I Thought I Was Eating Healthy

May 17, 2003

This was on NBC 5 News the other night:

The burger had meat, bacon and cheese. The salad was topped with

Mandarin oranges, and came with roasted almonds, crispy noodles and

oriental sesame dressing.

However, because of those extras, the salad also came with a lot of

fat and calories -- more, in fact, than the burger.

The burger had 570 calories and 29 grams of fat. The salad had 590

calories and 35 grams of fat.

At Mc's, we compared the Crispy Chicken California Cobb Salad

to the Quarter Pounder With Cheese.

The salad, with the dressing, came in at 500 calories and 32 grams

of fat. The burger registered at 530 calories and 30 grams of fat.

However, you can beef up the health factor for salads, according to

Chuck O'Reilly, owner of 13 Mc's franchises in North Texas.

" Mc's is about choice, " O'Reilly said. " It would probably

depend mostly on your choice of dressing, but it's all about

choice. "

All of the salads come with crispy, breaded chicken or grilled

chicken and a choice of a lower-fat vinaigrette dressing.

We also found similar salads at Jack in the Box, where the bacon and

creamy dressing helps boost the fat grams in the Chicken Club Salad

to 65. The bacon cheeseburger has 59.

At Whataburger, the Chicken Strip Salad with cheese and ranch

dressing has a whopping 945 calories and 73 fat grams, nearly twice

as much fat as the Whataburger with cheese. It has 697 calories and

37 grams of fat.

However, registered dietician Lona Sandon says salads can be a

healthier alternative to burgers.

" That salad loaded up with some fresh vegetables is gonna give you

more vitamin A, vitamin C, maybe more vitamin E, " Sandon said. " So

you're going to get more nutrient value in the salad than you may

get out of the hamburger. "

Suzy

Carrollton, TX

Dr. Veninga

Open RNY 3/7/02

286/166/140

Recommended Posts