Rolling the dice on "diet" menus

Nutrition Action Healthletter, Jan-Feb, 2005 by Jayne Hurley, Bonnie Liebman

T.G.I. Friday's has Atkins. Applebee's has Weight Watchers. Ruby Tuesday has Smart Eating. Are chain restaurants trying to stem the obesity epidemic?

Don't bet on it. Most of their menus are still brimming with fatty burgers, fries, ribs, fried chicken fingers, and nachos. But if Aunt Ethel won't go to Bob Evans because she's on a low-carb diet, Bob doesn't want the family to drive to Ruby Tuesday instead.

The good news is that many light and low-carb dishes are healthier than what's on the rest of the menu. Who could complain about salads or grilled chicken or seafood served with broccoli, zucchini, sugar snap peas, or fresh fruit instead of potatoes, rice, and dinner rolls?

The bad news is that hiding among the healthier items on the low-carb menus are Buffalo wings, steaks, burgers, and pork chops, sometimes covered with cheese. And some menus print only those nutrients--like carbs or fiber--that look good.

In fact, missing numbers--for bad fat or sodium--are often high. And even low-fat dishes like grilled chicken or bean soup are usually swimming in sodium.

That's why we have only a handful of Best Bites. They're not smothered in salt and they have less bad fat (saturated or trans), more vegetables or fruit, and fewer calories than typical restaurant dishes. Better Bites are better than what's on the regular menu, but have missing or excessive sodium levels. Here's the scoop on light and low-carb menus at some of the top chain restaurants. Most of the numbers come from the menus or the companies' Web sites. When critical numbers were missing (T.G.I. Friday's Atkins dishes and three Olive Garden entrees), we had samples analyzed by an independent lab.