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Worst (for you) fast-food Value Menu items
December 9th, 2008, 1:37 pm · 26 Comments · posted by Nancy Luna, Staff Writer
Cheesy Double Beef by Taco Bell makes "worst" value food list.
There’s a list for everything these days. Today’s Top 5 is dedicated to the Unhealthiest Value Menu food, according to the Cancer Project.
The report looked at value menu items because these cheap eats are driving fast-food sales during this recession. Most food items, however, are high in fat, saturated fat, calories and cholesterol, according to the report released today.
The group said restaurants with the worst foods include McDonald’s, Irvine-based Taco Bell, Jack in the Box, Burger King and Wendy’s. Taco Bell’s offender was the Cheesy Double Beef Burrito (shown), created specifically for the chain’s new Why Pay More value menu. (More stories on Taco Bell’s value menu here)
Jack in the Box’s junior bacon burger ranked No. 1 because it contains 23 grams of fat, 860 milligrams of sodium, and bacon — a processed meat associated with increased colorectal cancer risk, the Cancer Project said.
The San Diego burger chain responded to the survey with this statement:
“The Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger is a great value for guests looking for a filling, flavorful meal. It has a beef patty, strips of bacon, cheese and sauce,” spokeswoman Kathleen Anthony said.
She added that the chain also offers plenty of healthy options on the value menu, including a side salad. “In addition to items on our value menu, we also offer entree salads, Real Fruit Smoothies, and a fruit cup on our full menu for guests with lighter appetites,” she said.
McDonald’s also said that it strives to offer diners “wholesome, balanced” menu options.
But, Cancer Project dietitian Krista Haynes said dollar menu foods — while easy on the wallet — are hard on people’s health and can increase your risk to heart disease and cancer. She suggested vegetarian alternatives.
“A bean burrito with tomatoes is cheap, and a steady diet of them won’t land you in the hospital,” she said.
So does that meal Del Taco’s 99-cent burrito is OK?
Here are the top offenders, according to the group:
| Rank | Worst Value Menu Item | Fast-Food Restaurant |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Junior Bacon Cheeseburger | Jack in the Box |
| 2 | Cheesy Double Beef Burrito | Taco Bell |
| 3 | Breakfast Sausage Biscuit | Burger King |
| 4 | McDouble | McDonald’s |
| 5 | Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger | Wendy’s |
| Source: Cancer Project |
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Well I’m glad i don’t like any of those.
Like packs of ciggaretts, warnings should be required on these perpitrators wrapers. And make them unlawful for being consumed by minors
Wow! I admit I am guilty of purchasing fast food for my family- I work so much that it is sometimes easier to go through a drive through rather than having to cook. My sister just gave me a cookbook that looks like it contains great, healthy recipes, it is titled, “Cooking with All Things Trader Joe’s,” by Deana Gunn and Wona Miniati. I have heard it is good, have any of you ever tried it?
The Cancer Project is an animal rights group — not a mainstream cancer charity. It’s important to distinguish pure propaganda from genuine health advice.
You’ll note that this group recommends only strict vegetarian meals, and claims it’s a cancer-prevention tactic. It’s telling that The Cancer Project is led by a past president of The PETA Foundation.
More than two-thirds of the Cancer Project’s budget comes directly from the wealthy founder of the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida. PETA has kicked in another $1.3 million to the Cancer Project’s parent group.
It’s pure fiction to claim that choosing a cheeseburger is a recipe for cancer. But this is just as much a part of the animal rights agenda as doing away with circus elephants and seeing-eye dogs.
If you wouldn’t take dietary advice from PETA, you shouldn’t trust this “Cancer Project” group either.
Total fat matters why? Sodium matters why (other than to the very small minority of people who are actually sodium-sensitive)? Bacon is cancerous how? The nitrites myth has been debunked.
Gee, what a surprise, the dietitian is pushing “vegetarian alternatives.” The chicken’s going to be better for you (and more natural, if that matters) than whatever they put in their beans. Why is just about every dietitian and nutritionist vegetarian? Is it the outdated data set they’re taught or are vegetarians drawn to the field where they can tell other people the “best way” to eat?
I love those 89c burritos… there’s also a chicken one, which is even better, but I don’t think I’ve found it at every Taco Bell for some reason.
luckily I only eat there once a month.
btw, how is a McDouble worse for you than a Double Cheeseburger, when the McDouble is the exact same burger with 1 less slice of cheese?
bosqwerty - I think it’s because these are the worst on the value menu. McDonalds took the double cheeseburger off their value menu and replaced it with the McDouble (I think). Maven, can you confirm?
Yes, the McDouble should be phased in at most SoCal restaurants by now. You can still order the Double Cheeseburger, but it is now off the Dollar Menu, and will cost you $1.19.
Well, what a surprise! All those people eating this poison will somehow end up with cancer or be obese!
Come on everyone! Wake up! You are what you eat!
I am not a vegetarian, but close to it. We do not eat fast food or processed meat, and we are healthy, thin, and hardly ever sick.
If there is anything in this whole world you can control, it is what you put into your mouth! I feel sorry for you and your children. Eventually it will catch up with you. I mean your unhealthy eating habits.
When you are in a motorized scooter because you can’t walk, since you are so unhealthy, I don’t want to hear you whining, as I walk swiftly by, with my skinny behind.
this cancer group is not a real cancer group. it’s fake. don’t you get it?
If, one were mindful and not pressured by the little time they have to eat, it is possible to find nutritional alternatives when you’re at a fast food eatery. The key is to do a little research in advance of your purchase and chose which fast food item has the least detriment to your health. I like McDonald’s and when I’m there, I order two of their side salads which are $1.00 each and a cup of water. I generally have a fresh orange with me that I squeeze to taint the still free cup of water.
All you people claiming it doesnt directly cause cancer, that really doesnt matter. The health claims are accurate and the foods are terrible for you and lead to obesity which makes you at a greater risk for all sorts of diseases including cancer, (biggest being heart disease). It really doesn’t matter if its cancer or obesity that kills you, when your dead your dead. Chronic fast food eating will make you fat and subject to faster death rates. I eat fast food but thats because i work it off and have a bmi of 19. These foods are terrible for you and you should do yourself a favor and eat right before you become part of the 65% of America that is overweight. What a disgusting percentage.
So is the fast food you eat! Don’t you get it?
I don’t care that this cancer group is supposedly fake, get with the program and read up on whole food, nutrition and health. You can find it anywhere, not just stats put out by so called “fake groups”.
Again, I feel sorry for you and your children, if this is all you eat. Let me guess, you are overweight, have no energy, and chances are your children have adhd, and we just can’t figure out why…
Gosh Susan, you seem so wound-up! I think the most disciplined individual has had their fair share of fast food on occasion. I think the point here should be all things should be in moderation, check the menu, and order items that you know are “food”! It really is common sense and education for children and adults. Learning new habits.
susan you probably will be walking by with your thin ass however that stick up your a$$ might kill you first.
i agree with christi, i can eat @mcdonalds but choose not to finish my plate- ever.
I would never eat commercial mexican food; even if it did exist in Lima(peru). Those foods are like a “heart attack in a box”. You can make healthier authentic Mexican food yourself. If you live in the southwest, the items are probably available in your local supermarkets. if not you can find them online at places like http://mexicoetal.com or mexgrocer.com. There is just no excuse for eating that garbage.
Yes Isabel and Christi, I am wound up. I guess my take on some of the remarks is this: People are in denial about the food choices that they make. Saying fake stats are being put out by vegatarians. That’s what burns me up. But those stats are truth. And people need to take a good hard look at that.
It is not just that, look around, and the people that are not making the proper food choices, and NOT not finishing their McDonalds, are increasingly overweight and unhealthy. Then we, who are making the proper choices are paying in the long run for their poor health!.
And, no Isabel, I do not have a stick up my rear end, but I am tired of overwieght people whining about my thinness, and inquiring how I stay I that way, and when I try to share my insight, whine some more that they LOVE Burger King and Mcdonalds, and cant give it up! Then the next question is, isn’t there some other way?
So yes, it is about education and proper choices, but this nation has increasingly lazy people, who just eat and eat,with no moderation,and wonder why they feel so horrible.
it is always good to cook healthy for your family. but how do we know what is healthy and what is not? we as the people have every right to know what’s in are food we buy and how healthy is it ?
trian ticket
I guess consumers can rejoice in the fact that Carl’s Jr was not in the top 5 according to the Cancer Project’s dietary guidelines.
Not everyone who eats fast food is fat, and not everyone who eats “healthy” is thin.
I’d rather be fat and in-shape, than thin and unable to run a mile.
I eat fast food, infact I had Taco Bell for lunch, but I’m not obese, and at my physicals the doctor says I’m healthy.
I’m happy with my body and I don’t see how people can categorize fast food eaters and non fast food eaters.
Who cares if it’s bad for us? Everyone obviously knows, but it’s not just the food that’s bad, it’s the lack of exercise also.
How about we start calling people who sit and type these comments, and watch television fatties because they’re not outside running around… Uh oh, I better stop before someone says I’m unhealthy!
Wow Susan, bitter much?! While I don’t think a majority of fast food is good for you (keeping in mind that there are healthy choices at most fast food restaurants) I don’t think it will kill you/give you cancer to eat there once in a while.
As for the comment that “Then we, who are making the proper choices are paying in the long run for their poor health!” there is a lot of info from the AMA that states that the government’s reports for the “cost of obesity” are wildly inaccurate. But if you say that health cost are more for obesity and they die sooner then wouldn’t they not cost as much for social security, therefore balancing the cost. Then skinny people (which can be just as unhealthy btw) may cost less in health care cost but more in social security!!
Shall we all eat carrots everyday?Imagine your thanksgiving turkey made of soy burger meat and shaped like a turkey.lol I eat what I want,but all in moderation.
My family had really not noticed how much fast food we really ate
I am 6′6″ 260 my wife 5′5″ and about 115 we both were active in lifestyle and in our early 40’s we ate alot of Mc Donalds every day in the past my wife and young son collected hundreds of their toys supplied with the kids meals About 5 years ago I noticed my 10 year old son getting a innertube around his belly and so we made a decision No more junk fast food in our hometown! We still eat whatever we want if we make it at home and pack our lunches If we travel we have Mc Donalds as a treat and if we are really tired and dont feel like cooking we will go out to a sitdown resturant
or even a subway joint but No chain fast food!!
WoW!! what a change this had made to our health and lifestyle we are all in good shape and look forward to family meals together
My son who now is a teenager with his school and friends plans his schedule to come home for dinner every day and we just could not imagine how much money we really save eating at home(including dollar menu deals) and you cant pinch a inch on any of us