by Colin Dennis

Created on: June 04, 2009   Last Updated: June 06, 2009

It is not surprising that fast food sales are doing so well in this recession. Fast food is, in a word, fast -and inexpensive, ideal for a family in which everyone works. It is also the reason that, notwithstanding all the criticism of such restaurants like McDonalds and Burger King, they remain favorites of consumers worldwide. McDonalds itself has 30,000 restaurants in 120 countries.

McDonalds restaurants have been the targets of attacks in Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Finland, France, Holland, India, Indonesia, Lebanon, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Notwithstanding the deluge of criticism - not to mention the negative media attention from Morgan Spurlock's documentary "Supersize Me"- the globalization of fast food has not painted a negative image of America's restaurants.

There are several reasons for this. In the first place those restaurants have largely adapted their menus to suit their various clientele whether they are in Europe, Caribbean, Africa, India or Pakistan. Menus will feature culinary specialties of specific countries. In 34 restaurants in India, the "Maharaja Mac" is made from mutton and vegetarian choices have no meat or eggs. In Pakistan there is the "McMaza meals" Chutni Burger and Spicy Chicken Burger.

Secondly, fast food restaurants like McDonalds have also adapted their menus to make their food more healthful, addressing many of the critical concerns: Introducing more fruits and salads and making nutritional information available on trayliners and on their website. McDonalds has also changed the oil used for frying French fries, for example.

Thirdly, it is easy to sense that most of the criticism of fast food comes from gourmets and gourmands such as you would find in Italy's "slow food" movement. And there is some merit in this, especially in countries like France, Spain and Italy where food is an indispensable part of the culture and families regularly gather around food.

It is also still true that the gap between fast food and slow cooked meals is still wide. Antonio Carluccio, a restaurateur and supporter of the "slow food" movement in Italy says:

"Slowly cooked food is better than ...fast food. The fast food has handicaps in quality and taste and flavors, which you can't achieve..." with fast food, he said.

Amanda Craig, a journalist who has written about the convenience of fast food and the difficulties posed by traditional home meal times agrees that slowly cooked food is better, but suggests the

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