Xtreme Eating 2009
Appetizers, Entrées and Desserts to Avoid
By Mary Kearl
With reporting based on the June 2009 Nutrition Action Healthletter Report from Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI)
In response to the increasing obesity rates and the increasingly extreme sizes and unhealthiness of chain restaurant food, CSPI unleashed its first annual "Xtreme Eating Awards" in 2007 -- giving a big fat "F" to each item -- bloated with calories, saturated fat and sodium -- included in the report, demanding restaurants be required to post nutrition information next to each menu order -- not just online.
Know before you order: The Food and Drug Administration has set the acceptable daily allowance for calories at 2,000, saturated fat at 20 grams and sodium content at 2,400 milligrams. CSPI recommends restricting sodium intake even more -- suggesting a daily cap of 1,500 milligrams.
Click through the photo gallery below to see the nine worst appetizers, entrées and desserts that made 2009's "Xtreme Eating Awards" list.
Click here for printable text-only version.
Xtreme Eating 2009
Red Lobster Ultimate Fondue
Calories: 1,490
Saturated Fat: 40 g
Sodium: 3,580 mg
This order, which contains two day's worth of saturated fat and sodium, is "like eating 10 oz. of Velveeta with 58 Nabisco Premium Saltines," according to Jayne Hurley and Bonnie Liebman, co-authors of the June 2009 "Nutrition Action Healthletter."
*All fast food nutrition information based on the June 2009 Nutrition Action Healthletter Report from Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI)
Kate Sherwood, Nutrition Action Healthletter
Applebee's Quesadilla Burger
Calories: 1,820
Saturated Fat: 46 g
Sodium: 4,410 mg
"I tried to look at trends that the restaurant industry is heading into ... [such as] blending foods together into one megafood -- as found in Applebee's Quesadilla Burger," says Hurley. She points out in the report that eating this bad boy is equivalent to two Steak Burritos at Chipotle.
Nutrition Action Healthletter
The Cheesecake Factory Fried Macaroni and Cheese
Calories: 1,570
Saturated Fat: 69 g
Sodium: 1,860 mg
"It's the 69 grams of saturated fat -- three and a half days' worth -- that sets this dish apart. You'd be better off eating an entire stick of butter (57 grams of saturated fat and a mere 800 calories)," the report's authors point out.
Nutrition Action Healthletter
Chili's Big Mouth Bites, with fries, fried onion strings and jalepeño ranch dipping sauce
Calories: 2,350
Saturated Fat: 38g
Sodium: 3,940 mg
Offered as both an appetizer and an entrée, this "mini" offering is filled with more than a day's of calories, nearly two day's worth of saturated fat and about two day's worth of sodium. Share with at least a few friends if you're curious to try it.
Nutrition Action Healthletter
Uno Chicago Grill Mega-Sized Deep Dish Sundae
Calories: 2,800
Saturated Fat: 72 g
"That's as much saturated fat as you'd get in an entire regular-sized Uno Prima Pepperoni Deep Dish Pizza," according to the June 2009 "Nutrition Action Healthletter."
Nutrition Action Healthletter
Chili's Half Rack of Baby Back Ribs
Calories: 490
Saturated Fat: 12 g
Sodium: 2,050 mg
"It's like ordering a quarter pounder with cheese on the side" of your meal, Hurley and Lieban point out.
Nutrition Action Healthletter
Olive Garden Tour of Italy (Homemade Lasagna, Lightly Breaded Chicken Parmigiana and Creamy Fettuccine Alfredo)
Calories: 1,450
Saturated Fat: 33 g
Sodium: 3,830 mg
"That's without even a single all-you-can-eat breadstick (150 calories a pop) or Garden-Fresh Salad with dressing (350 calories for each plate. Add one of each and you've got 2,000 calories," according to "Nutrition Action Healthletter."
Nutrition Action Healthletter
The Cheesecake Factory Philly Style Flat Iron Steak
Calories: 2,320
Saturated Fat: 47 g
Sodium: 5,340 mg
This cheese-overloaded order goes overboard on daily calories and contains well over two day's worth of saturated fat and sodium.
Nutrition Action Healthletter
The Cheesecake Factory Chicken and Biscuits
Calories: 2,500
Though served at a sit-down restaurant, this plate is "essentially an entire KFC 8-piece Original Recipe bucket (four drumsticks and four thighs) plus five Home-Style Biscuits," Hurley and Liebman say.
*No other nutrition information was made available by The Cheesecake Factory.
Nutrition Action Healthletter
Posting Nutrition Information Key to Smart Orders?
Nashville, New York City, Philadelphia, Portland, California, Massachusetts and several counties across the country require some form of nutrition information to be posted, but CSPI wants more. In conjunction with its "Xtreme Eating Awards 2009," CSPI is calling for Congress to pass the Menu Education and Labeling (MEAL) Act, which would require major restaurant chains to post calories on menu boards and list calories, saturated plus trans fat, carbohydrates and sodium on printed menus across the U.S.
In a survey cited by CSPI, 82 percent of respondents said that seeing nutrition information posted in New York City restaurants affected their food choices. CSPI would like the information to be presented in a standardized way "like with packaged foods in supermarkets," says "Xtreme Eating 2009" co-author Jayne Hurley, explaining that doing so "virtually changed supermarkets overnight. Before the labeling there were no 'Lean Cuisine' type choices. Now you can't go to a store without finding a lower-sodium, lower-calorie or lower-fat version of a food. You'd see the same sort of thing at fast food places. Instead of one or two healthy choices, it would really level the playing field."
Read the full "Xtreme Eating Awards" report here. Print this article.
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Recent Comments
Suitman36 02:08:56 PM Jul 29 2009
we ate at an outback steakhouse on my birthday in may. the food was so salty that it was hard to eat. i wrote a letter to outback, and explained what happened. i received an answer telling me how sorry they were that we were disappointed, along with a $45 gift certificate to come back with.well, we went back.....and i will never go back again. the food was just as salty, and the portions were much smaller than they used to be.needless to say.....they lost a customer.
DWGORDON00 02:01:07 PM Jul 29 2009
You know, you folks got way to much time on your hands. If you want to eat high everything food, eat it. Just work it off after you do. Take it from me, work it off after you eat at these places. I had a stint placed in my heart last month, age 57 and X jock! DG - SC
MaryLou93063 01:56:36 PM Jul 29 2009
da the fondu is for more than one person----and no one forces you to order it-
blipdr 01:52:14 PM Jul 29 2009
RED LOBSTER, APPLEBEES AND OTHER PLACES LIKE THAT ARE SHI*HOLES. CRAPPY OVER PRICED FOOD. YOU CAN GO TO A REAL RESTUARANT AND GET REAL FOOD FOR ABOUT THE SAME PRICE. CHILIS IS OK, BUT ALL THE REST SUCK. LAST TIME (AND I MEAN THE VERY LAST TIME) I WENT TO APPLEBEES, I WAS CHARGED $2.25 FOR AN ICE TEA, ISN'T THAT BASICALLY WATER? AND I HAD 2 AND COULDN'T BELIEVE THEY CHARGED ME FOR BOTH. MY DRINKS WERE MORE THAN MY MEAL.THAT'S WHERE MOST RESTAURANTS MAKE MONEY IS ON DRINKS. JUST GET WATER.
siltron1011 01:47:37 PM Jul 29 2009
Correct !! save your life and cook at home!! No one is forcing you to eat this crap!!
ROBDAV265 01:46:33 PM Jul 29 2009
red lobster sucks , they might as well call it "youll get diabetes lobster"
NicStepro 01:38:00 PM Jul 29 2009
Applebees,lawsuit. A waste of time and money. A nuisance lawsuit. And it will cost us in the long run. The plaintiff should be identified and refused service at every restaurant.
Scarpenteri 01:36:50 PM Jul 29 2009
As long as you keep voting you're going to have government up your butt. Those guys aren't going to just sit there and do nothing for 4 years (well, some will!). They have to champion a cause, any cause, so they can look good and be re-elected. It's your life and it's short enough. Be healthy if you want to or be a slob, it hardly matters. In the end it's all dust in the wind anyway.
NicStepro 01:33:34 PM Jul 29 2009
Why are they allowed to serve this??? Are you saying there should be a law? Good freaking Gods, mind your own business and no one is forcing YOU to eat there and *when* other people do, it is NONE of your business. Of course as the govt. gets more involved, like in NY, there will be a law. America, land of the formerly free ...
