Part II. Evaluating Fast Food

Use the information from Appendix A, Nutritional Content of Popular Items from Fast-Food Restaurants, to complete the chart below for the last fast-food meal you ate. The totals for the meal will automatically add up. Compare the values for fat, protein, carbohydrate, cholesterol, and sodium content for each food item and for the meal as a whole with the levels suggested by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The percentage of total calories derived from fat, saturated fat, protein, and carbohydrate will be calculated using the formulas given below. If you haven't recently been to one of the restaurants included in the appendix, fill in the chart for any sample meal you might eat. If some of the food items you selected don't appear in Appendix A, ask for a nutrition information brochure when you visit the restaurant, or check out the online fast-food information: Arby's (http://www.arbysrestaurant.com/), Burger King (http://www.burgerking.com/), Domino's Pizza (http://www.dominos.com/), Jack in the Box (http://www.jackinthebox.com/), KFC (http://www.kfc.com/), McDonald's (http://www.mcdonalds.com/), Subway (http://www.subway.com/, Taco Bell (http://www.tacobell.com/), Wendy's (http://www.wendys.com/).

Food Items
	Dietary Guidelines							Total b
Serving size (g)		g	g	g	g	g	g	g
Calories		cal	cal	cal	cal	cal	cal	cal
Total fat--grams		g	g	g	g	g	g	g
--% calories a	20-35%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Saturated fat--grams		g	g	g	g	g	g	g
--% calories a	< 10%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Protein--grams		g	g	g	g	g	g	g
--% calories a	10-35%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Carbohydrate--grams		g	g	g	g	g	g	g
--% calories a	45-65%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Cholesterol c	100 mg	mg	mg	mg	mg	mg	mg	mg
Sodium c	800 mg	mg	mg	mg	mg	mg	mg	mg

^a To calculate the percentage of total calories from each food energy source (fat, carbohydrate, protein), the following formula was used:

(number of grams of energy source) x (number of calories per gram of energy source)

(total calories in serving of food item)

(Note: fat and saturated fat provide 9 calories per gram; protein and carbohydrate provide 4 calories per gram). For example, the percentage of total calories from protein in a 150-calorie dish containing 10 grams of protein is

(10 grams of protein) x (4 calories per gram)		40
	=		= 0.27, or 27% of total calories from protein
(150 calories)		150

^b For the Total column, the total grams of fat, carbohydrate, and protein contained in your sample meal are added up, and the percentages are calculated based on the total calories in the meal. (Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.) For cholesterol and sodium values, we add up the total number of milligrams.

^c Recommended daily limits of cholesterol and sodium are divided by 3 here to give an approximate recommended limit for a single meal.

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