| “Junk Food” is an expression, characterizing food containing lots of calories but of low value in other respects. The term is also known as “unhealthy food” or “empty calories”.
Such food contains many carbohydrates, fats, salts and food additives; at the same time, such food does not contain enough proteins, vitamins and ballast agents.
Food with “empty calories” is made in many forms and is aggressively advertised. It is profitable for the manufacturers as it is cheap and can be stored for a longer duration in normal conditions. But, it is also very popular amongst the consumers since it is tasty, no need to prepare anything and can be eaten anywhere.
Many researchers associate the consumption of junk food with obesity, heart diseases and diabetes.
“Cheetos” are extruded corn chips, belonging to Junk Food due their industrial production and big packs.
“Twinkies” - small puff cakes with a banana or vanilla cream layer are very popular in the US.
The junk-food term appeared in the 1970s in the American press for designating food products that are ready to eat, packed earlier in durable sealed containers with small packages, for long-term storage in storerooms and for consumption on the move during a journey, in transport and in stadiums.
Junk food, basically, are sandwiches, various pieces of sausages, cheese, ham & also spicy snacks, packaged in plastic cans and drinks, which do not required additional warming and can be consumed when chilled, at any time of the day - as breakfast, dinner or supper to satisfy hunger.
The term "Junk food” originally did not relate to the quality of this food, and hereto, that mass use of junk food led to rubbish cluttering the streets around places trading these goods, since plastic boxes, cardboard boxes, plastic packets and glazed cardboard paper used for packing of these products occupied a great volume and very quickly filled garbage containers and were carried by wind on the streets.
In the course of time however, it has been noticed that the regular consumption of cold snacks without a hot drink, i.e. without tea or soup - leads to the occurrence of chronic problems in digestion – colitis, gastritis, heartburn and constipation.
Therefore, by 1990s, the term “junk food” became a deeper and more negative term underlining not only external vulgarity of such street food but also, condemning the unhealthy consequences from regular consumption of such types of meal.
In 2005, the British Bureau for Food Standards Agency (FSA) published, for the first time the official definition of the multifaceted concept called" Junk Food”.
“Junk Food”, accordingly, is food which place is in a dump instead of in a stomach of a consumer.
The USA does not agree in the strategy of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the fight against obesity.
Moreover, some scientists suspect that for protecting the big businesses, the Presidential Administration supports trading of products having high caloric content but very low nutritional value.
In America, such products are called “Junk Food”. Thus, American authorities say that there's no proof that only “Junk Food” is to be blamed for the spreading epidemic of obesity.
Meanwhile, almost two thirds of the population of the United States have excess weight or suffer from clinical obesity. According to the data possessed by WHO, the number of deaths related to obesity will double worldwide in the next 20 years. The UK Food Standards Agency warns that food with no nutritional value and lack of sufficient physical activity can lead to a reduction in the life expectancy of the current young generation - for the first time in more than 100 years.
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To some people, every day is Junk Food Day. For the rest of us, National Junk Food Day is celebrated on June 21 each year and is an opportunity to guiltlessly eat your favorite junk food.
Dietitians will tell you that junk food is any food that contains little nutritional value, such as hotdogs, burgers, French fries, chips, pizzas, and most sodas. We also include foods that are high in salts, fats, and sugars. In other words, junk food is all that tasty stuff that the dietitians, and Mom, consider to be bad for us. National Junk Food Day was established to have an official excuse, at least once a year, to eat anything you want. Eat any amounts that you want, too. Tomorrow, however, it's "back to a normal diet" day!
