# Fast food CEO: How govt regulation is driving us abroad



## Capt Worley PE (Jan 3, 2014)

> Andy Puzder, the CEO of CKE Restaurants, the parent company of Hardee's and Carl's Jr., should know. His company is expanding rapidly abroad due to higher potential outside the U.S., which is hampered by what he sees as too much government regulation.








> Puzder named ethanol regulation, which has resulted in higher beef costs, a rising minimum wage and higher labor costs due to Obamacare as three obstacles that make doing business in the U.S. more difficult than in the past.






http://www.cnbc.com/id/101302181


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## csb (Jan 3, 2014)

Brilliant! We're taking down other countries via obesity! When all of the Hardee's phase out, we'll get all skinny and fit and Iran will be bloated and wondering what it ate.


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## Capt Worley PE (Jan 3, 2014)

^As long as Hardee's keeps running those sexy ads....


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## roadwreck (Jan 3, 2014)

Would anybody really be that heartbroken to see domestics Hardee's or Carl's Jr. close up shop? I'm not entirely sure their problems are government regulations, I'd bet it has more to do with subpar menu choices.


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## Capt Worley PE (Jan 3, 2014)

^I would. I flove love their breakfast biscuits.


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## Road Guy (Jan 3, 2014)

there biscuits and gravy are pretty good, even out here where they dont know what a good southern breakfeast should be!


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## Dexman PE PMP (Jan 3, 2014)

I think the lack of a "good southern breakfast" is why there are so many women willing to rock the yoga pants...


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## roadwreck (Jan 3, 2014)

Dexman PE said:


> I think the lack of a "good southern breakfast" is why there are so many women willing to rock the yoga pants...


touche


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## kalvinjk (Jan 3, 2014)

I would be really upset if Chik-fil-A was driven out... I haven't had Hardee's or Carl Jr's but Chik-fil-A is second to none, in my opinion.


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## Road Guy (Jan 3, 2014)

Well Colorado does have a lot of "butter face "girls here also


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## csb (Jan 3, 2014)

roadwreck said:


> Would anybody really be that heartbroken to see domestics Hardee's or Carl's Jr. close up shop? I'm not entirely sure their problems are government regulations, I'd bet it has more to do with subpar menu choices.




I haven't had either in a long time. During my super fat days, I enjoyed an Oreo shake and some fries. Now nothing from there sounds good.


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## engineergurl (Jan 7, 2014)

a few weeks ago my husband was going to stop and get dinner and he asked what I wanted from Hardee's and I said two beef and chedder's and a root beer... so yeah, I could care less if they ship it overseas...


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## knight1fox3 (Jan 7, 2014)

I think my stomach would explode if I ate any of that stuff now. uke:


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## engineergurl (Jan 7, 2014)

Mine generally does... but infrequent trips let me forget...until next time


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## Master slacker (Jan 8, 2014)

Don't know the last time I had any fast food. Now that I am pondering that thought, we had some Wendy's on the way home from visiting friends of ours in Niceville, Fl back in 2012.


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## Boomer01 PE (Jan 8, 2014)

Master slacker said:


> Don't know the last time I had any fast food. Now that I am pondering that thought, we had some Wendy's on the way home from visiting friends of ours in Niceville, Fl back in 2012.


I am always curious when people say this. So every time you eat out, you go to sit-down restaurants? You are never out running errands with little time and just need to eat something quick? With a little kid, sometimes the last thing I want to do is go to a sit-down restaurant.


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## snickerd3 (Jan 8, 2014)

Boomer01 PE said:


> Master slacker said:
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> > Don't know the last time I had any fast food. Now that I am pondering that thought, we had some Wendy's on the way home from visiting friends of ours in Niceville, Fl back in 2012.
> ...


This!!!


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## knight1fox3 (Jan 8, 2014)

Boomer01 PE said:


> Master slacker said:
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> > Don't know the last time I had any fast food. Now that I am pondering that thought, we had some Wendy's on the way home from visiting friends of ours in Niceville, Fl back in 2012.
> ...


Basically yes. Most sit-down places we go to (small cafes or the like) can be just as quick as fast food and so much better for you nutritionally. Or we eat at home before running said errands to plan ahead. And if that's not an option either, then we bring food along. There's always an alternative to fast food.


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## Master slacker (Jan 8, 2014)

We always bring food along wherever we go. And we go out to eat at sit down restaurants at least twice per week with the lil ones.


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## roadwreck (Jan 8, 2014)

knight1fox3 said:


> Boomer01 PE said:
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> > Master slacker said:
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Similarly, fast food for us is usually a sandwich shop or deli somewhere. I can't remember the last time I went to a traditional (burger joint) fast food restaurant other than chick-fil-a.


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## Capt Worley PE (Jan 8, 2014)

roadwreck said:


> knight1fox3 said:
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Oddly enough, calorie-wise, sometimes your better off with the Mickie-Ds. I started eating the Bacon McDoubles because they are 460 cal vs 580 cal for a 6" subway spicy italian the way I like. AND it is much cheaper.

Nothing really wrong with fast food, other than most folks overdo it.

But fast food prices are getting ridiculous. I used to grab Toxic Hell on the weekends because it was so cheap, but it has gotten quite pricy locally.

I'm eating salami and cheese sammiches now...got some pepperoni for next week. Even having it sliced at the deli, it ain't too expensive.


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## Ble_PE (Jan 8, 2014)

Chick-fil-a is our fast food of choice, mainly because the one near us has a great playground that the kids love. Not to mention their chicken strips are actual chicken breast tenderloins. We'll get a burger once or twice a year.

The thing I don't get is the hate for these places. Sure, you don't want to eat fast food often, but every once in a while is not going to hurt you and people that ridicule folks for eating fast food just come across as arrogant food snobs.


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## Capt Worley PE (Jan 8, 2014)

Ble_PE said:


> The thing I don't get is the hate for these places. Sure, you don't want to eat fast food often, but every once in a while is not going to hurt you and people that ridicule folks for eating fast food just come across as arrogant food snobs.




Same deal with Walmart. I don't get the hate.


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## snickerd3 (Jan 8, 2014)

this is definitely part of the time-quality-money discussion

I tend to eat lunch out because i prefer warm over cold lunches. It's easier. I've tried the bring you own from home and the frozen stuff it just doesn't last and I am back to eating lunch out. If we have left overs than yes I bring that for lunch but we rarely have leftovers.

Fast food as a family is usually only when we are traveling 4+ hrs to visit family

I will not travel with food other than snack type non-perishable stuff and water. More to pack or worry about. and just plain do not have the time to get it ready before we leave.

I will not eat lunchmeat sandwiches prepared the day before (quality issue for me)

Small cafes do not exist at interstate stops it is fast food or sit down and sit down adds at least an hr to the trip


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## Dexman PE PMP (Jan 8, 2014)

No sit-down restaurants with kiddos. When we only had 1, it wasn't so bad because we would order his food when we ordered drinks, then one of us would feed him while the other ate, then swap. Once a 2nd kiddo was added, our man defense was torn apart as if Peyton Manning was involved...


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## knight1fox3 (Jan 8, 2014)

You could always prepare the sammiches the day of then if quality is an issue. If we are taking food with us, we leave 1/2 hour earlier to account for the extra time needed before leaving.

And it depends on which interstate stop you choose. 



Capt Worley PE said:


> Ble_PE said:
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> 
> > The thing I don't get is the hate for these places. Sure, you don't want to eat fast food often, but every once in a while is not going to hurt you and people that ridicule folks for eating fast food just come across as arrogant food snobs.
> ...


Indeed. Everything in moderation is key. Being on an extreme fitness regiment has lead me to do lots of reading about nutrition to supplement the workouts. Reading about fast food and the nutritional content (or lack their of), high sat. fats and sodium, has steered me toward having a lot of contempt toward fast food vendors. So apologies in advance if my posts come across as being a food snob.


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## roadwreck (Jan 8, 2014)

Capt Worley PE said:


> roadwreck said:
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I don't eat at subway either, blech.


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## Capt Worley PE (Jan 8, 2014)

roadwreck said:


> Capt Worley PE said:
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Locally, it is that or Sub Station II. SSII slices meat so thin you could read a newspaper through it, and its 30% more expensive. Not as many bread or toppings choices, either.

I complained about it to the owner, and he said, "Well, ours is sliced fresh." Ain't worth 30% more, IMO. Especially with less than half the meat.


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## Dexman PE PMP (Jan 8, 2014)

I like places like Jimmy Johns or Firehouse Subs. Both kinda pricey for what you get though.


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## Capt Worley PE (Jan 8, 2014)

Dexman PE said:


> I like places like Jimmy Johns or Firehouse Subs. Both kinda pricey for what you get though.




We has JJ the other night. It was pretty good.


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## snickerd3 (Jan 8, 2014)

knight1fox3 said:


> You could always prepare the sammiches the day of then if quality is an issue. If we are taking food with us, we leave 1/2 hour earlier to account for the extra time needed before leaving.
> 
> And it depends on which interstate stop you choose.
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> ...


we are back to the Time-quality-money arguement


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## Boomer01 PE (Jan 8, 2014)

Personally, I think Subway is just as bad as some of the "bad" fast food choices. They claim that they are the healthy option, but most of the subs are not. The wheat bread is really just colored white bread and the packaged, pre-sliced meat is very high in sodium.

Subway isn't even in the same playing field with Jersey Mikes, Jimmy Johns, Firehouse, etc.


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## Boomer01 PE (Jan 8, 2014)

snickerd3 said:


> knight1fox3 said:
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> > You could always prepare the sammiches the day of then if quality is an issue. If we are taking food with us, we leave 1/2 hour earlier to account for the extra time needed before leaving.
> ...


The price of all food has risen. You used to be able to get a fast food meal for $5 and now it's $7-8 or more. At a sit-down restaurant you would be lucky to get out under $10 after tip.


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## knight1fox3 (Jan 8, 2014)

Boomer01 PE said:


> Personally, I think Subway is just as bad as some of the "bad" fast food choices. They claim that they are the healthy option, but most of the subs are not. The wheat bread is really just colored white bread and the packaged, pre-sliced meat is very high in sodium.
> 
> Subway isn't even in the same playing field with Jersey Mikes, Jimmy Johns, Firehouse, etc.


QFT!


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## Boomer01 PE (Jan 8, 2014)

knight1fox3 said:


> You could always prepare the sammiches the day of then if quality is an issue. If we are taking food with us, we leave 1/2 hour earlier to account for the extra time needed before leaving.
> 
> And it depends on which interstate stop you choose.
> 
> ...


Chain sit-down restaurants often have worse food choices. A burger at Chili's had an entire days worth of calories and a couple days worth of fat and sodium. The same can be said for many other places.

For whatever reason, consumers frown upon fast-food restaurants and demand nutritional information up front, but let other restaurants slide. Sit-down is not always healthier.

*For the record, I don't eat a lot of fast food and am in great shape.


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## roadwreck (Jan 8, 2014)

Boomer01 PE said:


> Personally, I think Subway is just as bad as some of the "bad" fast food choices. They claim that they are the healthy option, but most of the subs are not. *The wheat bread is really just colored white bread* and the packaged, pre-sliced meat is very high in sodium.
> 
> Subway isn't even in the same playing field with Jersey Mikes, Jimmy Johns, Firehouse, etc.


Their bread is the primary reason I don't like subway. It's terrible.


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## knight1fox3 (Jan 8, 2014)

Boomer01 PE said:


> Chain sit-down restaurants often have worse food choices. A burger at Chili's had an entire days worth of calories and a couple days worth of fat and sodium. The same can be said for many other places.
> 
> For whatever reason, consumers frown upon fast-food restaurants and demand nutritional information up front, but let other restaurants slide. Sit-down is not always healthier.
> 
> *For the record, I don't eat a lot of fast food and am in great shape.


Oh most definitely. But you also don't have to order from the burger section of the menu either. Using the same Chili's example, you could just as well order the Caribbean salad or Santa Fe chicken salad (no dressing). The portion is reasonable and there's a good balance of carbs and protein.  Often times it is difficult to find something similar (and of good quality) at a fast food joint.


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## Boomer01 PE (Jan 8, 2014)

knight1fox3 said:


> Boomer01 PE said:
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> > Chain sit-down restaurants often have worse food choices. A burger at Chili's had an entire days worth of calories and a couple days worth of fat and sodium. The same can be said for many other places.
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Of course there is going to be good and bad selections on almost every menu and who really orders a salad with no dressing.  The salads that I would typically want with chicken and toppings are usually over 1000 calories.

Like you said earlier, it's all about the items you order and portion size.


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## Capt Worley PE (Jan 8, 2014)

roadwreck said:


> Boomer01 PE said:
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> > Personally, I think Subway is just as bad as some of the "bad" fast food choices. They claim that they are the healthy option, but most of the subs are not. *The wheat bread is really just colored white bread* and the packaged, pre-sliced meat is very high in sodium.
> ...




I love their Italian Herb and Cheese bread.


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## Capt Worley PE (Jan 8, 2014)

Boomer01 PE said:


> The wheat bread is really just colored white bread and the packaged,* pre-sliced meat is very high in sodium.*




Most deli meat is. Salted meats keep longer.

Nature of the beast.


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## roadwreck (Jan 8, 2014)

Boomer01 PE said:


> Of course there is going to be good and bad selections on almost every menu and *who really orders a salad with no dressing*.


My wife.


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## knight1fox3 (Jan 8, 2014)

^ as do I. Always get weird looks from the wait staff too when I do. Just not a fan of dressing. Never have been and don't see that changing anytime soon.

As for subs, I really do enjoy Jersey Mike's occasionally. The wheat bread is _actual_ wheat bread and the deli meat is sliced fresh (probably still high in sodium, but w/e). About $7 for a reg. (about 6") sub with all the fixings.


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## Capt Worley PE (Jan 8, 2014)

roadwreck said:


> Boomer01 PE said:
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I'm not a dressing fan either....


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## roadwreck (Jan 8, 2014)

Capt Worley PE said:


> roadwreck said:
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but don't you get cold this time of year?


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## Supe (Jan 8, 2014)

I can't stand dry salad. I'd rather a bowl of dressing with some salad in it.


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## Capt Worley PE (Jan 8, 2014)

roadwreck said:


> Capt Worley PE said:
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I didn't say I didn't dress, just that I'm not a big fan of it.


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## snickerd3 (Jan 8, 2014)

typed while eating my big mac salad (seriously there was more lettuce than burger on this one)...

must have salad dressing, which I have been trying to go just the olive oil and balsalmic vinegar route, or else you are just eating rabbit food.

"fresh" sliced places...assuming they properly clean the slicer regularly....staffed by high schoolers and such...

at least at subway they give you the whole loaf and not gut out the best part to make room for the toppings


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## Capt Worley PE (Jan 8, 2014)

snickerd3 said:


> "fresh" sliced places...assuming they properly clean the slicer regularly....staffed by high schoolers and such...




Not here. You have to be 18 to run the slicer. I thought it was an OSHA deal, but perhaps it is local? Anyway, because of that, all the sammich shops have college age people running it. Subway has older folks.


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## knight1fox3 (Jan 8, 2014)

&lt;------ plain salad with avocado, tomatoes and herb/garlic tuna. Yum!


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## Dexman PE PMP (Jan 8, 2014)

If I wanted to eat a salad without dressing, I would just eat a head of lettuce like an apple...


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## Capt Worley PE (Jan 8, 2014)

knight1fox3 said:


> &lt;------ plain salad with avocado, tomatoes and herb/garlic tuna. Yum!




You might like this: http://www.fitsugar.com/Baked-Eggs-Avocado-Recipe-30787252

I hate avacados. Managed to choke half of this down (which doesn't sound like it, but is an endorsement---I hate avacadoes that much).


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## knight1fox3 (Jan 8, 2014)

Looks intriguing. Might have to give that a try, thanks.


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## engineergurl (Jan 9, 2014)

I eat fast food, because when I want it I want it... I generally want it infrequently enough that I don't feel like I need to deny myself, and typically it's usually for breakfast anyway, so I have the rest of the day to make better choices and make up for it. I don't think two egg mcmuffins a month are going to kill me or make me gain 200 lbs, nor will they set me back on any training...

We like Ruby Tuesday to eat out at because of their salad bar. And while we have never actually been required to eat out while running errands, we will occasionally make a trip of dinner and shopping. We are on a junk food kick right now, by this I mean our dinner menu for this week includes things like homemade grilled burgers with avacado and cheesy bacon scalloped potatoes and homemade double decker taco with spanish rice.


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## csb (Jan 9, 2014)

Count me in on the no dressing crowd. If the salad has enough variety, it's good as is. A plain iceberg salad is not part of that.


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## Capt Worley PE (Jan 9, 2014)

Hopefully, the garden with herbs and veggies will enable us to have good, healthy, homegrown salads this year. last years garden was a bust, but that was ultimately my fault. We did manage one killer salad out of it, though.


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## csb (Jan 9, 2014)

You're growing herb? I thought you lived in SC, not CO.


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