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Many restaurants today offer low calorie and low fat entrees on their menus to help you make healthier choices. Most of the time, those menu items list out their promised nutritional values beside the entrée.

We tested the ‘low fat, low calorie’ menu options from some of the restaurants where you dine and learned that you may be getting a lot more than you ordered. Click below for the results.

Investigative Reports

Lawsuit Filed In Menu Investigation

Class action suit claims popular restaurants sold light-menu items loaded with calories. Are you eligible to make a claim?

The Testing Process

How testing was performed at Analytical Laboratories, Inc.

In eight cities across the country, Scripps television stations bought items off the low fat/low calorie menus at Macaroni Grill, Chili’s, Applebee’s, Cheesecake Factory and Taco Bell. Staff members placed each sample in a Ziploc bag, labeled it and packed it on ice in a cooler. Video

Video

Analytical Laboratories Test Results

Click image above
to view complete PDF
Fat & Calorie comparison chart.

Restaurants Involved



Read statements and quotes from the restaurants involved.

	Statement from Applebee's/Weight Watchers "Applebee’s has extremely high quality compliance standards for all our menu items. We regularly test our Weight Watchers menu items at an independent lab..."
	Quotes from Howard Gordon, SVP of Communications, Cheesecake Factory "Our menu is correct" "all of our salads were under 590..."
	Statement from company spokesperson for Brinker International, owner of Chili's, Macaroni Grill and On the Border "We strive to ensure nutritional information we provide to our guests is accurate based on standard recipes across our restaurants nationwide..."
	Statement from Alex Malone at Taco Bell Corp. "Taco Bell goes to great lengths to provide our customers with complete and truthful nutritional information, and we absolutely stand by the accuracy of our figures as published in our nutritional brochures and on our web site..."
	Quote from Margo Wootan at The Center for Science in the Public Interest "People have a right to know what's in their food," said Margo Wootan, of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. "How can you exercise personal responsibility and make an informed choice if you don't have basic information?"...
	Statement from National Restaurant Association According to the National Restaurant Association, three in four adults are trying to eat more healthfully than they did two years ago...