3.071
16 (Fri) March 2012
Shanghai Spice Chicken Burger Set
2.0
at McDonald’s
(E-Mart)
-Seongsu, Seongdong, Seoul, Republic of Korea-
with W and DJ
I’d totally forgotten that I’d had this same thing and regretted it a couple years back (see 1.103 Shanghai Spice Chicken Burger Set). As usual, I couldn’t resist the in-store advertising, which was promoting the set at the lunch price of 4,100 won all day. Impossible to resist. Anyway, the burger was still pretty crappy. In fact, I’m surprised that it remains on the regular menu; I would’ve thought that it was one of those limited gimmick items that come and go every few months.
In a course on public health law that I used to teach, one of the main topics was legislation and litigation involving fast food companies as part of a wider effort to stem the spreading obesity epidemic. The discussion would begin with a review of the situation in the United States, where obesity is far more prevalent in poorer populations, a seemingly paradoxical phenomenon observed in many developed nations over the past couple decades. At that time, about 5 years ago, this was not yet true of Korea. Back then, a key difference between the 2 countries was that a fast food set meal in America represented the cheapest and most fattening option when eating out (less than $5), whereas a wide range of full-service restaurants in Korea offered healthier meals at or below the cost of fast food (around 5,000 won). Just 5 years later, the staggering inflation here has prompted most of those restaurants to raise their prices (between 5,000 – 10,000 won); at the same time, the fast food chains have somehow managed to keep their prices the same or even lower them (below 5,000 won). I don’t know how much of an epidemiological effect that this has had so far, but I do seem to see a lot more chubby people on the streets these days.
(See also FOODS)
(See also PLACES)
