Chain restaurant alert: Beware of Pax "Wholesome" Foods

hellokittyhorror · February 2011

Even if you don't live in New York City, you might learn from what I write here that it’s important to be able to know exactly what’s in the food we eat. At least some corporate chains list their ingredients online (probably because they are forced to). If you take a look, however, you might be as surprised as I was with Pax “Wholesome” Foods.

I looked up the nutrition information after I ate a small Yellow Split Pea soup and a Mozzarella Caprese Sandwich. The soup was not so bad in calories; 230. But there were 15 grams of fat and 2090 mg of sodium! The sandwich (which thankfully I only ate half of) was 840 calories and 46 grams of fat! I couldn’t believe it. I was so upset that I emailed Pax complaining that they were falsely advertising. I also told them that I would inform the MFP community and file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. For my desired settlement I said I wanted a refund and that I wanted Pax to take out the word "Wholesome" from their name or put quotes around it so as to indicate satire and communicate truth.

Why on earth does there have to be so much fat, sodium and calories in a little sandwich and a small soup? If an establishment does not have the information, you might want to ask them so you really know what you are eating. If I had looked up the ingredients generically in the MFP database, I would have thought that I have many more calories to eat today. But thanks to Pax foods I am already over my calorie goal at 3 in the afternoon!

welly5 · February 2011

That is an INSANE amount of fat in one sandwich!!!

How did they even get that much in there? how!

hellokittyhorror · February 2011

I know! If you look at the ingredients, it merely says: Mozzarella cheese, French bread, pesto, mayonnaise, roasted red pepper, sun-dried tomato.

When I ate it, it wasn't like there was gobs of mayo on there...

wolfchild59 · February 2011

No offense, but you ordered a _mozzarella_ caprese sandwich. Fresh mozzarella has five (or more) grams of fat per ounce. And average ball of fresh mozzarella is 6-7 ounces. So, assuming they only use one ball, thats 30-35 grams of fat just from the cheese alone.

I don't think it's fair for you to file a complaint against a company when you ordered an item that naturally has a high calorie and high fat count. If the nutritional information is available for someplace you're going to eat, check it out in advance and make choices based off of that knowledge. And just general things like whole milk cheese being high in calories and fat is always good to just keep in mind when making menu choices, even if the nutritional info isn't available.

wolfchild59 · February 2011

Just saw the rest of the ingredients in your last post. Pesto is basil, olive oil, parmesan cheese and pine nuts.

All fresh, healthy items, but low calorie/low fat? No. Mayo was probably the least of your worries after the cheese and pesto.

paroxysm · February 2011

Just saw the rest of the ingredients in your last post. Pesto is basil, olive oil, parmesan cheese and pine nuts.

All fresh, healthy items, but low calorie/low fat? No. Mayo was probably the least of your worries after the cheese and pesto.

I'm gonna have to agree with this... tack on the mozzarella/bread and I'm actually surprised it didn't hit 1,000 and >50 on the fat count.

Definitely not fair to attack the restaurant for that. Those are all "Wholesome" ingredients. No false advertising. It doesn't say Pax "Low fat, low calorie" Foods.

After you calorie count for awhile you'll start to recognize what is high in calories and what isn't and you won't get surprises like this. If you have a smart phone-- download a calorie counter app that can help you along the way.

Good luck and don't feel bad!

hellokittyhorror · February 2011

Thanks for the comments. I agree that the ingredients may seem wholesome. This makes it harder to understand why is it so fattening and why so much salt? I think that 2090 mg of sodium (about what you should eat in 1 day, right?) is outrageous and definitely not wholesome (one definition of wholesome is "conducive to or characteristic of physical or moral well-being"). I suggest you go and see the sandwich for yourself. There was max 4 oz of mozzarella cheese (about 24 grams of fat) and as I said before, not a lot of the pesto-mayo (approx 2 tbsp). I guess I just wasn't expecting something labeled as "wholesome" and so small to be way more fat and calories than a Burger King Whopper! Good for you if you already knew that something that seems like a healthier and more wholesome option is actually worse than food at fast food joints in terms of calories and fat. I think a lot of folks don't, however; this may not be helpful to those losing weight, not to mention the obesity epidemic.

callipygianchronicle · February 2011

Thanks for the comments. I agree that the ingredients may seem wholesome. This makes it harder to understand why is it so fattening and why so much salt? I think that 2090 mg of sodium (about what you should eat in 1 day, right?) is outrageous and definitely not wholesome (one definition of wholesome is "conducive to or characteristic of physical or moral well-being"). I suggest you go and see the sandwich for yourself. There was max 4 oz of mozzarella cheese (about 24 grams of fat) and as I said before, not a lot of the pesto-mayo (approx 2 tbsp). I guess I just wasn't expecting something labeled as "wholesome" and so small to be way more fat and calories than a Burger King Whopper! Good for you if you already knew that something that seems like a healthier and more wholesome option is actually worse than food at fast food joints in terms of calories and fat. I think a lot of folks don't, however; this may not be helpful to those losing weight, not to mention the obesity epidemic.

I think what you’re saying here is probably one of the hardest lessons for all of us to learn. People may criticize you for your sandwich choice, but the fact is you were duped by marketing. Because that’s all the word Wholesome is when it comes to restaurant and processed food. WHolesome, like natural, is a completely unregulated phrase and food manufacturers may use it to describe anything they please. At 2090 mg, that’s actually TWO days worth of sodium for me, someone who has high blood pressure. Way beyond a single meal, two days.

You have a right to be upset, but don’t fall into the American trap of litigiousness and complaining. Take ownership, feel empowered and armed with your new knowledge. You now know what you need to do before you eat out. You now know that resturants—especially this one—are not your friends when it comes to truly healthy food choice. We often have to make the best choice with our options at the moment. I say constantly that there is no perfection in this journey. Sometimes we’re going to eat things that we thought were great but turn out to be complete *kitten* for our health. Spreading the word here is empowering to others who may be saved from making the same mistake at that restaurant, or elsewhere.

hellokittyhorror · February 2011

Thanks, Yolanda. You are right on a number of points-especially re. getting duped by marketing- they got me

I'm willing to concede that I may have gone a bit overboard with the BBB complaint. I just wanted to inform more than complain.

kimwig · February 2011

I know! If you look at the ingredients, it merely says: Mozzarella cheese, French bread, pesto, mayonnaise, roasted red pepper, sun-dried tomato.

When I ate it, it wasn't like there was gobs of mayo on there...

Wholesome is a very generic (and un-regulated) word, that is easily applied to things that are not over processed.

When I see any meal that has cheese (high in fat), mayo (high in fat), pesto (high in fat) I know it is going to be a calorie killer. And salt is always very liberally applied to foods, such that we do not notice it now!

As they say "caveat emptor"

Grokette · February 2011

I know! If you look at the ingredients, it merely says: Mozzarella cheese, French bread, pesto, mayonnaise, roasted red pepper, sun-dried tomato.

When I ate it, it wasn't like there was gobs of mayo on there...

Fresh Mozzarella cheese, pesto, roasted red pepper and sun dried tomato are all whole foods. The bread and mayonnaise could be processed foods or they could be fresh and wholesome, depending on if they were fresh made that day from scratch.

There is no reason to fear fat. It is not the enemy.

When sticking with whole foods counting calories is not that important.

There are far worse things you could have eaten.

Chain restaurant alert: Beware of Pax "Wholesome" Foods

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