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The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has an eye-opening video demonstrating the health hazards of eating at major Italian-style restaurant chains (they focused on the Olive Garden and Romano’s Macaroni Grill, the two largest such chains in the US). Remember when the CSPI called fettucini Alfredo a “heart attack on a plate” in 1994? Well, there are more heart attacks where that came from. How about the Olive Garden’s innocuous-sounding Spaghetti with Meatballs…well, it’s got roughly the same calories and saturated fat as three Quarter-Pounders. Macaroni Grill’s dish is twice as bad — six Quarter-Pounders. So clearly, why not just pull through your local drive-through and order the family, I dunno, a couple of dozen Quarter-Pounder and eat those instead?
From the video: “The truth is, it’s virtually impossible to get a plate of pasta or virtually any other dish for less than 1,000 calories at [these restaurants].” Watch and be amazed/horrified/hungry:
Read detailed findings from the CSPI. See also: CSPI Slams Domino’s New Pasta As Unhealthy ‘Food Porn’ including this awesome quote:
“Topping a pizza crust with an order of macaroni and cheese is probably the most discouraging mac-and-cheese innovation since The Cheesecake Factory decided to ball it up and toss it in the deep-fryer,” [CSPI senior nutritionist Jayne] Hurley said. “What’s next, wrapping it in a giant blueberry pancake?”
If you don’t get the reference, you owe it to yourself to watch SNL’s “Taco Town” ad.
For more mental_floss coverage of crazy foods, see Best of the worst foods ever, What’s worse for you than fast food? Lotsa things, and The Quick 10: 10 Secret Menu Items. (There’s a ton more where those came from — just search for “food” in the box at the top of this page.)
Comments (23)
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Intro statement for the video: “Nothing is more American than Italian entrees like lasagna, fettuccine alfredo, spaghetti with meatballs.”
HUH?
Interesting to watch, though. Pasta is deceiving. Some very big numbers where you might not expect them.
(Also note the dessert: one piece of tiramisu = a 16 oz t-bone and five pats of butter. Nice!)
posted by EV on 12-16-2009 at 3:04 pm
CSPI loves to sloganize “bad” foods that are a rare treat and not stapes of the diet. The average person eats at a place like Olive Garden maybe 3 times a year (I don’t go to Romano’s because their food is gross). It would make no difference if the caloric content there were halved or tripled for that matter. They play up the publicity and whatnot, but they’re doing nothing to help anyone but their own ability to generate headlines. Further, they’ve been wrong, and are the reason for many foods having trans fats instead of coconut oil. It turns out that coconut oil is very healthy in moderation. Oops.
As for fried macaroni & cheese, I find the idea disgusting. Blueberry pancakes are awesome, though. If someone wants to wrap a fried chunklet of mac & cheese in a blueberry pancake, someone else will buy it at the fair.
posted by Dave on 12-16-2009 at 3:52 pm
OK, this is a deeply un-nuanced look at food. Certainly, if you eat meals like this all the time, you’ll end up “shaped like a meatball,” but if you are generally careful about what you eat, then the occasional splurge is not that big a deal.
Secondly, while I do not dispute the facts presented in the video, I have to wonder how many people actually eat the whole portion. I know that when I go to Olive Garden, I usually can’t finish the whole entree. I get two meals out of one of their servings. Dessert, though — they’ve got me there. My wife and I usually split a dessert, but I could easily put away the whole thing by myself, most of the time.
Third, the focus on calories is deceptive. While I get the point that people aren’t really doing any better in terms of the numbers eating at OG rather than at McDonalds, still — if I’m going to eat that many calories, I want them to be tasty! So if I have a choice, I’m eating spaghetti and meatballs instead of two or three cardboard-tasting burgers. In real life, people don’t eat to get calories. They eat for flavor.
Fourth, a 3000-calorie meal is a lot, especially if you actually eat it all. 1200 or 1500 though can be fit into a “standard” 2000-calorie diet, if you eat lightly the rest of the day. The saturated fat is more problematic, but again, as long as you are careful about your diet most of the time, once in a while won’t hurt you.
Finally, by fixating on the calorie-cost of a single meal, one misses out on the greater problem in the American diet — the easy availability of snacks. With soda, chips, and candy available on nearly every corner, most folks are eating a lot more calories per day than they think they are. That was (and still is) the hardest part for me when I started counting my calories — being honest about, or even aware of, *everything* that I ate.
To be fair to the CSPI, I do see what they’re getting at: eating out isn’t as healthy as you think, even if you eat at a “better” restaurant. Portion size IS a serious food-policy problem and does need to be addressed, both at the level of policy and at the level of the individual trying to eat a healthy diet. Nevertheless, I think this is the wrong way to go about trying to convince people to change their eating habits.
posted by Matt on 12-16-2009 at 4:04 pm
Here’s a crazy idea: go ahead and order the pasta, but don’t eat all of it. Most Italian chain restaurants give you enough pasta to feed a family of four, but you don’t NEED to eat it all. Maybe the CSPI should just work on teaching people that they don’t have to clean their plate, instead of broadly labeling stuff as “bad”.
posted by Craig on 12-16-2009 at 4:05 pm
*eyeroll* @CSPI.
Everything is bad for you if you eat too much of it, even broccoli.
I get what you all are saying about not having to or being able to eat the whole portion, and I’m right there with you. But seriously, when I eat at those places I see a lot of people not only finishing off their entrees but also shoving in a stack of breadsticks and a dessert…that is the norm, not the exception.
posted by Jen on 12-16-2009 at 4:46 pm
It’s interesting to see the mental_floss reader reaction to this post — there seems to be some visceral “Yeah, but this isn’t telling the whole story” reaction here.
I think I can summarize it by echoing what Matt said, that nuance is important. This story obviously isn’t a complete guide to how to eat out, and the CSPI purposely plays up certain aspects of “bad” or “dangerous” foods in order to get attention. But from where I sit, this headline-making aspect of their publicity (some might say propaganda) gets across the key messages that saturated fat content is high in processed foods, and that large portion sizes contain tons of calories. My hope would be that consumers could then make educated decisions about what they eat, and how much.
But I do think the “how many Quarter Pounders” thing is actually a very good metric. I think for your average consumer, looking at a pile of burgers makes sense and has logical impact perhaps more than a nuanced argument would. Then again, the overall message may be one of hopelessness, causing consumers not to know what they can eat, so they simply don’t change their behavior at all. Now there’s a nuanced problem.
posted by Chris Higgins on 12-16-2009 at 4:46 pm
Who get’s anything at the Olive Garden other than their endless soup and salad?
The only way to eat healthy at a chain restaurant is to order a salad and have it topped with grilled chicken or fish, and make sure they put the dressing on the side.
Of course, if you wanted to eat healthy you wouldn’t be going out to eat anyway would you?
Maybe this is a good argument for the stay at home wife; who has a healthy mean prepared for her husband when he gets home…like mine!
perfect reCAPTCHA: “diabetic to”
posted by graham on 12-16-2009 at 4:49 pm
* healthy meal, not healthy mean
posted by graham on 12-16-2009 at 4:53 pm
Man, I sure wish I had a stay-at-home wife! Oh wait, that’s illegal in my state…
In all seriousness, just eat half the meal. It’s healthier AND cost-conscious! Win win!
posted by Erin on 12-16-2009 at 5:22 pm
I second the idea of portion control being the main problem here. Americans have been insidiously duped into thinking that we’re not getting our money’s worth if we aren’t served a giant portion at a restaurant. I typically get 1-2 leftover meals from one entree at chain Italian restaurants, and I’m a girl with a healthy appetite.
Also, as many others have commented, moderation is the key. Eating at Olive Garden every night does not sound like a healthy eating strategy.
posted by Jennifer on 12-16-2009 at 6:17 pm
Im too worried about the pasta dish since like everybody else I take the leftovers home…its probably the two bottles I drink with it that are gonna do me in…EAT DRINK AND BE MERRY!!!!!!
posted by CJ on 12-16-2009 at 6:37 pm
Not too worried I meant.
posted by CJ on 12-16-2009 at 6:38 pm
Interesting Video. Just do not call that “italian cooking”: some of it, like Fetuccuine Alfredo or Spaghetti with meatballs are not “Italian”, they were born in America.
Moreover the size of portions is just HUGE! those are certainly not healthy recipes, but eating those huge portions can only make things worse
If American people think THAT is what is meant by a dish of pasta, then by all means avoid pasta at all costs! but believe me, things are really quite different in Italy.
posted by Paola on 12-17-2009 at 5:12 am
Restaurants could do us all a favor by cutting their portion sizes AND their prices. (Of course, the waitstaff like bigger checks since that’s what drives the tips!)
posted by Hyacinth on 12-17-2009 at 10:04 am
To the people who are saying that portion control is key here, I agree, but would add that I think having the fat/calorie counts for each meal posted right in the menu would allow people to make better choices.
I usually end up taking about 1/2 of my meal home, but I’ll admit I sometimes like to split an appetizer and maybe have a beer or two along with my dinner. I don’t necessarily think about how the calories and fat are adding up.
I think many people really have no clue as to how many calories/fats their meals out really contain. So yes, people should realize that the meals that they are served at places like OG consist of more than one serving, and they should take the rest home, but I also think having calorie and fat counts would help people to make more informed decisions about what they are ordering.
I suppose that wouldn’t be such a good marketing strategy, though.
posted by Suze on 12-17-2009 at 10:15 am
Lol @ Taco Town.
posted by Natasha on 12-17-2009 at 11:42 am
My thing is I work out (distance runner), so as long as I eat healthily and splurge every once in a while on junk, but it’s not the norm (which I think is a sentiment shared by most of us on MF). I think the holiday season is most frustrating with all the ‘diet’ advice and ‘how to not gain ten pounds during Xmas’, etc. I mean, if you know you’re going to go out and eat at OG or whatever for work dinner, eat a lean cuisine or something healthy for lunch. It’s all about moderation.
Funny tidbit – there was an ad with a pic of pancakes with blueberries on it – anybody else get it?
posted by OkieMelissa on 12-17-2009 at 12:49 pm
Yeah, this whole business is why I only eat at *real* Italian food restaurants. You know, the kind with good food.
posted by Megan on 12-17-2009 at 7:19 pm
Thank god for the CSPI since i’m clearly too stupid to pick out my own food. If their advice was so great they’d charge for it like Consumer Reports.
posted by don on 12-20-2009 at 10:21 pm
I love articles like this, even if they aren’t the “whole story” or whatever. I think that so many folks just don’t think about how MUCH they are eating. And some food is deceptive…I got a “bistro” salad from Einstein bagels the other day. I got the cheese and nuts on the side and didn’t eat much of them. Later, I looked up the total calories if I had eaten everything and it was like 800 or more, plus the 350 calorie bagel that comes with it.
Now, logically, one should realize that nuts and cheese are high in calories but I think a lot of people don’t….
posted by TeacherPatti on 12-22-2009 at 11:02 am
It is hilarious to me that so many (if not all) of the comments are disputing the findings of CSPI. Do you not realise how fat Americans are? That portions are huge at every restaurant, and most people DO eat the entire portion?
posted by Logan on 12-25-2009 at 4:30 pm
Actually, from what I’ve seen, a lot of diners DO eat most (if not all) of their portions. And the guy who said most people only eat at OG three times a year: do you actually believe that? Olive Garden couldn’t maintain so many restaurants if the average American only patronized the eatery 3 times a year, especially when you consider the fact that the very wealthy and the very poor eschew mid-priced restaurants like OG.
Moreover, the CSPI is only looking at two chains here, and chains that are perceived by the general public as being relatively healthy at that. You have a point that it’s possible to bring food home in a doggy bag, but the majority of Americans eat most of their food when they dine out. And I know several families that order appetizers, drinks, and dessert in addition to their main courses. If anything, I’d say that arming consumers with this kind of information ENCOURAGES them to take more of their meals home with them for the next day. The video did not, at any time state: “Don’t eat at these restaurants, they’re bad.” CSPI could have been more balanced if they’d mentioned portion control, but that doesn’t negate the value of the video.
posted by Ozymandias on 12-28-2009 at 8:50 pm
Just wanted to say that the info is not up to date, as I work for one of the “chains” mentioned,I know that some of the dishes mentioned in the video haven’t been on the menu for at least two years. Most casual dinning has changed alot in those two years. Our new portions are nearly half the size of the ones in the video. The quality of ingredients has become more important to consumers, so most dishes are a few hundred calories less now just because of better cooking techniques (since most restaurants are afraid of being rumored to use trans fat, or lots of butter) I just wanted to let you know that it isn’t as evil as it seems. But you can always find something healthy on a menu. We have one dinner dish including pasta that has less than 400 calories.
posted by Meay on 12-30-2009 at 5:00 pm