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Even Salads Can Be Loaded With Fat
Aired May 13, 2003 - 13:56 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, American restaurants are getting some menu advice from the secretary of Health and Human Services. Tommy Thompson wants them to offer more healthful choices, and he says they should encourage customers to exercise.
CNN's medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, joins us now live from the CNN Center Food Court, where, of course, fast food is as popular as ever -- hi, Elizabeth.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra. I eat here a lot, and I bet you do, too. That is right. Tommy Thompson is saying the fast food restaurants should offer more healthy alternatives and should promote them to their customers, to which fast food restaurants and restaurants in general said, well, we do. We do offer several different alternatives, and they are -- some of them are of the healthier variety.
So we just wanted to come down here and take a look at the various choices that are offered. Are they healthy or aren't they? Salads, for example. Are they really better for you?
Let's take a look first at sort of a classic fast food choice. This is a McDonald's double quarter pounder with cheese. It is 760 calories and 48 grams of fat. So in this one sandwich, you're getting more than half the fat that you're supposed to get in an entire day.
Now, here's a healthy alternative, or at least some people will think of it as the healthier alternative. But when you look at the numbers, actually, it isn't. This is a roast turkey ranch and bacon sandwich. It has got lettuce sticking out of it, it certainly looks like it would be better for you, but in fact, it has 880 calories and 44 grams of fat. That comes from the cheese, the bacon, and the ranch dressing.
Now, let's got to the salads. It is kind of a mixed bag here. You might think that they have far fewer calories and fat, and in some ways they do, and in some ways they don't, and I'll explain.
For example, here's the salad from Wendy's, the mandarin chicken salad, and it has 150 calories and 1.5 grams of fat if you don't put anything on it, but that's a big "if."
Once you start putting all this other stuff on it, the dressing, the noodles, the nuts, it's 590 calories and 34.5 grams of fat.
Another example, this taco supreme salad. If you don't put any of the add-ons on, it's not too bad. But then, when you put all of the sour cream, the chili, the chips, the salsa, 580 calories, 28 grams of fat. And there is McDonald's salad here which tells sort of a similar story. So the secret here to the salads, the secret to having a healthier salad, would be don't put on all the other stuff, use half of the dressing, for example, and that will improve the fat and the calories greatly -- back to you, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: So basically, the best case scenario is a salad with grilled chicken within absolutely nothing, no flavor.
COHEN: Right. Well, absolutely no dressing. I mean, I think very few people would want to do that. But even if you just put, like, let's say, half the dressing, because they do give you quite a bit of dressing, you improve it greatly. You get rid of many, many grams of fat, you reduce the calories. So it is possible to make these better.
PHILLIPS: All right. Our Elizabeth Cohen. Good health report. I guess I won't be going downstairs to eat today. You have just depressed me.
COHEN: Sorry.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Elizabeth.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired May 13, 2003 - 13:56 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, American restaurants are getting some menu advice from the secretary of Health and Human Services. Tommy Thompson wants them to offer more healthful choices, and he says they should encourage customers to exercise.
CNN's medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, joins us now live from the CNN Center Food Court, where, of course, fast food is as popular as ever -- hi, Elizabeth.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra. I eat here a lot, and I bet you do, too. That is right. Tommy Thompson is saying the fast food restaurants should offer more healthy alternatives and should promote them to their customers, to which fast food restaurants and restaurants in general said, well, we do. We do offer several different alternatives, and they are -- some of them are of the healthier variety.
So we just wanted to come down here and take a look at the various choices that are offered. Are they healthy or aren't they? Salads, for example. Are they really better for you?
Let's take a look first at sort of a classic fast food choice. This is a McDonald's double quarter pounder with cheese. It is 760 calories and 48 grams of fat. So in this one sandwich, you're getting more than half the fat that you're supposed to get in an entire day.
Now, here's a healthy alternative, or at least some people will think of it as the healthier alternative. But when you look at the numbers, actually, it isn't. This is a roast turkey ranch and bacon sandwich. It has got lettuce sticking out of it, it certainly looks like it would be better for you, but in fact, it has 880 calories and 44 grams of fat. That comes from the cheese, the bacon, and the ranch dressing.
Now, let's got to the salads. It is kind of a mixed bag here. You might think that they have far fewer calories and fat, and in some ways they do, and in some ways they don't, and I'll explain.
For example, here's the salad from Wendy's, the mandarin chicken salad, and it has 150 calories and 1.5 grams of fat if you don't put anything on it, but that's a big "if."
Once you start putting all this other stuff on it, the dressing, the noodles, the nuts, it's 590 calories and 34.5 grams of fat.
Another example, this taco supreme salad. If you don't put any of the add-ons on, it's not too bad. But then, when you put all of the sour cream, the chili, the chips, the salsa, 580 calories, 28 grams of fat. And there is McDonald's salad here which tells sort of a similar story. So the secret here to the salads, the secret to having a healthier salad, would be don't put on all the other stuff, use half of the dressing, for example, and that will improve the fat and the calories greatly -- back to you, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: So basically, the best case scenario is a salad with grilled chicken within absolutely nothing, no flavor.
COHEN: Right. Well, absolutely no dressing. I mean, I think very few people would want to do that. But even if you just put, like, let's say, half the dressing, because they do give you quite a bit of dressing, you improve it greatly. You get rid of many, many grams of fat, you reduce the calories. So it is possible to make these better.
PHILLIPS: All right. Our Elizabeth Cohen. Good health report. I guess I won't be going downstairs to eat today. You have just depressed me.
COHEN: Sorry.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Elizabeth.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
