Kevin Roberts remembers when he could get a bacon cheeseburger, fries and a drink from Five Guys for $10. But that was years ago. When the Virginia high school teacher recently visited the fast-food chain, the food alone without a beverage cost double that amount.

Roberts, 38, now only gets fast food “as a rare treat,” he told CBS MoneyWatch. “Nothing has made me cook at home more than fast-food prices.”

Roberts is hardly alone. Many consumers are expressing frustration at the surge in fast-food prices, which are starting to scare off budget-conscious customers.

A January poll by consulting firm Revenue Management Solutions found that about 25% of people who make under $50,000 were cutting back on fast food, pointing to cost as a concern.

  • Skyline969@lemmy.ca
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    6 months ago

    My solution to making home cooking taste better than fast food was buying a fat sack of MSG and using it in everything. Truly it’s the king of flavor.

    • eyy@lemm.ee
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      6 months ago

      I mean, that’s basically what restaurants do…

      My friends and I were hanging out at my mates’ place (he used to work as a line cook), he made us all pasta and it tasted amazing.

      Turns out the secret was to add a scary amount of butter, and then add some more.

      Salt, butter and MSG is the secret behind half the restaurant industry.

      • Skyline969@lemmy.ca
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        6 months ago

        Pretty much. But publicly MSG still has that “ooo scary and harmful” stigma to it. It’s no more harmful than salt or sugar, but some weird racism against Chinese immigrants in the 40s created that stigma.

        • LeroyJenkins@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          “I ate 2 lbs of chow mein, a bucket of orange chicken, and 14 egg roll. the fucking MSG makes made me feel like shit!”

        • JovialMicrobial@lemm.ee
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          6 months ago

          It was invented by Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda who studied the chemical basis of kelp. Long story short he ate soup with brown kelp flakes and wondered why the kelp tasted so good, studied it and found msg. He then discovered a way to mass produce it from wheat and soy.

          Man was a food genius

      • Blackmist@feddit.uk
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        6 months ago

        Sugar too.

        The calories don’t count if somebody else adds them behind closed doors.