French Fry Diary 95: Worst Fries in America

Friends Ray, Domenic, Joe and a host of other friends, acquaintances and strangers sent this link to me:

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/eatthis/46018/americas-worst-french-fries-and-what-you-should-eat-instead/

Thanks, folks!

The folks at Eat This, Not That are fond of putting down the favorite fried food as bad for you, in fact they’ve made quite a career of it.

What really amazes me is how they are quick to attack Arby’s Curly Fries, Jack in the Box’s Bacon Cheddar Wedges, and Five Guys’ Fries (!) among others, they follow it all up with recommending McDonald’s Fries as being the best fast food fries. Something seems askew here. They’re recommending Mickey D’s but then they leave In-N-Out Burger’s Animal Style Fries off their worst list? I mean, come on, guys, if you’re going to be Health Nazis, at least be consistent!

And for the record, I have nothing against McDonalds Fries, it’s just that I know there are better – including, most significantly, Five Guys’ Fries. And nothing against the Animal Style either, as I haven’t had the chance to try In-N-Out Burger yet, but I will as soon as they open one out here on the East Coast.

19 Worst Drive-Thru Foods in America

Those damned Health Nazis are at it again. And it’s those "Eat This Not That" folks, who really, should know better, to be honest. They have listed the 19 Worst Drive-Thru Foods in America, and so naturally I gravitated to the favorite fried food.

The worst ‘potato side’ is the bacon cheddar potato wedges from Jack in the Box according to them. They don’t even have the testicular fortitude to have a French fry category – their assumption being that fries are never healthy I suppose. I also noted that there’s no hamburger category, but instead a cheeseburger category. They are being purposefully misleading. Elitists.

What I don’t get is if you were going to Jack in the Box and ordered the potato wedges, with the extra unhealthiness of bacon and cheddar cheese – you deserve to get an unhealthy meal. You were too stupid to order the fries instead… Jack in the Box has terrific fries, in both natural cut and curly variety. Why would you get the potato wedges?


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Fattiest French Fries

The folks at Eat This Not That really do mean well. I love the books. The books are good common sense guides for folks who are weight and nutrition-conscious, but sometimes, just sometimes, they veer into health Nazi territory. Here's just a little bit of what they have to say about the favorite fried food, French Fries:

"By now, almost everybody knows that trans fats are the food additive that should rarely pass your lips. They add useless calories, build bad cholesterol (known as LDL), and lower your good cholesterol (known as HDL). The American Heart Association says you should only consume 2 grams or less of trans fats in our daily diets. (And we say less. Zero is a good number.)

So why on earth is trans fat still in food if it’s so terrible? Because even though trans fats may shorten your life, they actually add to the shelf life of baked goods, and keep the deep-fat fryers stoked batch after batch. Choosing between your personal health and their own financial health, some chain restaurants and food manufacturers go the wrong way.

Our mission: to raise the warning flag. Here’s a list of the worst trans fat transgressors. Put them on your do-not-eat list, and we’ll all feel a lot better.

TRANS FATTIEST FRENCH FRIES
Jack in the Box's large Natural Cut Fries
10 g trans fat
300 calories
33 g fat

Although most fast food restaurants have transitioned to trans-fat-free fryers, Jack in the Box hasn’t. Their large servings of natural cut fries and curly fries both pack more than 5 days' worth of dangerous fats. In fact, most of the items on their menu are riddled with more than a day’s serving of trans fats.

Eat this instead:
Jack in the Box Egg Roll (1)
130 calories
6 g fat (1 g trans fat)

The fruit cup and one egg roll are the only sides that do not have 2 or more grams of trans fats. If the fruit cup isn’t for you, limit yourself to one egg roll."

Okay, like I said, somewhat good stuff, but really now, who's going to trade fries -even crappy natural cut fries like Jack in the Box has- for an egg roll or a fruit cup? Especially the egg roll... have you ever had a Jack in the Box egg roll? I think I'll take my chances with the world's fattiest fries.