Calorie Content Of Restaurant And Frozen Diet Meals Is Much Higher Than Reported

January 7, 2010: 02:38 AM EST

Researchers who analyzed the calorie content of frozen supermarket diet meals and food sold at ten chain restaurants found significantly higher calories on average than the companies claimed. The calories in 29 meals or other menu items at restaurant chains such as Ruby Tuesday’s and Wendy’s averaged 18 percent higher. Meanwhile, Lean Cuisine, Weight Watchers, etc., had eight percent more calories than labels reported. Some foods tested, however, actually had fewer calories than reported. Researchers said restaurants and food companies are not trying to mislead customers: most differences are due to variations in ingredients, portion sizes and testing methods.

Lorien E. Urban, MS, Gerard E. Dallal, PhD, et al., "The Accuracy of Stated Energy Contents of Reduced-Energy, Commercially Prepared Foods", Journal of the American Dietetic Association, January 07, 2010, © American Dietetic Association

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