According to researchers from the University of Toronto, who examined the calorie, sodium, fat and cholesterol levels of 685 meals and 156 desserts from 19 sit-down restaurants around Canada, the average meal also contains 1,128 calories.
The Food and Drug Administration and the United States Department of Agriculture recommends consuming 2,000 calories per day. Just one restaurant meal likely contains more than half this daily intake. The researchers found that an average restaurant meal contains 151per cent of the recommended amount of sodium an adult should consume in a single day, 83per cent of the daily saturated and trans fats, and 60per cent of the daily value for cholesterol.
And even salads aren’t safe.
Mary Scourboutakos, a PhD student at the University of Toronto’s Department of Nutritional Sciences, and author on the study told MailOnline: ‘It’s important to note that all meal categories had a wide range of calories, so even within the lowest ranking category, which was salads (on average containing 657 calories), there were still some salads that contained up to 1,370 calories.’
‘Overall, the results of this study demonstrate that calorie, fat, saturated fat, and sodium levels are alarmingly high in breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals from restaurants.’ The restaurant industry is currently preparing an implementation of new rules that requires fast food chains with more than 20 locations to post calorie content information on all meals. However the study’s results suggest that it would be beneficial for all restaurants to display nutritional information of their products.
‘Addressing the nutritional profile of restaurant meals should be a major public health priority,’ the researchers explained. Ms Scourboutakos said there are a few high calorie ingredients to be weary of when ordering a meal from any restaurant. ‘When ordering a salad, watch out for non-vegetable ingredients such as croutons, bacon bits and cheese, and always ask for the dressing on the side, so you can control how much is added,’ she said.
‘When ordering a pasta meal, avoid cream sauces and don’t eat too much garlic bread; and when ordering a meat entree, be sure to choose a vegetable based side dish, such as a salad or mixed vegetables.’
As a rule of thumb, Scourboutakos recommends avoiding anything that’s fried, and advises consumers to save half of the entree for your next meal if the portion size is large. ‘Lastly, avoid caloric beverages, appetizers and desserts,’ she said.
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