SubscribeRestaurant Calories: Too Hard Basket?
If calorie counting is important to you, then you need to think carefully and realistically about restaurant or fast food.
Two reasons:
- Accurate assessment of calorie content in restaurant food is very difficult.
- Even listed nutritional information can be flat out wrong.
Californian advocacy group CCPHA claims that an "overwhelming number of Californians" were unable to identify foods high in fat, salt, or calories.
You try it: Which Denny's dish is lowest in calories:
- ham and cheddar omelet
- country fried steak and eggs
- three slices of French toast with syrup and margarine
- three pancakes with syrup and margarine
To add insult to injury, a recent Canadian investigation of donuts found that the fat content was significantly higher than claimed.
For example, Dunkin' Donuts' says its crullers contain eight grams of fat but the doughnuts tested by the lab contained 13 g. Krispy Kreme says its crullers contain 13 g of fat but tests showed the fat content to be 19 g.
The moral of the story is: if you eat out a lot - you may want to change your habits.
PS. The answer to the Denny's question: Country fried steak and eggs contains the lowest amount of calories (check out the quiz here).
More like this in Fast Food · Apr 20, 2007
Wow, I actually got them all right. (Although I pretty much guessed on the salt one). I am pretty sure that I know more random nutritional facts than many people though. Not that most people are stupid, at all...I just used to devote a LOT of energy to obsessing over calories and food in general! And that's not good either.
I've actually LOST weight eating more in restaurants than at home, but, again, I'm a bit of a freak, ha ha!
ReplyFinding the time to eat healthy is like finding the time to go to work, sleep or have sex. If you make it a priority, you're going to see that you get it done.
It takes a lot longer to burn off 500 extra calories from fast food than it takes to prepare a healthy meal. It's odd that people don't see this and claim that they don't have time to make their meals.
If you are exercising to lose weight, you really don't have time to eat fast food.
ReplyI would not have ordered a single item on that test. I don't need nutritional information to realize what's a poor food choice. Is it really that hard to understand what is healthy to eat and what isn't? I suppose if the name of an item is very misleading it would be useful to ask what is in the dish.
ReplyI'm sorry, but i still think it comes down to either you want to make smart choices or you don't. If you cannot make the better choice and yet you really think you want to, then you have an addiction and would be wise to address and treat it as such.
I think the artcles is right, and I found some useful slim tips in http://www.slimdigg.com/
ReplyWOW! The dougnut test seems pretty useless to me. I don't think too many diet conscience people out there would worry about the 4 extra grams of fat. Especially if they are aware that dougnuts have no nutritional value other than sugar and fat!
ReplyRestaurant eating flat out scares me while dieting!
Hard to avoid all the time though! My SO loves eating out once a week or so, and it's always such a social thing... people tend to take an invitation out to dinner Saturday more readily than an invitation to go hiking Saturday!
ReplyI second Dr. J and also add that not only does none of it sound healthy, it doesn't sound appetizing either.
ReplyI hope this encourages legislatures to force all restaurant franchises to test their menu products and provide nutritional information.
I feel the pain about local mom and pop restaurants going out of business because of this. However, a decent compromise would be for the law to apply only to franchises.
Really, only one state in the country needs to pass the law and all franchises operating in the state would need to get their food tested.
ReplyWe need to RightSize America.
That means getting everyone and everything to the RightSize. That means getting food portions to the RightSize. That means getting our children to the RightSize. It means getting our priorities to the RightSize.
The first step is for everyone in America to start figuring out what is the RightSize.
Our first job is to find restaurants, fast-food shops, diners, lunch counters (are there any left?), cafeterias, pushcarts, fair booths...any (and every) place that sells or distributes food and drinks to serve the RightSize. And at the RightPrice.
It quite clear that in the past 50 years, advertising, the corn lobby, fast-food places, the meat industry, the milk industry, the artificial ingredients industry has taken over leadership in America. Health professionals, politicians and common sense no longer can compete against the misinformation and outright lies, as well as the 1,000 food decisions made daily (from "Mindless Eating").
Fifty years ago, America started a trend of moving from home eating to eating out, and the trend and we have grown bigger and bigger.
We know what we cook at home. When you are out you have absolutely no idea what's in the food. That's got to stop. But as you know the restaurant industry doesn't want to even put the calories on the menu board, let alone how many gallons of oil & corn syrup it took to raise, slaughter, transport and cook that 1/4-pounder.
This blog raises a great point, but the time for studying is over. It's time for action. In the 1900s the "trusts" were justified as part of capitalism. Restaurants can no longer hide behind their claim that public health is not part of their responsibility, and that having a "salad" on the menu, let's them off the hook.
Start demanding that every place in America be held to a high food standard.
ReplyI don't need the government, a restaurant, or the food police over at CSPI telling me what I can and can't eat. Nutrition classes in school (seriously, nutrition education in schools right now is pretty pathetic from what I've seen) and nutrition information for restaurants? Great. I can get behind that. But I don't need anyone OTHER than me deciding what is the "Right Size" for MY BODY.
Reply(And no, I'm not overweight.)
The problem with restaurant food is that, even though most people have been told over and over that "restaurant food is bad for you!" they don't know why it's so bad, and they don't know how bad it really is. How many people do you think actually realize that most restaurant entrees have an entire day's worth of calories, or more? The fact that restaurants aren't required to tell people about this just makes it all the worse.
It seems obvious to you guys because you're all diet-conscious and you've seen the numbers. But if you made something similar to one of those restaurant entrees at home, it wouldn't be anywhere near as bad as the restaurant version is. Most people come into a restaurant not realizing what restaurants do to their food. I mean, a lot of it is just mind-boggling. It's as if these restaurant chefs get together and say, "okay, how can we make this normal-seeming food as hideously fattening and calorific and unhealthy as humanly possible?"
ReplySame here. I don't eat at restaurants very often anyway. In fact I've never visited 2 of those 4 restaurants in my life. So some of the menu items were completely foreign to me; I don't know how big they are or how greasy and sugary they actually look and taste.
That being said... I do collect nutrition info for a living, and (darn it!) I still got every last question wrong. Obviously I don't memorize the info I've collected.
I think this quiz demonstrates the importance of meal planning and also preparing our own meals as often as possible. Nobody really knows what kind or how much salt and fats are added to our restaurant foods. When you do have to (or choose to) dine out, meal planning becomes even more important. Do your research! There is no shame in asking for smaller portions, sharing a meal with a friend, or requesting a doggie bag.
ReplyC'mon, guys and gals, no one eats a doughnut as a health food so it's kind of silly to complain about the fat content of doughnuts. Yeah, they should get it right. But if you want low-fat foods, try carrot sticks and celery.
Having said that, I respect everyone's right to decide what's acceptable to them. I agree that restaurants (at least the big chains) should provide nutritional information because most people don't know what they're eating.
BUT I draw the line at the government legislating what we can and cannot eat and in what size. Not everyone has health or weight problems.
Fifty years ago, there were many food items available with high calories and high fat and there was no obesity epidemic. There's something to be said for self-discipline and personal responsibility.
I know those aren't popular concepts right now. But it's become far too acceptable to blame the restaurants and the government and anyone else you can think of instead of taking responsibility for your own actions.
ReplyI think its really important to know what you're getting. I had no idea that a dinky "muffie" (muffin top) at Panera had 260 calories till I checked their website. Who'd think a PART of a muffin would have as many calories as a Lean Cuisine?? Now I check the websites as much as I can.
ReplyHoly frickin' "Seinfeld" idea!
Do you know if they donate the muffin stumps to a homeless shelter too? Or does "the cleaner" have to take care of disposal? And how many glasses of milk does he require?
Reply