U.S. has competition for fast-food crown
By Nanci Hellmich
USA Today
The United States has been dubbed the fast-food nation, but that may be changing — at least in one respect.
About 44 percent of people in the U.S. say they like the taste of fast food too much to give it up, but 68 percent of people in Bulgaria feel that way, according to a February survey of 10,300 people in 12 markets around the world. The survey was conducted by Synovate, a market research firm.
On the other end of the spectrum, only about 19 percent of people in Sweden and 20 percent in Malaysia say they like the taste of fast food so much they wouldn't stop eating it.
Greg Chu, senior vice president of healthcare for Synovate in North America, says people in the USA have "a love-hate relationship" with fast food. "We love the convenience. We love the taste. We love the assurance that you can count on it. But we know it's not good for us."
Other countries, such as Bulgaria, are in their honeymoon stage with fast food. "They like it so much, they don't want to give it up," Chu says.
Other findings in the survey of Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, India, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the U.S.:
