The Center for Science in the Public Interest just released their annual XTreme Eating list, which highlights some of the most unhealthy foods at U.S. chain restaurants.
photo courtesy of the Huffington Post
On the list of de-honorees? The Cheesecake Factory’s Bistro Shrimp Pasta, made with a butter and cream sauce and topped with battered, fried shrimp, has 3,120 calories and 89 grams of saturated fat and 1,090 milligrams of sodium, according to CSPI, which states it has verified the nutrient content with the restaurants included. However, the Cheesecake Factory claims the dish has (only) 3,020 calories, 79 grams of saturated fat and 1,076 milligrams of sodium.
Either way, it exceeds the recommended 20 grams of saturated fat and gets quite close to the 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day American adults are advised to consume.
As highlighted in this Reuter’s article, other Xtreme Eating winners for 2013 include:
– Johnny Rockets’ Bacon Cheddar Double Hamburger with 1,770 calories, 50 grams of saturated fat and 2,380 milligrams of sodium. An order of sweet potato fries tacks on another 590 calories and 800 milligrams of sodium.
-IHOP’s Country Fried Steak & Egg Combo—deep fried steak with fried eggs plus deep-fried potatoes and two buttermilk pancakes—with 1,760 calories, 23 grams saturated fat, and 3,720 milligrams sodium, and 11 teaspoons added sugar.
– Cheesecake Factory’s Crispy Chicken Costoletta with 2,610 calories, 89 grams of saturated fat and 2,720 milligrams of sodium. Cheesecake Factory told Reuters that dish has 2,560 calories, 86 grams of saturated fat and 2,767 milligrams of sodium. Just for a little perspective, that’s equivalent to the amount of calories in a KFC 12-piece order of fried chicken.
– Smoothie King’s Peanut Power Plus Grape Smoothie, which includes peanut butter, banana, sugar and grape juice. A 40-ounce, large size has 1,460 calories and 22 teaspoons of added sugar plus 29 teaspoons of naturally occurring sugar.
You can see the whole slideshow here.
What do you think about restaurants serving food with multiple days’ worth of calories, saturated fat, sodium, and sugar?