Chicken Scoop: Fast food screams bird!
CAVEAT: Today’s column features a lot of bird language.
Let’s talk about chicken. Fast food chicken. We’ll take a look at the nutrition information surrounding sandwiches, sandwiches, salads… even the new “chicken fries” recently launched by Burger King.
Every smart dieter knows that white meat chicken is a delicious part of a healthy eating plan. So why are the nutritional numbers so scary at your favorite fast food restaurant? Meet up this way and check out the latest offerings, including McDonald’s new line of premium chicken sandwiches.
By now, you must have seen the ads featuring so-called premium sandwiches. When McDonald’s launches a new product, they saturate the market with luscious ads. But please don’t confuse the keyword premium with a synonym for healthy.
Let’s check out the story on the tape to see the nutritional numbers that are available within a few pecks at http://www.mcdonalds.com. As it sounds, you have a choice of 3 new sandwiches, each of which comes in two forms: grilled or “crispy” which is a nicer word than fried. The envelope please…
Classic Premium Crispy Chicken Sandwich: This 8.2-ounce sandwich has 490 calories (150 from fat), 16 grams of fat, 3 grams of saturated fat (1.5 g of trans fat), 60 milligrams of cholesterol, 1,350 mg of sodium, 62 grams of carbohydrates and 3 grams of fiber.
the 8 ounces Premium Grilled Chicken Classic Sandwich is a better bet at 410 calories (80 from fat), 9 g fat, 2 g saturated fat (zero trans fat), 80 mg cholesterol, 1,210 mg sodium, 52 g carbs, and 3 g fiber.
Tea Premium Crispy Chicken Ranch BLT Sandwich weighs 8.6 ounces and weighs 570 calories (180 from fat), 20 g fat, 5 g saturated fat (1.5 g trans fat), 70 mg cholesterol, 1730 mg sodium, 64 g carbohydrates, and 3 g of fiber.
HAS Premium Grilled Chicken Ranch BLT Sandwich (8.5 ounces) has 480 calories (120 from fat), 13 g fat, 3.5 g saturated fat (zero trans fat), 90 mg cholesterol, 1,590 mg sodium, 53 g carbohydrates, and 3 g fiber.
The 9.6 ounce Premium Crispy Chicken Club Sandwich contains 660 calories, 29 g fat, 9 g saturated fat (1.5 g trans fat), 100 mg cholesterol, 1,800 mg sodium, 63 g carbohydrate, and 3 g fiber.
And finally, the 9.4-ounce Premium Grilled Chicken Club Sandwich has 580 calories, 21 g fat, 8 g saturated fat (zero trans fat), 40 mg cholesterol, 1660 mg sodium, 53 g carbohydrates, and 3 g fiber.
eDiets.com Chief Nutritionist Susan Burke offers this mini-review:
“McDonald’s new Premium Grilled Chicken Sandwich is a good option for fast food, as long as you tweak it up a bit so you can have it ‘your way.’ Just say, ‘Wait for the mayonnaise!’ Mayo adds saturated fat and calories Say YES to ketchup or mustard…or both.
“By the way, I mean grilled chicken, not ‘crispy’ sandwich (crispy is code for added fat) or chicken BLT, which has 20 grams of fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, and 1.5 grams of trans fat per sandwich.
“If you’re watching your sodium intake, all bets are off…at McDonald’s and at all fast food restaurants. A quick look at all the chicken sandwiches makes my heart flutter. There are 1,800 milligrams of sodium in just one Premium Chicken Crispy Club Sandwich That’s 75% of what you need for the whole day.
“Even the plain Premium Grilled Chicken Sandwich has 1,200 mg of sodium, which is still too high for a single sandwich. So balance out the day with fresh fruits and vegetables, and don’t make fast food a daily habit.” “.
Susan couldn’t have said it better!
While chatting with Susan about fast food in general, I learned that a managerial rooster at a large chain said that size is what really matters when it comes to pleasing a hungry crowd. Yes, this business genius claims we want BIGGER… like bigger loaves, bigger meat, bigger toppings, bigger scale numbers, bigger pant sizes, and higher medical bills. Whoops, he didn’t say all that. But it might as well have.
In honor of this “bigger is better” belief, I think fast food chains should offer special “really big kid” meals complete with cardiac defibrillators and other nifty toys. I can hear the ticket worker now as she sweetly asks after taking your order, “Do you want oxygen with that?”
But I digress. I came here today to laugh at the chicken. I have to admit, I was inspired by the recent spate of Subway commercials featuring none other than Jared, that incredible shrinking man. The weight-loss spokesman who says he lost about 245 pounds eating sandwiches (please don’t try this with meatball or cheesesteak sandwiches) has been skewering fast-food chicken options of late.
But before you grab a few bawk, bawk, bawks and run to Subway for a super healthy chicken sandwich, check out this:
The 6″ Chicken & Bacon Ranch sandwich has 530 calories and 25 grams of fat. The numbers aren’t much better than the McDonald’s sandwiches listed above. In fact, the McChicken has only 370 calories and 16 grams of fat. ?
Well, Jared was comparing apples to oranges when he attacked the high-fat fast food sandwich and recommended the 6″ Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki Sandwich and its 5 grams of fat.
Dieters like you and me know to do our homework before heading to the corner fast food for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Stick with the grilled chicken and skip the breaded chicken and you’re off to a good start. Other tips:
Most of the big franchises now offer nutritional values online or at the store. Request the information if it is not easily accessible. If they don’t want to share it, say bye. It is your money and your health that is at stake here. get what you they want, not what they want to be served.
Now, back to chewing on the fat and calories of fast food chicken.
Consumer Reports recently researched more than 35 chicken dishes at 16 restaurants. Some of the nastier results:
Mr. Bad Food would be delivered if you don’t check out the nutrition numbers for the latest entry in the fast food chicken wars: Burger King’s Chicken Fries. A 6-piece order of Buffalo sauce has 340 calories (210 from fat), 24 grams of fat (4.5 saturated; 3 trans fat), 40 mg of cholesterol, 1020 mg of sodium, 20 g of carbohydrates, and 2 g of fiber.
The verdict? The 6-pack is actually slightly worse in some ways than a medium potato which has 360 calories (160 from fat), 18g fat (5 saturated; 4.5 trans fat), 0 cholesterol, 640mg of sodium, 46 g carbs, and 4 g fiber. So don’t fall into the “chicken has to be better than French fries” trap.
Another much-hyped chicken sandwich these days is the KFC Snacker. The 99-cent price makes it much more affordable than Colonel’s high-priced bucket selections. But basically you get little more than a crispy strip inside a “snack bun” with pepper mayonnaise and lettuce mix.
The nutritional numbers are 320 calories, 16 grams of fat (3 g saturated), 25 mg of cholesterol, 700 mg of sodium, 31 grams of carbohydrates, and 1 gram of fiber. I don’t know about you, but I would need at least two of these 4-ounce teasers to feel almost full.
A few hundred chicken options include:
–Burger King Fire-Grilled Chicken Garden Salad with Fat-Free Honey Mustard Dressing has 280 calories and 7 grams of fat.
–Wendy’s Ultimate Grill Chicken Sandwich has 360 calories and 7 grams of fat.
–Quizno’s Honey Bourbon Chicken Mini Sandwich has 359 calories and 6 grams of fat.
–Hardee’s Charbroiled Bar-BQ Chicken Sandwich has 415 calories and 5 grams of fat…and includes the mayonnaise.
The bottom line: When you’re hungry for fast-food chicken, choose wisely and enjoy your meal. Oh, and don’t yell at Mr. Bad Food if temptation and poor decision-making make you lay an egg, talk about motivation.