Fast Food Calorie Counting
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New York City recently passed a law where fast food establishments (those that had over 15 stores) had to display the healthy related nutrition content of the items they sell. This is similar to what is already displayed on items you purchase from a supermarket. The idea is simple; just display the calories, amount of fat, serving size, etc.
Attempting to make consumers more aware of the amount of calories in their favorite fare was met with some pushback from those that are providing the tasty items. Why would they not want to make the public more informed, might be the same argument that cigarette manufacturers make when they didn’t want to show how much tar and nicotine was part of their product. “The less people know, the better off they are” would seem to the be consensus of these restaurants. Similar to the tobacco industry the health of individuals is not the first thing these owners have on their mind, but similar to tobacco; what you see when the covers come off is pretty amazing.
Here are a few of those restaurants with some of your favorite products in no particular order, with just their calories displayed:
| Food Item | Calories | Download Nutrition Information |
| McDonalds Big Mac® | 540 | mcdonaldsnutritionfacts |
| Wendy’s ¼ Pound single® with Cheese | 500 | wendysnutrition |
| Burger King Whopper® with cheese | 770 | burgerkingnutritionalbrochure |
| Arby’s Large Roast Beef Sandwich | 547 | arbysnutritioncalculator |
| A&W Papa Burger | 720 | awnutrition |
| DQ 1/2 lb Classic Grill Burger with Cheese | 970 | dqnutritionbrochurefood2008 |
| Popeye’s Cajun Wings (6) | 595 | popeyesnutrition |
| Subway 6′ Sandwich (Chicken Bacon Ranch) | 580 | subwaynutritionvalues |
| Taco Bell - Crunch wrap Supreme® | 560 | tb_nutrition |
The daily recommended amount of calories is around 1500 to 2000 per day. You can see by just one item from the list that you can go way beyond ½ of your daily amount if you combine an item with French fries, chips, soft drinks, and other extras. This again is only the restaurant’s main or original item. You can get many lesser items, but you can also get many items that are over this calorie count. Here are the same restaurants with their highest calorie item on the menu:
| Food Item | Calories | Nutrition WebSite |
| McDonalds - Deluxe Breakfast(Large Size Biscuit) w/o Syrup &Margarine® | 1140 | McDonalds |
| Wendy’s Triple w/Everything and Cheese | 980 | Wendy’s |
| Burger King - TRIPLE WHOPPER® Sandwich With Cheese | 1250 | Burger King |
| Arby’s Pecan Sticky Bun 4 Pack | 2751 | Arby’s |
| A&W Original Bacon Double Cheeseburger | 800 | A&W |
| DQ Chicken Strip Basket | 1090 | Dairy Queen |
| Popeye’s Chicken & Sausage Jambalaya | 660 | Popeye’s |
| Subway Foot long Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki | 750 | Subway |
| Taco Bell - Chicken Fiesta Taco Salad | 790 | Taco Bell |
Can you imagine the amount of extra weight that you could pack on if you had a steady diet of Arby’s Pecan Sticky Buns? If you choose any of these you can exceed you total amount of calories for a given day with just this meal. Kids especially teens want to go for the highest calorie items and don’t understand the damage they can do if this is allowed to be the normal course of action. If you never grow out of this habit you can see why the weight continues to be a problem as it will be impossible to exercise this amount of calories off while loading up with this amount. Fast food has helped to ruin the waste line of the majority of Americans and now like drug lords these companies are pushing these foods on other countries.
Not to dwell on the negative, here are the healthiest items on their menu (meal wise, not just a side item):
| Food Item | Calories | Nutrition Website |
| McDonalds Premium Caesar Salad (without chicken) | 90 | McDonalds |
| Wendy’s Mandarin Chicken® Salad | 170 | Wendy’s |
| Burger King Garden Salad (no chicken) | 90 | Burger King |
| Arby’s Martha’s Vineyard SaladTM | 270 | Arby’s |
| A&W plain hotdog | 270 | A&W |
| DQ Side Salad (no Dressing) | 45 | Dairy Queen |
| Popeye’s Mild chicken (skinless and breading removed) Brest | 120 | Popeye’s |
| Subway Jared Salad Veggie Delite® | 60 | Subway |
| Taco Bell - Fresco Crunchy Taco | 150 | Taco Bell |
Because of the preasure that is being put on by consumers, you can get items that are healthy and lower in calorie. I say good for New York City for demanding this product information and I can bet there will be a more careful look at these products in the future. Now I’m not telling you to run away and never use these restaurants. You can still visit these places but you need to make correct choices when selecting your food.
[information taken from each restaurant's website]
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[...] I wrote an article about it back in April when the law went into effect. I called it “Fast Food Calorie Counting” and also showed a breakdown of calories from some of the well know [...]