Worst Foods in America, 2010
When we published our first edition of Eat
This, Not That: Worst Foods in America back in 2007, we made a lot of restaurant
chains very unhappy. But we also made a lot of their attorneys really, really
happy, as they soon began earning massive legal fees sending us saber-rattling
correspondences on behalf of the food marketers they represented.
As
2010 draws to a close, it's time for another walk down the Hall of Restaurant
Shame. And we’re sorry to say that, despite the fact that more than 6 million
Americans have begun using Eat This, Not That! as their weapon of
choice against bad-for-you food and the restaurants that proffer it, the
restaurants themselves still haven’t gotten the message. This year brought
perhaps the craziest, most calorically damaging menu items we've ever seen. In fact, you should not attempt to eat
a single thing on this list unless you are sharing it with at least three other
people—because each of these “individual servings” include a full day (or more)
worth of calories. (You can see our complete—and completely shocking—list of The 20 Worst Foods of 2010 here.)
Oh,
and P.S.: Hey, restaurant attorneys. Merry Christmas!
Worst Chinese Entrée
PF
Chang’s Double Pan-Fried Noodles Combo (served with beef, pork, chicken, and
shrimp)
1,820 calories
84 g fat (8 g saturated)
7,692 mg sodium
The human body needs about
1,500 milligrams of sodium each day to function properly. Anything beyond that
could be unnecessary, and possibly put your health at risk. And sure, Chinese
food is notorious for its high salt
content, but few dishes we’ve seen come anywhere close to this number. It packs
enough of the white stuff to meet your body’s needs for an entire week! And the
rest of PF Chang’s menu isn’t much better. Stick with the Hong Kong Beef and
plan to avoid the saltshaker for the next couple meals. (Or pick up the new
Cook This, Not That! Easy &
Awesome 350-Calorie Meals and save money and time while losing weight
faster than ever.)
Eat This
Instead!
Hong Kong Beef with Snow Peas
620 calories
28 g fat (6
g saturated)
1,852 mg sodium
Bonus Tip: Hidden salt bombs are everywhere. Don’t miss this indispensible slideshow of The 30 Saltiest Foods in America.
Worst Mexican
Entrée
Baja Fresh Charbroiled Steak Nachos
2,120 calories
118
g fat (44 g saturated, 4.5 g trans)
2,990 mg sodium
If the full day of
calories in this entree doesn’t ruin any of your weight-loss goals, then the 2
days of saturated fat almost certainly will. But if all that saturated fat
doesn’t wipe out your waistline, then the 2 days of trans fat surely will. If
the trans fat doesn’t wreak total havoc . . . you get the point. Fact is,
you could eat eight steak tacos and still take in fewer calories than what’s
found in this plate of cheesy chips. Stick to two tacos and save nearly half a
pound of body fat in one sitting.
Eat This Instead!
2 Original Baja
Steak Tacos
460 calories
16 g fat (4 g saturated, 0 g trans)
520 mg
sodium
Bonus Tip: Hungry for more hard-hitting nutrition facts, findings, and advice delivered to your inbox every day? Sign up for the free Eat This, Not That! newsletter, or simply follow me right here on Twitter! You'll get insights like: The word "muffin" was invented so people wouldn't feel guilty about eating cake for breakfast.)
Worst Pizza
Uno Chicago Grill’s Chicago Classic Deep Dish
Pizza (individual size)
2,310 calories
165 g fat (54 g saturated)
4,920
mg sodium
Congratulations, Uno! You lose! Again! In all the years
we’ve been putting this annual list together, this caloric calamity has never
budged—it's the worst pizza, year after year. There's simply no competition for
this crusty, cheesy nightmare. With a day’s worth of calories, more than 2 days’
worth of sodium, and nearly 3 days’ worth of fat, they should call it the
Classic Deep Doo-Doo pizza. Because that's where your diet will be if you eat it.
Eat This Instead!
Cheese
& Tomato Thin Crust Pizza (1/2 pizza)
420 calories
16.5 g fat (7.5 g
saturated)
885 mg sodium 
Worst Breakfast
IHOP
Big Country Breakfast with Chicken Fried Steak & Country Gravy
2,440
calories
145 g fat (56 g saturated)
210 g carbohydrates
5,520 mg
sodium
Here’s the anatomy of a breakfast disaster: Take a 12-ounce steak,
bread it, fry it, and then cover it with gravy. Then, on the side, drop three
eggs and three buttermilk pancakes. Does it not occur to IHOP that this is
actually three full meals that would weigh in at more than 800 calories
apiece?
Eat This
Instead!
Simple & Fit Turkey Bacon Omlette
420 calories
21 g
fat (10 g saturated)
730 mg sodium
24 g carbohydrates
Bonus Tip: Remember the old saying "Milk: not just for breakfast anymore." Well, here are 20 foods that shouldn't be for breakfast, period. Check out this eye-popping list of the Worst Breakfasts in America!
The Worst
Food in America
Cheesecake Factory’s Bistro Shrimp Pasta
2,730
calories
78 g saturated fat
919 mg sodium
141 g carbohydrates
No
restaurant chain exemplifies America's portion problem more than Cheesecake
Factory, where the average sandwich contains nearly 1,400 calories—more than
three full meals. But the Factory doesn't stop at elephantine portion sizes;
combine that with heavy-handed application of cheap cooking fats and the result are dishes like the 2,580-calorie
Chicken and Biscuits and the 2,460-calorie French Toast Napoleon. However, it’s
this relatively healthy-sounding plate of shrimp pasta that earns this year's
Worst Food in America crown from Eat This, Not That!, delivering to
your system more saturated fat than you’d find in three packages of Oscar Mayer
Center Cut Bacon and as many carbs as you’d slurp down from 1½ cases of Amstel
Light. Gross.
Eat This
Instead!
Fresh Grilled Mahi Mahi
240 calories
1 g saturated
fat
364 mg sodium
2 g carbohydrates
Bonus Tip: Look younger, improve your memory, and fortify your immune system with these 40 superfoods!
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EAT RIGHT RULE: If your food can go bad, it's good for you. If it can't go bad, it's bad for you. FOLLOW DAVE ZINCZENKO RIGHT HERE ON TWITTER and get FREE health, nutrition and weight-loss wisdom every day! You'll drop weight faster than ever--without ever dieting!