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 Post subject: Who needs to eat again this week?
PostPosted: Fri Jan 18, 2013 12:55 am 
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So, the Center for Science in the Public Interest has its "winners" for the most gratuitously unhealthful dishes from a national chain for 2012. Primarily they mean the most caloric, and many of them are caloric indeed: the champion Bistro Shrimp Pasta at the Cheesecake factory has 3210 calories, enough for 1.5 days for a 200lbs adult man.

Here's the list at CSPI: http://www.cspinet.org/new/201301161.html

Here's the same set of dishes as a slideshow from the Chronicle: http://blog.sfgate.com/hottopics/2013/0 ... ed/#9412-1

What's particularly notable is that none of the restaurants named are fast-food restaurants, but rather the so-called "family" restaurants. Somehow the family restaurant chains are packing more calories onto a single plate than the traditional villans of culinary health. They note specifically that The Cheesecake Factory's "chicken cassoleta" had as many calories as an entire family-sized bucket of KFC chicken, and twice the fat.

Unsurprisingly, The Cheesecake Factory sweeps the "awards".

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 Post subject: Re: Who needs to eat again this week?
PostPosted: Fri Jan 18, 2013 5:44 am 
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The chicken cassoleta was particularly troublesome, because the description sounds like the kind of dish that most people think is probably "OK"; sure, not diet food, but you know, not bad. >2600 Calories. Insane. I bet if you asked people to guess about that shrimp pasta, most would guess 1000 or less. It's just shrimp and pasta!!!


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 Post subject: Re: Who needs to eat again this week?
PostPosted: Fri Jan 18, 2013 6:45 am 
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I feel a food field trip coming up. There is Cheesecake factory in the same plaza as Wegmans flagship store and Trader Joe's in Pittsford. There are none in NYC so the chain is safe from Nanny Bloomberg.

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 Post subject: Re: Who needs to eat again this week?
PostPosted: Fri Jan 18, 2013 7:14 am 
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I generally find the CSPI's editorial style a bit over the top, but I did note that this article did not once contain the phrase "artery-clogging."


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 Post subject: Re: Who needs to eat again this week?
PostPosted: Fri Jan 18, 2013 7:58 am 
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Let's face it, restaurants, esp. chains, have continued to increase portions through the years, and have increased cost even more, figuring that if they serve you what you should be eating in a meal, and charging you a reasonable amount, most would be out of business! If they served us those small meals we are supposed to eat, and charged enough to cover their overhead, and make a reasonable profit, most of us wouldn't eat there! So they give you 2 meals worth, and charge you for three (or even 3 meals and charge for 4!), figuring that if you take the other meals home, and you are in the place just for the one meal, it's much more profit for them. And some places, if two people try to split a meal, will charge you extra for the second seat! And, of course, many people won't eat leftovers, so those are the ones they make the most profit on.

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 Post subject: Re: Who needs to eat again this week?
PostPosted: Fri Jan 18, 2013 9:00 am 
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pepperhead212 wrote:
Let's face it, restaurants, esp. chains, have continued to increase portions through the years, and have increased cost even more.



That's nuts...for me I would prefer higher quality smaller portions. We have noted that in our numerous trips to Russia that they follow that model and have wished that Americans would do the same.

Seems to me that profit margins would be the same...but noooo...we keep flocking to Chipotles & FreeBird to gorge on a 5lb burrito crammed full of cheap starch! I'm thru venting now... :mrgreen:

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 Post subject: Re: Who needs to eat again this week?
PostPosted: Fri Jan 18, 2013 9:19 am 
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Admit it, Frank - you picked out Chipotles because somebody told you they sell chili with beans! LOL

I agree with you about the quality, but that's another topic. Look at the junk avalable in supermarkets! Again, volume wins over quality, and people are willing to pay for substandard foods, to avoid cooking.

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 Post subject: Re: Who needs to eat again this week?
PostPosted: Fri Jan 18, 2013 9:26 am 
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pepperhead212 wrote:
Look at the junk avalable in supermarkets! Again, volume wins over quality, and people are willing to pay for substandard foods, to avoid cooking.


Couldn't agree more! I like to use coupons when I can to save, but unfortunately they're pretty much for crap I'd never buy. About the "junkiest junk food" you'll find in my house is Wheat Thins.

Amy

And, back to the original article Fuzzy cites. I can proudly say I've never eaten at the Cheesecake Factory, Maggiano’s Little Italy, Smoothie King or KFC. And while I have eaten at Uno's, Johnny Rockets and iHop, it's been so many years, I can't even recall when I last graced their doors.


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 Post subject: Re: Who needs to eat again this week?
PostPosted: Fri Jan 18, 2013 10:42 am 
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Dave, Amy, I hear you about junk food in the grocery store! I wish there were a grocery chain that just sold quality ingredients and no processed crap. Even places like Whole Paycheck, Trader Joes, Lunds, and Wegmans, where you can at least find quality stuff, are packed to the rafters with boxed meals, frozen entrees, and other processed drivel. I was in the grocery store last night, in the freezer section, and noticed the great size disparity between the frozen vegetable & fruit section with the rest of the garbage in the frozen aisle.

I know, I know, give the people what they want, they have to make money, etc. But for what I buy at the grocery store it could be a tenth of the size it is now.


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 Post subject: Re: Who needs to eat again this week?
PostPosted: Fri Jan 18, 2013 11:20 am 
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Location: Ottawa, ON
Our fastest growing grocery store chain here sells very close to zero processed packaged foods. They do sell prepared foods; all prepared on site, and generally of the fairly healthy sort, though I am sure the potato salad is pretty unhealthy :) You also can't get a 2L bottle of pop/soda, or even a 6-pack (they do sell individual cans/smaller bottles). Minimal snack foods, no frozen section at all. Small canned goods section, mostly beans, etc. The only really dangerous section of the store is the bakery, but it is quite small. Well, the cheese section is always dangerous, but no more so then typical.

I've been forced to a cheesecake factory a couple of times in work situations (mostly in honolulu, of all places, where there is all sorts of wonderful food by non-chains). It was really hard to find a meal that was sane, with fresh flavours, and that didn't sound like it would be overly filling and uni-dimensional (eg tastes like a funny cream sauce, etc). So far, I've not had a meal there that went beyond edible.


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