Exporting diabetes mellitus to Asia: the impact of Western-style fast food.

One of the most profound results of globalization has been the rapid rise in the number of Western-style fast food outlets around the world, particularly in Asian countries. The world’s largest fast food restaurant company, Yum! Brands Inc., operates nearly 38 000 restaurants (including KFC and Pizza Hut) around the world in more than 110 countries and territories, with 4650 fast food outlets in China.1 Globally, there are 33 000 McDonald’s outlets in 119 countries and territories, serving 68 million customers daily.2 In China alone, the number of McDonald’s outlets grew from 1 in 1990 to 1000 in 2006, and the company has plans to double this figure by 2013.3 Meanwhile, daily per capita sales of carbonated soft drinks in China increased 145% and 127% for Coca Cola and PepsiCo, respectively, between 2000 and 2010.4 In India, the average annual growth rate of all soft drink sales was 12.6% between 1997 and 2007.5