

A nutritional conversion is going on from the richer to the poorer group of people in the society of Bangladesh where the change moves from native, old-style, rural, high-fiber, low-fat intake consumed by a poorer group of people to a wealthier, Western-type of intake which is full of body fats and lacks fiber. All over the world fast food is the furthermost consumed and widespread Western-type of snack food. 

Following the ongoing trend, major cities of Bangladesh are establishing various fast food shops. Most of the city people, specifically the adolescents and the young, are going to these shops for taking their snacks and lunch. Western-type fast food (FF) is rising among the buyers besides traditional snacks (TS). Urban food consumption is dominated by the FF and for most urban people, it has been reported that these FF provide a very significant amount of the total food consumption.

However, from the nutritional point of view, both FF and TS are not always ideal for the human body. 

Harmful energy contents as well as salts are there in most of these food items. The high quantities of fat and sugar used as elements in these foods are the main sources of high energy. Generally, livestock yields are the source of ingredients and dressing resources of these products which contain a huge quantity of cholesterol.

Moreover, poor hygiene and poor quality of food are very common in emerging countries like Bangladesh. In many developing countries the way of this type of dietary life may be responsible for a sharp rise in diet-related diseases. In Bangladesh, there are plenty of reports available indicating a major rise in CHD-related mortality and morbidity. 

There are several studies which have intended to explore the nutritional value, nutrient configuration, and intake pattern of some commercial FF and TS in Bangladesh since the culture of fast food is being treated as a new trend in our society. Some selected commercial FF and TS were studied recently and analyzed components like cholesterol, total fat, and triacylglycerol of those selected food items.

From 4 different FF shops of Dhaka city a total of 184 samples from 18 diversities of Bangladeshi commercial FF and TS samples were bought at random. Liquid and semi-liquid sections were taken as per their selling unit while solid samples were taken as one sole piece from the fast food shops. After collection, these items are weighed and then stored in a refrigerator until being analyzed. 

The analysis was conducted within 24 hours of purchase. Before starting the analysis part, standardization was applied to make trials uniform and then blended and grounded respectively. For triglyceride, cholesterol, and total lipid estimations different homogenized portions of samples were taken. With appropriate modifications using the method of (Folch et a, 1957) lipids were extracted from the samples. From collected FF and TS, targeted nutrients like cholesterol, total fat, and triacylglycerol were inspected. Table 1 indicates the lipid, cholesterol as well as triacylglycerol distribution of commercial Bangladeshi FF. 

Table 1: Lipid Content of Commercial Bangladeshi Fast Foods

Amongst the beef products, beef burger possessed the largest amount of total fat, cholesterol as well as triglyceride respectively than that of the other 2 items according to the lipid investigation of profit-making FF prepared in a Western way.

Beef pizza was relatively less harmful than the rest of the beef items in terms of both lipid and cholesterol nutrients.

Among Chicken Products FF, chicken sandwiches were identified as the most harmful item since it includes the maximum amount of Cholesterol, total fat, and triglyceride (Table 1).  The second most harmful item was chicken burger because it contains nearly half of the amount of cholesterol though it possesses a similar amount of triglyceride as a chicken sandwich. Chicken patties were relatively less harmful than the rest of the items made of chicken in terms of both lipids as well as cholesterol nutrients.

Therefore, taking chicken patties is less dangerous for health rather than taking chicken sandwiches and chicken burgers from fast food restaurants. Table 2 represents the lipid, cholesterol as well as triacylglycerol distribution of Bangladeshi traditional snack (TS) foods.

Table 2: Lipid Content of some Selected Traditional Snack Foods 

Significant amounts of lipids are recorded in the traditionally consumed snack foods all over the country (Table 2). Similar to that of beef FF (Table 1 & 2), harmful nutrients like cholesterol, total fat, and triacylglycerol are also present in significant amounts in the case of beef kabab and samocha.

Among the sweets, the highest amount of cholesterol (80.45mg/1OOg edible portion) was identified in the case of kalojam, which was about four times higher than that of raw milk (17.29mg/1OOg). 

Another interesting finding was that FF contains a relatively greater amount of lipids than these sweets contain (Table 1 & 2). The lowest amount of total fat, cholesterol, and triacylglycerol (Tables 1 & 2) was contained in the milkshake “lassi” in all studied items of FF and TS. Nowadays children, as well as young adults, are more susceptible to weight gain and obesity due to the consumption of  an uncontrolled amount of fast food which is a serious effect on their future healthy life.  

Salma Jahan is a pharmacist (M Pharm, UAP). Faroque Ahmed is Senior Research Associate, Bangladesh Institute of Governance and Management.