How Much Fat Lurks In Fast Food?

Think your Big Mac can make you fat? Nutrition experts say that you're better off with the grilled chicken sandwich instead.

In the March 2001 edition of Consumer Reports magazine, the editors compared the fat, calories and sodium at some of your favorite fast-food restaurants.

So how can you stay lean by eating better-for-you fast food?

Burger King's Double Whopper with cheese has 960 calories and 63 grams of fat. A better choice might be a chicken sandwich.

The broiled chicken sandwich can be ordered with barbecue sauce which eliminates the mayonnaise. When barbecue sauce is substituted for mayonnaise sauce, the calories are reduced from 210 to 15 calories. Mayonnaise has 23 grams of fat compared to zero for the barbecue sauce.

McDonald's Big Mac sandwich isn't as fattening as Burger King's Whopper, but it does pack a big punch: 560 calories and 31 grams of fat.

And the french fries to go along with that Mac? A super-sized order of french fries has 540 calories and 26 grams of fat.

"If you're going to order French fries, don't super-size them," Dr. Keith Levick, a Detroit nutrition expert, said. "That doubles the calories and the fat."

You might think that a chili and cheese baked potato is low in calories and fat. Think again. Wendy's chili and cheese baked potato contains 630 calories and 24 grams of fat.

Wendy's has the healthiest burger out of the lot. A Wendy's single hamburger with everything had 420 calories and 20 grams of fat.

Nutrition experts suggest that if you have to eat fast food, choose a salad with low-fat dressing. Another good choice, they recommend, is grilled, not breaded, chicken.

Wendy's grilled chicken sandwich has only 290 calories and 7 grams of fat when ordered without mayonnaise.

"The best choice for eating fast food is to limit what and how much you eat," Levick said.