Fast foods: the drop in nutritional quality “is worrying” while the “frequentation of young people is increasing”, estimates the CLCV

“It is worrying because at the same time there is an increase in the frequentation of fast food chains by young people”, said Monday, November 28 on franceinfo Lisa Faulet, food manager of the consumer association CLCV, author of a survey on fast food. Fast-food children’s menus have too many calories and their nutritional quality is declining, reveals the CLCV’s “Fast-food: children’s menus still too high in calories” survey.

franceinfo: Can a child eat balanced fast food?

Lisa Faulet: There is such a variety of options within the same menu that it is possible to make rather healthy choices by favoring a drink with little sugar, a fruit for dessert or a compote, cherry tomatoes instead of fries. . This remains unrealistic menus because they are not chosen by children and adolescents. When they go to fast food, they crave fries and soda more.

Does it matter if it only happens once in a while?

We are not saying that fries should be eliminated from fast food restaurants. The first piece of advice we give is not to go there too often, but you can have fun. It is necessary from time to time to modify the accompaniment, to take a dessert a little less sweet.

How do you explain that caloric intake has increased over the years?

We expected the opposite when comparing with our study 10 years ago. We also have a lot of marketing from these brands that talk about the effort to supply organic ingredients. But this may have been done to the detriment of the nutritional quality which has tended to deteriorate in 10 years. This is worrying when we know that at the same time there is an increase in the frequentation of fast food chains by young people.

What are the habits of young people?

According to the latest figures, 50% of children and 60% of teenagers go to fast food chains at least once a month. 20% go there at least once a week. These figures have doubled over the past 10 years. These are accessible menus and it remains a moment of pleasure.

What do you recommend ?

We wanted to see if consumers had access to nutritional information when they checkout. In restaurants, it’s very difficult to get them. Some brands are making efforts, making the nutri-score available, but you have to go to a specific tab, not at all visible, when choosing the products. We contacted retailers before the study was published. To date we have not had any answers but we will publish them if we have any.