NBC 5 Extra: Salad Secret
Fast-Food Salads Can Have More Fat, Calories Than Burgers
UPDATED: 7:02 a.m. CDT May 16, 2003
DALLAS -- Health conscious diners have made salads the hottest new items on fast-food menus, but are greens on the go really a healthier choice than burgers and fries?
NBC 5 decided to put fast-foodsalads to the test. At Wendy's, we ordered a Big Bacon Classic and a Mandarin Chicken Salad.
Interactive: Incredible Fast Food Calculator
McDonald's
Wendy's
Jack in the Box
Whataburger
The burger had meat, bacon and cheese. The salad was topped with Mandarin oranges, and came with roasted almonds, crispy noodles and oriental sesame dressing.
However, because of those extras, the salad also came with a lot of fat and calories -- more, in fact, than the burger.
The burger had 570 calories and 29 grams of fat. The salad had 590 calories and 35 grams of fat.
At McDonald's, we compared the Crispy Chicken California Cobb Salad to the Quarter Pounder With Cheese.
The salad, with the dressing, came in at 500 calories and 32 grams of fat. The burger registered at 530 calories and 30 grams of fat.
However, you can beef up the health factor for salads, according to Chuck O'Reilly, owner of 13 McDonald's franchises in North Texas.
"McDonald's is about choice," O'Reilly said. "It would probably depend mostly on your choice of dressing, but it's all about choice."
All of the salads come with crispy, breaded chicken or grilled chicken and a choice of a lower-fat vinaigrette dressing.
We also found similar salads at Jack in the Box, where the bacon and creamy dressing helps boost the fat grams in the Chicken Club Salad to 65. The bacon cheeseburger has 59.
At Whataburger, the Chicken Strip Salad with cheese and ranch dressing has a whopping 945 calories and 73 fat grams, nearly twice as much fat as the Whataburger with cheese. It has 697 calories and 37 grams of fat.
However, registered dietician Lona Sandon says salads can be a healthier alternative to burgers.
"That salad loaded up with some fresh vegetables is gonna give you more vitamin A, vitamin C, maybe more vitamin E," Sandon said. "So you're going to get more nutrient value in the salad than you may get out of the hamburger."
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Are Fast Food Salads Healthy?Interactive: Incredible Fast Food CalculatorMcDonald'sWendy'sJack in the BoxWhataburger
The burger had meat, bacon and cheese. The salad was topped with Mandarin oranges, and came with roasted almonds, crispy noodles and oriental sesame dressing.
However, because of those extras, the salad also came with a lot of fat and calories -- more, in fact, than the burger.
The burger had 570 calories and 29 grams of fat. The salad had 590 calories and 35 grams of fat.
At McDonald's, we compared the Crispy Chicken California Cobb Salad to the Quarter Pounder With Cheese.
The salad, with the dressing, came in at 500 calories and 32 grams of fat. The burger registered at 530 calories and 30 grams of fat.
However, you can beef up the health factor for salads, according to Chuck O'Reilly, owner of 13 McDonald's franchises in North Texas.
"McDonald's is about choice," O'Reilly said. "It would probably depend mostly on your choice of dressing, but it's all about choice."
All of the salads come with crispy, breaded chicken or grilled chicken and a choice of a lower-fat vinaigrette dressing.
We also found similar salads at Jack in the Box, where the bacon and creamy dressing helps boost the fat grams in the Chicken Club Salad to 65. The bacon cheeseburger has 59.
At Whataburger, the Chicken Strip Salad with cheese and ranch dressing has a whopping 945 calories and 73 fat grams, nearly twice as much fat as the Whataburger with cheese. It has 697 calories and 37 grams of fat.
However, registered dietician Lona Sandon says salads can be a healthier alternative to burgers.
"That salad loaded up with some fresh vegetables is gonna give you more vitamin A, vitamin C, maybe more vitamin E," Sandon said. "So you're going to get more nutrient value in the salad than you may get out of the hamburger."
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