A study published in AgResearch shows that while trans fat content has declined in fast-food chain restaurant meals over the past 18 years, portion sizes have not. The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS)-funded scientists investigated trends in portion sizes and the calorie, sodium, saturated fat, and trans fat content of popular meal combos at U.S. fast-food chain restaurants.
The researchers gathered data on 27 common food items served from three fast-food chains between 1996 and 2013. They also examined the classic bundled meal of french fries, cola, and a burger. The researchers reported that overall they did not find changes in product portion sizes—as assessed using total calories—or in product reformulation by the restaurants to become consistent with the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Also, the researchers found that based on data from 2013 alone, a large-sized combo meal (large cheeseburger, large fries, and a large sweetened cola) at the three chains contained 65%–80% of the estimated daily calorie needs of an individual adult.
“The data indicate that fast-food portion sizes stopped increasing during the late 1990s and early 2000s, but that does not mean that all of today’s quick-serve portion sizes—even those labeled ‘small’—are in the range we would recommend,” said Alice H. Lichtenstein, ARS nutritional biochemist and author of the paper. “Levels of sodium, calories, and saturated fat, even though variable among the chains we studied, are high for most of the individual menu items we assessed.”
