Chain Restaurants Making Americans Fatter And Sicker Says Consumer Watchdog

[WASaBubbleButt 41]

Desserts that give you a whole day's worth of calories in one dish.

For a heart-healthy lifestyle, the average person needs only 2,000 calories a day and should limit their intake of saturated fat to 20 grams, and of sodium to 1,500 mg. Bear this in mind while you peruse the following list.

The "winners" of the 2009 Xtreme eating award include:

* Cheesecake Factory's Fried macaroni and cheese which contains 1,570 calories and 69 grams of saturated fat. "You would be better off eating an entire stick of butter", said the CSPI statement.

* Olive Garden's Tour of Italy invites you to pile Lasagna, chicken Parmigiana, and Fettuccine Alfredo onto a very large dinner plate.

* Uno Chicago Grill, The Melting Pot and Olive Garden's Red Lobster Ultimate Fondue, described as "shrimp and crabmeat in a creamy lobster cheese sauce served in a warm crispy sourdough bowl," contains 1,490 calories, 40 grams of saturated fat, and 3,580 mg of sodium.

* Applebee's Quesadilla Burger is essentially a bacon cheeseburger inside a quesadilla and contains two flour tortillas, two kinds of meat, two kinds of cheese, pico de gallo, lettuce, Mexi-ranch sauce, and fries. This dish has 1,820 calories, 46 grams of saturated fat, and 4,410 mg of sodium. Plus there is an option to top up the fries with more sauce and cheese.

* Chili's Big Mouth Bites is four mini-bacon-cheeseburgers with fries, onion strings, and jalapeno ranch dipping sauce (the term "mini" is misleading said the CSPI report because each burger is like a quarter pounder). This dish comes as an appetizer or an entr?e. The entr?e version contains 2,350 calories, 38 grams of saturated fat, and 3,940 milligrams of sodium.

* The Cheesecake Factory's Chicken and Biscuits has 2,500 calories. CSPI describes this dish as "discomfort food." and said that "if you wouldn't eat an entire 8-piece bucket of KFC Original Recipe plus 5 biscuits, you shouldn't order this".

Unless you live in a city that has menu labelling, you wouldn't know about these figures. CSPI senior nutritionist Jayne Hurley described some of the dishes in the list as "would you like an entr?e with your entr?e?"

Over the last couple of years several states and cities have passed legislation forcing restaurants to put nutrition and calorie information on menus to help people make better informed choices, and CSPI suggests Congress will soon pass national legislation to the same effect, especially as one of the federal judges who agreed to allow New York City's law stand when they appealed a ruling that favoured the restauranteurs, is President Obama's nominee for a seat on the Supreme Court, Judge Sonia Sotomayor.

Part of the argument that the chain restaurants use to resist the legislation is that consumers are adults and should be free to choose what they eat without a "nanny state" telling them. However, lobby groups and health experts counter this with the argument that without the nutrition and calorie figures consumers can't make an informed choice and therefore can't properly exercise their responsibility. They can still choose to eat unhealthily if they wish, so the "nanny state" argument is a hollow one.

CSPI nutrition policy director Margo G Wootan said:

"Ultimately, Americans bear personal responsibility for their dining choices."

"But you can't exercise personal responsibility if you don't have nutrition information when you order. Who would expect 2,800 calories in a dessert?"

The CSPI did a survey of New Yorkers recently and found that 82 per cent of the respondents said seeing the numbers affected their choices.

There is a bill currently going through Congress, put forward by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and US Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), called the Menu Education and Labeling (MEAL) Act which if implemented would force big restaurant chains to show calories on menu boards and other nutrition basics on the menus themselves, including saturated and trans fat content, carbohydrates, and sodium.

If passed, the law will apply to restaurants throughout the US that have more than 20 outlets, and then only to their standard menu items, not to their daily specials or to their custom orders.

[Malaika 50]

WOW I knew all of that had lots of calories; however, never knew the exact numbers. Thankfully, I've never ordered any of it. Well did get the quesadilla burger once -- it was awful - ended up eating 1/2 the burger. It was also incredibly messy to eat -- not that has anything to do with the price of tea in China.

Thanks for posting that article WASa - very interesting! And I believe people would be swayed on what they order if they had the information in front of them ... and I am sure that is why the restaurants don't want it -- their profits will definitely decrease if numbers are posted, IMO

[WASaBubbleButt 41]

I would! I would be more careful in what I order if there was a food label there. I think about how many times I've been to a restaurant since WLS and I try to determine the best choices. Since we don't know the ingredients of the food we can't always know what is good and what isn't.

I agree with you, business would decrease if people had a clue what they were consuming.

[MacMadame 81]

"But you can't exercise personal responsibility if you don't have nutrition information when you order. Who would expect 2,800 calories in a dessert?"

Okay, first I agree that nutritional info on the menu is good. But I do think this statement is a bit of an exaggeration. Does anyone think that the fried mac 'n cheese is good for them? Or that when you order the brownie sundae with a super-sized brownie, 2-3 sauces, 2-3 scoops of ice cream and mounds of whipped cream and nuts that this dessert is really made for one person?

Some of this stuff doesn't need a label for you to know it's bad for you. It's pretty darn obvious and, if adults need a label for not order it, then they are in denial.

Other stuff on the menu had hidden calories and is designed to sound healthier than it is though and that's really why we need labels.

[WASaBubbleButt 41]

Okay, first I agree that nutritional info on the menu is good. But I do think this statement is a bit of an exaggeration. Does anyone think that the fried mac 'n cheese is good for them? Or that when you order the brownie sundae with a super-sized brownie, 2-3 sauces, 2-3 scoops of ice cream and mounds of whipped cream and nuts that this dessert is really made for one person?

Some of this stuff doesn't need a label for you to know it's bad for you. It's pretty darn obvious and, if adults need a label for not order it, then they are in denial.

Other stuff on the menu had hidden calories and is designed to sound healthier than it is though and that's really why we need labels.

What sentence is an exaggeration? I was pretty darn clear about when you do NOT know the ingredients of a given dish. I think most people know what Mac & cheese or brownies are.

The part above that I bolded is what I was talking about regarding not always knowing how to make good food choices.

So no, no exaggeration on my part. ;o)

If I go to a restaurant and decide to splurge and have fried Mac & Cheese (honestly, it sounds disgusting) and then I saw just how much I was splurging, I would not likely order it.

[MacMadame 81]

What sentence is an exaggeration? I was pretty darn clear about when you do NOT know the ingredients of a given dish.

The part I quoted ... which was a quote from Margo G Wootan, not from you. :wink0:

I think she was exaggerating to make a point only it just made me roll my eyes and I think it weakened her point.

[Elisabethsew 50]

It would be nice to have the nutritional breakdown of the foods on the menu but I doubt it will happen. One problem is that companies lie. Independent testing spot checking fat content consistently shows higher levels than what the printed information states.

Restaurants sell what people want. I rarely see people telling the wait staff NOT to bring the rolls and butter. If Soup, salad, and dessert are included in the price of the meal, I rarely see people passing on any part. Some restaurants have a healthy option section on the menu that is very small compared to the rest of the menu. If healthy food was a big seller, I would expect to see this section made larger with more offerings.

I do agree with Mac that it IS possible to make healthy choices without having a nutritional breakdown... shrimp cocktail over crabcakes, grilled fish over deep fried fish, fresh fruit over cheesecake. It seems people see eating out as a reason to splurge... and that includes calories. :-(

[MacMadame 81]

And, remember, I did agree that it would be better to have the nutritional info. I just thought it was unreasonable to think that the foods used as examples weren't crazy bad for you. It's like the "crunchberries" case ... reasonable people know crunchberries aren't fruit!