per person on fruits and vegetables, while higher income households spent a weekly average of $5.02 per person. Astoundingly, the report found that close to 19 percent of low-income households and 10 percent of higher-income households bought no fruits and vegetable in any given week.

Instead of buying the products that provide life-sustaining and disease-preventing vitamins and minerals, Americans are spending a substantial portion of their food budgets eating out. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) found that, in 2003, almost 40 percent of food expenditures made by individuals and families were made on food not prepared at home. Of that, 38 percent was spent at what the USDA termed "limited service eating places" – what we might call fast food restaurants. During 2003, the average person spent $1,531 each year for food eaten away from home and $1,731 for food eaten at home. Even the most generous figures in the Agricultural Economic Report provide for a startling contrast: The average person spends a little over $5.00 per week buying fruits and vegetables, but spends almost $30 each week eating out. This represents a seismic shift in consumer habits over the past four decades. In 1963, for example, less than ten percent of food budgets were spent eating away from home.

Americans aren't spending all that money on salad bars. The USDA's Agricultural Research Service reported in 2004 that, on any given day, about 25 percent of Americans

over the age of 20 eat fast food. The report stated that, "Although fast food provided one-third of some respondents' daily caloric intakes, those meals included almost no milk, fruit, or fruit juices, which are important nutrient sources among key food groups. In fact…the intake levels of vitamins A and C, carotenes, calcium, phosphorus and magnesium decreased."

The hectic pace of the American lifestyle and the quarter of a million fast food restaurants in the U.S. combine to form a recipe for calorie-packed, nutrient-deficient foods. Companies such as Agel are banking on the need to counteract the tendency of Americans to gravitate toward the quick but empty calories of fast food. "Our four formulas are packaged for men and women on the go," says Penn. "They can be tucked away in a pocket or a purse, and can be taken without water." Americans may never forgo their beloved junk food, but with supplements such as Agel's, they'll at least be able to pack some nutrition in alongside their burgers and fries.

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