Health & Medicine
Long John Silver's Reels in Title of 'Worst Restaurant Meal in America'
Kathleen Lees
First Posted: Jul 02, 2013 02:36 PM EDT
Shiver me timbers. Our favorite seafood joint has just reeled in a new name for itself, and according to the lobbying group Center for Science in the Public Interest, that name is unhealthiest restaurant in America.
Well, not exactly. We can't link all the fish, chips, hush puppies, flavor baskets and other combobulations sold at this fish place to junk food. And even if we can, there's one meal in particular that's on the hook: Long John Silver's "Big Catch."
So, the seafood company might have exaggerated a little about the size and nutritional value of this dish, which comes with a side of onion rings or coleslaw, depending on your preference.
Unfortunately, lobbyists from the group found that the fish had, well, less fish and more saturated fat and sodium than advertised. (That probably explains why it tastes so darn good.)
The results showed that this sea creature contains 33 grams of trans fat, according to the group--which is the equivalent of more than two weeks worth of the two-grams-a day allotment recommended by the American Heart Association.
These fats, created in an industrial process that adds hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils in order to make them more solid and potentially deadly, come from battering added to the fish.
High levels of trans fat increase consumers' risk of developing heart disease and stroke and are even linked to an increased risk for type 2 diabetes, according to the AMA.
As most large restaurant chains stopped using partially hydrogenated oil back in the 80s, which gives fried foods their trans fats, Long John Silver's seems to have been left in the past. (Or out at sea? We're not sure.)
"It might have been defensible to use hydrogenated oil in the 1980s, before trans fat's harmfulness was discovered, but no longer," Dr. Walter C. Willett, chair of the nutrition department at the Harvard School of Public Health, said in a statement, via Mother Nature Network.
And worse--a lab test showed that the "Big Catch" only contains about 4.5 ounces of actual fish.
We're not sure if you were heading to Long John Silver's for fine acquatic specimens, but you proably did want to get your moneys worth. There's only one thing to say about this.
ARRRRRRR!
See Now:
NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone
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First Posted: Jul 02, 2013 02:36 PM EDT
Shiver me timbers. Our favorite seafood joint has just reeled in a new name for itself, and according to the lobbying group Center for Science in the Public Interest, that name is unhealthiest restaurant in America.
Well, not exactly. We can't link all the fish, chips, hush puppies, flavor baskets and other combobulations sold at this fish place to junk food. And even if we can, there's one meal in particular that's on the hook: Long John Silver's "Big Catch."
So, the seafood company might have exaggerated a little about the size and nutritional value of this dish, which comes with a side of onion rings or coleslaw, depending on your preference.
Unfortunately, lobbyists from the group found that the fish had, well, less fish and more saturated fat and sodium than advertised. (That probably explains why it tastes so darn good.)
The results showed that this sea creature contains 33 grams of trans fat, according to the group--which is the equivalent of more than two weeks worth of the two-grams-a day allotment recommended by the American Heart Association.
These fats, created in an industrial process that adds hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils in order to make them more solid and potentially deadly, come from battering added to the fish.
High levels of trans fat increase consumers' risk of developing heart disease and stroke and are even linked to an increased risk for type 2 diabetes, according to the AMA.
As most large restaurant chains stopped using partially hydrogenated oil back in the 80s, which gives fried foods their trans fats, Long John Silver's seems to have been left in the past. (Or out at sea? We're not sure.)
"It might have been defensible to use hydrogenated oil in the 1980s, before trans fat's harmfulness was discovered, but no longer," Dr. Walter C. Willett, chair of the nutrition department at the Harvard School of Public Health, said in a statement, via Mother Nature Network.
And worse--a lab test showed that the "Big Catch" only contains about 4.5 ounces of actual fish.
We're not sure if you were heading to Long John Silver's for fine acquatic specimens, but you proably did want to get your moneys worth. There's only one thing to say about this.
ARRRRRRR!
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone