Fast-Food Salad Not Always Lowest-Fat Choice

CLEVELAND -- When you're in a hurry, a fast-food meal seems like a simple solution, but many are worried about what the high calorie and fat content can do to their waistlines.

WEWS-TV in Cleveland looked at some of the best -- and worst -- fast-food choices if you are counting calories. They chose three popular fast-food destinations for a look at some of the menu items when it comes to calorie and fat content -- McDonald's, Wendy's and Taco Bell.

A look at nutrition charts, available at each brand's Web site, makes a few things clear.

First of all, a salad, which sounds so virtuous, can turn into your worst nutritional nightmare.

"You hear the word 'salad,' you think vegetable, you think good choice -- what you have to look at is what's on the salad," said Lisa Cimperman, a nutritionist at University Hospitals in Cleveland.

Cimperman helped check out several salads, including Taco Bell's Fiesta Taco Salad with shell, which is a whopping 870 calories and 47 grams of fat.

"Most of the fat is coming from the fried shell -- you can see there's not even a whole lot of vegetable in there," said Cimperman.

In fact, subtract the shell, and you drop 370 calories and 20 grams of fat.

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Even a popular salad choice like Wendy's Mandarin Chicken Salad can rack up 610 calories and 34 grams of fat if you use all the dressing, almonds and crispy noodle toppings.

"I'd skip the noodles, use the almonds to get vitamin E, fiber and protein," Cimperman said. "As far as dressing goes, use half the packet of dressing or choose a lower-fat dressing."

Many of us believe choosing chicken is also a better choice than a burger. Compare McDonald's 5-piece select white meat chicken strips and honey mustard to a hamburger, fries, an ice cream cone and diet soft drink.

Many might believe that the hamburger meal would have more fat and calories, but the Chicken Select strips with honey mustard has 700 calories and 35 grams of fat, while the entire hamburger meal has 640 calories and 23 grams of fat.

The good news in fast-food choices is there are many more healthy choices than there used to be.

Here's a list of five good waist-watching choices.

• Wendy's Ultimate Chicken Grill: 360 calories, 7 grams of fat
• McDonald's California Cobb Salad: 295 calories, 14 grams of fat
• McDonald's Egg McMuffin: 290 calories, 11 grams of fat
• Wendy's small chili: 220 calories, 6 grams of fat
• Taco Bell Spicy Chicken Taco: 180 calories, 7 grams of fat

Here are five fast-food choices you should avoid because of high calorie and fat content:

• Wendy's Taco Supreme Salad with salsa, sour cream and chips: 680 calories, 31 grams of fat
• McDonald's double quarter-pounder with cheese: 730 calories, 40 grams of fat
• Taco Bell's Nachos BellGrande: 780 calories, 43 grams of fat
• Taco Bell's Fiesta Taco Salad: 870 calories, 47 grams of fat
• McDonald's Deluxe Breakfast: 1,220 calories, 60 grams of fat

Although this report looked at calories and fat, remember that nutrients are also important. So while a salad and toppings may add up to as much as a burger and trimmings, you'll get far more nutrients out of a veggie-loaded salad.

And if sodium is a concern, remember that even healthier fast-food choices are often loaded with sodium.