Why I hate Nutritional Information at Fast Food places

Agator82

Just Eat Real Food! Which fast food is not

Great the 'Real Food' people have seen this thread...now we should all bow our heads in shame for not preparing every ounce (or 28 grams if anyone was wondering) of food in our own kitchens.

I really wish it was fake food because then maybe the calories would be fake too and I could get anything I like.

PikaKnight

Just Eat Real Food! Which fast food is not

Is it imaginary? What's the kcal count on imagination?

Since it isn't real, that means I don't have to log it! Woot! This makes fast food the real zero cal good then

PikaKnight

The main takeaway from this thread is that Americans should focus more on learning the metric system instead of blaming fast food restaurants.

I never order any condiments. Avoiding dressing, mayo, etc will go a long way in reducing your calorie counts.

Screw you, buddy! Our inches and... miles and pounds or whatever are full of FREEDOM AND BALD EAGLES AND 'MURICA

And GUNS! How do you leave out the GUNS?!?!?

I suspect you're a member of a terrorist sleeper cell.

Wait. So we've gone from the logical "eating too much of any good makes you fat" to forms of measurements make us fat? So metric is low cal compared to the imperical....how does that taste? Main course? Or side dish?

herblackwings39

At any rate, the menu lists only 28g - 1 ounce in its serving size, yet it serves you 2 ounces.. so twice the portion it lists in grams on its menu...

Now THAT's deceptive. Do they give you "two" servings because they think you'll want to take home half the dressing and use it on another salad? Thanks for the reminder that we need to be really vigilant about nutritional information. Silly serving sizes is one of my pet peeves.

That's one of my pet peeves. When things are individually portioned...like pop tarts, salad dressing, a bottle of juice...yet there are two servings in it. Who really wants to reseal a half empty package? It can't be that hard to put one serving in a package.

PikaKnight

At any rate, the menu lists only 28g - 1 ounce in its serving size, yet it serves you 2 ounces.. so twice the portion it lists in grams on its menu...

Now THAT's deceptive. Do they give you "two" servings because they think you'll want to take home half the dressing and use it on another salad? Thanks for the reminder that we need to be really vigilant about nutritional information. Silly serving sizes is one of my pet peeves.

That's one of my pet peeves. When things are individually portioned...like pop tarts, salad dressing, a bottle of juice...yet there are two servings in it. Who really wants to reseal a half empty package? It can't be that hard to put one serving in a package.

Or you can just get a Tupperware or ziplock. It's not that big of a deal.

BeachIron

My one and only complaint is that I wish I could get a break down of the micronutrient and fiber content. That said, I'm going to hazard a guess that when I drink a giant chocolate milk shake with my Burger King triple, there's going to be some calcium hiding in there somewhere . . .

Oh, and metric FTW.

Except pounds. I like pounds. I dig kilometers and grams though. Oh, and yards while playing golf but meters when running shorter distances.

And WTF is with stones?

herblackwings39

At any rate, the menu lists only 28g - 1 ounce in its serving size, yet it serves you 2 ounces.. so twice the portion it lists in grams on its menu...

Now THAT's deceptive. Do they give you "two" servings because they think you'll want to take home half the dressing and use it on another salad? Thanks for the reminder that we need to be really vigilant about nutritional information. Silly serving sizes is one of my pet peeves.

That's one of my pet peeves. When things are individually portioned...like pop tarts, salad dressing, a bottle of juice...yet there are two servings in it. Who really wants to reseal a half empty package? It can't be that hard to put one serving in a package.

Or you can just get a Tupperware or ziplock. It's not that big of a deal.

That's why it's a pet peeve.

Gidzmo

If I'm trying to eat fast food and stay within my calorie counts for the day, I'm really careful about the dressing/sauces. Order them on the side, so you can control exactly how much of it you eat. I DO get avocado on my sandwiches if it's an option, though, and sub it out for whatever the dressing would be (or at our local organic cafe, I get avocado instead of their full-fat cheese on my veggie wrap). I love avocado's taste better than nearly any sandwich spread.

Avocado's at least a vegetable fat (monounsaturated, IIRC), so it doesn't do the damage to your arteries that saturated fat does.

Gidzmo

Just Eat Real Food! Which fast food is not

Contrary to some opinions, fast food is real food. Most 'fast-food' places have nutritional information available (if not on-site, it's available on-line).

I don't go for absolute precision. Unless you make it yourself and measure every last crumb, it's not possible. Give yourself some grace here.
--order your dressings or sauces on the side.
--go for the tomato-based sauce (such as marinara) instead of a cream-based sauce (such as alfredo).
--if ordering a burger, try switching to a whole-grain bun OR lettuce (lettuce leaves instead of the bun).
--whole-grain pasta, if possible.

Many restaurants are trying to lighten up the menus. Some buzzwords: fresh, grilled, steamed, baked, and broiled.

Athena53

Or you can just get a Tupperware or ziplock. It's not that big of a deal.

It's not that storing unused food is hard. It's that they calculate the serving size to get a lower number of calories fat, etc. I agree that a large bag of chips contains more than one serving, Does it contain 4? 6? If the label shows 6, that cuts the calories and fat per serving. What about cans of soda that contain 1.25 servings, or individual bags of chips that contain 2.5 servings? Who really eats half a Pop Tart?

I just do the math. How many calories are in this whole package? What % of the package am I likely to eat? I'd love to see a column with the totals for the whole package, but I suspect it will never happen.

mlcantwell

I'm American but I can't actually picture what an oz is, although cups I can do, but I weigh/measure all my food in grams and mls. I have lived in the UK for 3 years, I guess metric just grew on me?

If you know you are going to eat out, maybe try and figure out the healthier options before you go? I'm sure there are some guides online for better options at chain restaurants if you google it.

plkbplkb

Keep in mind that the fast food calories are an estimate anyway. The calorie count depends entirely on the the person making the food item as well. My son works at Taco Bell and I can assure you that nobody measures anything at a fast food place unless it is pre-portioned. Then, it varies by a great deal anyway ~ how long the food has been in the fryer, the temperature of the oil/food when it went into the fryer (how much oil is absorbed), etc. You get a lot of, "Oops, a little extra cheese (or sauce) went onto that! Oh, well!"

Alexandra289

These menus always frustrate me too. The worst is the subway one - I always get a veggie delight and apparently that's a really healthy choice! Until you realise that the sandwich they are giving the calories for is a bit of bread with some lettuce and cucumber - obviously I'm going to have cheese and mayo or it's not really a sandwich!

Um, I eat dry sandwiches all the time, or put only mustard on. I consider it a 'real sandwich' without processed cheese and goopy mayo.

That being said, getting a plain turkey sandwich with veggies on it is probably 'better' for you than the veggie delight anyway, since cheese is a fatty and salty way to get your protein.

Ok, what I mean is I very rarely go to these places so if I want a healthy sandwich I'll eat it at home but if I'm going to Subway I'd rather eat something I like as a treat - and I think bread with salad would not be worth paying over £2 for. Just my opinion! I was just making the point that I don't think the nutritional info on the menu reflects what people are actually most likely to eat.

chrisdavey

DoingThiisForMe

My issue with this is shredded cheese, if i ask for no letucce they usually pile on the shredded cheese or that no one is really measuring the cheese they just grab whatever.. i know this can add hundreds of cals very easliy..