United News of Bangladesh

China and the United States are divided on many issues, from tariffs and technology to Taiwan. But there is one thing tying them together: fast food. American restaurant and beverage chains are expanding rapidly in China, drawn by the potential customer pool in a country with four times the U.S. population. China's languishing economy and cutthroat industry competition, meanwhile, have Chinese chains trying their luck in the U.S., turning crumbs and straws into a two-way cultural bridge between the two superpowers. The bilateral trade in burgers and bubble tea is business- and consumer-led gastrodiplomacy in action, said Yaling Jiang, the founder of ApertureChina, a market research company with headquarters in Shanghai and London. In China, recent American arrivals like Popeyes and Five Guys are seen as a guilty pleasure, she said, while the increasingly international palates of Americans have created space for Chinese brands to serve as their nation's unofficial ambassadors. “Consumerism builds a safe, introductory channel for contemporary Chinese culture and can be a great way to elevate China’s soft power,” Jiang said. The White House has not revealed the menu for the state dinner that U.S. President Donald Trump is hosting for Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday. But a taste for a cheap, crowd-pleasing meal may be something the two leaders share. In 2013, Xi made a rare public visit to a steamed-bun restaurant in Beijing. He waited in line and ordered a 21-yuan ($3) meal featuring six pork-and-scallion buns, vegetables, and a bowl of stewed pork liver and intestines. Trump’s love of fast food is legendary; he even manned a fry station at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s during his 2024 campaign. American fast-food companies are expanding their presence in China Last month, Chinese customers lined up in the rain for the opening of the first Church’s Texas Chicken in Shanghai. Church’s plans at least 600 more across China. Wendy’s says it anticipates opening 1,000 restaurants there over the next decade. Established players are deepening their reach as well. McDonald’s plans 1,000 new Chinese restaurants this year and 10,000 total by 2028. Burger King, which arrived in China in 2005, says it expects to triple its store count to 4,000 by 2035. “Despite political tensions between the U.S. and China, Chinese actually still go crazy for American brands,” said Shaun Rein, founder and managing director of the Shanghai-based China Market Research Group. KFC became the first major American fast-food chain to enter mainland China when it opened a Beijing restaurant in 1987. At the time, it was viewed as a premium destination worth taking a date to, Rein said. McDonald's and Pizza Hut arrived in 1990. “McDonald’s and KFC were a beacon of health and hygiene compared to what you had in the rest of the market,” Rein said. China is now KFC’s largest market by far. The Kentucky-born fried chicken chain counts about 13,000 restaurants in China, compared with around 3,750 in the U.S. American brands see room for further growth. Much of China’s population lives in the smaller, inland cities where brands like McDonald’s and Starbucks are rolling out stores, said Sory Park, a project manager at China-focused market research and strategy firm Daxue Consulting. That doesn't make China a cakewalk for foreign restaurant companies. Most American chains now rely on Chinese partners to find locations and share the financial risk. Earlier this year, a Chinese investment firm acquired a 60% stake in Starbucks' China operation after several years of falling store traffic. American chains trade on their brand names and signature products, but many tailor their menus to appeal to Chinese customers. KFC restaurants in China, for example, serve french fries and Original Recipe chicken alongside custardy egg tarts and congee, a savory rice porridge. “They need to operate like a Chinese company but deliver American menus that incorporate Chinese values, eating habits, and tastes,” Park said. Chinese fast-food chains seek new opportunities in the US Mixue, one of the world’s largest fast-food chains with more than 53,000 locations, opened its first three U.S. stores in December. Mirroring the Shanghai crowd outside Church's Texas Chicken, New York customers waited in the cold to sample soft-serve ice cream, fruit teas and milk tea with toppings like coconut jelly and taro balls at a store in Herald Square. Mixue has announced at least two dozen more planned locations across four states. At least nine other mainland Chinese chains have made their U.S. debuts since 2023, all but one specializing primarily in drinks and snacks. They include Heytea, with 40 U.S. locations, and Luckin Coffee, which overtook Starbucks as China’s biggest coffee brand and has 20 stores in New York. Wallace, a chain founded in 2000, grew to more than 20,000 restaurants by selling American-style chicken and hamburgers in China. In California, where the second U.S. Wallace opened last month, the company tweaked its chicken sandwich recipe to appeal to American diners. Before entering the U.S., many major Chinese food-and-beverage chains expanded in Southeast Asia. A real estate slump and weak consumer spending made growth harder to find at home. The average life span of China's 16 million restaurants and chains was expected to fall to 15 months last year, according to a U.S. government report. The American restaurant industry is considerably smaller, with 1 million locations, according to the National Restaurant Association. Jiang, of ApertureChina, sees another advantage for Chinese brands: a social media trend called “Chinamaxxing,” in which Westerners adopt Chinese lifestyle habits or wellness practices. Not every brand makes its origins clear. Wallace's U.S. website and social media pages do not mention the brand's Chinese ownership or headquarters in southeastern China’s Fujian province. The company didn’t respond to an email from The Associated Press. The U.S. carries both potential rewards and risks for Chinese chains American and Chinese chains alike have an appetite for opportunities across the Pacific. But Chinese brands remain largely unproven stateside. Even chains with thousands of locations elsewhere are testing whether novelty can translate into loyalty. The U.S. is too lucrative a market to ignore, said Aaron Allen, founder of restaurant consulting firm Aaron Allen and Associates. It accounts for one-third of global restaurant revenue despite having only around 4% of the world’s population, he said. “The grass is always greener somewhere else in the world,” Allen said. While American brands can carry a premium image in China, many Chinese brands compete heavily on price. At a Mixue in Hollywood this week, a medium matcha latte cost $6.83; a nearby Starbucks sold the same drink for almost $1 more. Wallace sells three full-size chicken sandwiches for $10. “The Chinese can build stuff cheaper and faster. Why would that not apply to food?” Allen said. But Allen said Chinese brands could face customer backlash or higher tariffs if they undercut U.S. rivals with low-cost Chinese imports. Like other Chinese companies, restaurant brands also could face U.S. scrutiny over their collection and use of customer data, he said. Luckin Coffee co-founder and CEO Jinyi Guo told investors in February that the U.S. “represents one of our important long-term opportunities” and the company was proceeding “with great patience and discipline.”    

Nowadays, the availability of diverse kinds of mouthwatering fast foods and bakery items has made it difficult to control the urge of eating. During movie nights snacks can make the moments more chilling! On a busy morning, fast food can save the office goers from starving. Thus, processed foods have created space in our lives. Dieticians and doctors always advise staying away from trans fats. Why are trans fats so deadly? We will get to know from this article. What is trans fat? Trans fat is a type of hydrogenated oil. Trans fats or trans fatty acids are not usually found in nature, and the double bond of their hydrocarbon chain is the root cause of the problem. This double bond hydrocarbon cannot break down in the body and stays in the blood. Only HDL cholesterol or high-density lipoprotein can reduce the trans fat from the body. HDL basically removes all other harmful fats from the blood, so that it does not reach the liver or any vital organs in any way. It also helps to keep the inner wall of the blood vessel thin. Now, if most HDL is spent on removing trans fats, then bad cholesterol levels in the blood can increase, and blood pressure can rise. Hence, it is understandable how harmful trans fats are. Read: Trans fat policy draft to be unveiled Monday Hydrogenated oil was created to supply cheap edible fats during the First and Second World Wars recession. After that, its use gradually started to increase. However, the harmful aspects of trans fats came to the fore in the 1980s, and since then, the use of hydrogenated oil has been reduced in first-world countries. Foods high in trans fat Any deep-fried foods available in the market are the ultimate source of trans fats. Fried foods usually use hydrogenated oil, and the same oil is used over and over. Moreover, hydrogenated oils are used to make bakery products, Biscuits, Chips, etc., which are on our daily food list. In addition, many street foods that are deep-fried also contain trans fats. In addition, using the same oil repeatedly at home also produces trans fats. Read Cooking Oil: Best and Worst Oil for Health Other sources of trans fats are- - Mayonnaise, butter, spreads, ketchup, balanced vegetable oils, and all kinds of sauces. - Crackers, chips, nuts, snacks, popcorn, and breakfast cereals. - Cakes, bun, bakery items, cookies, and other sweetened items. - Ice cream and some kinds of chocolates. - Processed cheese, semi-finished products - cold dough, cutlets, pizza, fish sticks, etc. - Fast food products, like hamburgers, french fries, and donuts. Read Dark Chocolate: Health Benefits, Nutrition, Side Effects Foods that naturally contain trans fats Naturally, trans fats are found in meat and dairy products. Usually, the natural trans fats are formed through the bacteria available in cattle, sheep, and goats' stomachs. These trans fats are accountable for 3-7% of the total dairy fats, including milk and cheese. However, 3-10% trans fats are available in beef and lamb, whole chicken and pork contain 0-2%. Naturally found trans fats are less harmful than artificial trans fats. How do trans fats affect health? Trans fats raise blood pressure and reduce insulin secretion. As a result, this increases the risk of stroke and diabetes. Apart from these, trans fats affect the heart badly. High levels of trans fat usually increase the risk of heart disease, including heart attack. Trans fat is a type of unsaturated fat that increases Low-Density Lipoprotein or LDL, known as 'bad cholesterol' in the blood while reducing the High-Density Lipoprotein or HDL cholesterol (called good cholesterol). As a result, cholesterol accumulates in the arteries, which hinders blood flow and increases the risk of heart diseases significantly. Read: Trans fat: The fat that can kill you In Bangladesh, every year, 2 lakh and 77 thousands of people die of heart disease related to trans fats, and at least 5,776 people from trans fats alone. Further, one crore 79 lakh people in the world die from heart disease and out of which about 5.5 lakh people die of heart attack due to consumption of industrial trans-fat. How much trans fat consumption is allowable per day? The human body does not need trans fat. Therefore, it is better to consume as little as possible. According to the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the American Heart Association, a healthy human should not take more than 25%-30% of daily calories through fats. One should not take more than 1% trans fat of daily calories intake. For example, if anyone takes 2,000 calories a day, the trans fat consumption can be about 20 calories or 2 grams per day. However, less than 1% consumption is highly recommended. Read How to Eat Red Meat Without Jeopardizing Your Health How to curb the consumption of trans fat food? It is difficult to stop taking trans fat completely. However, anyone can reduce trans fat consumption. But keep in mind that trans fat-free food can never ensure that it is 100% fat-free. However, many companies stopped adding trans fats in the food but replaced them with saturated fat. Too much-saturated fat is also harmful to the body. One can take some steps to reduce trans fat consumption. For example, eating more vegetables, unprocessed whole-grain foods, and fruits can refrain you from eating extra food containing trans fats. Additionally, keeping almonds, cashews, pesto, and peanuts in the diet can help a person avoid foods high in trans fat. Read Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Fish Oil: Natural Sources, Benefits, Risks Alternatives of mouthwatering trans fat foods No one can deny that street foods and deep-fried foods are mouthwatering. But these foods are enriched with trans-fat. So, finding alternatives to these foods will keep one's health fit. Taking grilled, broiled, and baked food instead of deep-fried food can reduce trans fats consumption. The habit of cooking at home will significantly decrease trans fats. Cooking food with non-hydrogenated margarine will reduce the trans fats in food items. These ways may not bring down someone's trans fats intake to zero, but the amount of trans fats consumption will be reduced. Final Words There may be differences of opinion regarding proper diet and nutrition, but almost everyone agrees on one thing. That is trans fats!  Though fats are a necessary ingredient for a healthy human body, consumption of foods rich in trans fat will increase bad cholesterol and reduce good cholesterol. In the long run, this habit might lead to various heart-related diseases. Therefore, it is essential to develop a healthy diet by replacing trans fat foods with the nutritious ones. Furthermore, using non-hydrogenated oil for daily cooking is recommended to carb trans fat. Finally, checking the food level carefully can help people to stay away from foods that contain trans fats. Read Panta Bhat: The Amazing Health Benefits of Water Rice

Good news for fried chicken lovers as PRAN group launched a new chain-shop of fast food market named ‘FRY BUCKET’. The FRY BUCKET launched its maiden outlet at the capital Dhanmondi on Thursday.  Eleashb Mridha, Managing Director at PRAN group, inaugurated the outlet through a program held at Nilu Square of Satmasjid road of Dhanmondi. Read: PRAN UP, Daraz to launch recharge offer Addressing the program, Eleash Mridha said, “The number of people, who enjoy fast food and entertainment, are increasing day by day. Therefore, many of us are choosing the fast food retails to give the time for their family members. For these reasons, many international fast food brands are doing good in our country. We do believe, FRY BUCKET will get popular among the customers soon.” He also said, “Our relentless effort will be continued so that customers can get the best service and standard products from the `FRY BUCKET’. We believe, consumers love bring us here and we also want to go far with their continuous support.” Read Best Food Delivery Apps in Bangladesh in 2021 Ibrahim Khalil, Head of Business at FRY BUCKET said,” We have a plan to open 100 outlets across the country. Firstly, we will open FRY BUCKET outlets at divisional level. Then we will set up it in districts level. This way, we want to go to the people of all classes. We have a plan to open outlet in abroad in the future.” Touhiduzzaman, Assistant General Manager (Public Relations) at PRAN-RFL Group and Borhan Uddin, Brand Manager at FRY BUCKET and among others, were also present at the program. Read Bangladesh Cloud Kitchen Business Heralds Improved Food Delivery Services