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Arby's Loaded Curly Fries - Death on a Plate

1/21/2016

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I don't watch TV much, mainly in the mornings while I'm getting ready.  But it seems like I've been seeing a lot of this commercial for Arby's Loaded Curly Fries:
I'll admit I enjoy an occasional Arby's roast beef sandwich and curly fries.  But...this is going overboard.  Let's take a look at what it contains, thanks to the plentiful nutrition information on the Arby's web site.

Nutrition information
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Ingredients

Curly Fries

Potatoes, Vegetable Oil (contains one or more of the following: canola oil, soybean oil, cottonseed oil, sunflower oil, Corn Oil, palm oil), Enriched Bleached Flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), Salt, Corn Starch, Onion Powder, Yellow Corn Meal, Spices, Garlic Powder, Leavening (sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium bicarbonate), Modified Corn Starch, Dextrose, Spice and Coloring, Natural Flavor, Dried Torula Yeast, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate (to preserve natural color). Cooked in Corn Oil. 

Cheddar Cheese Sauce
Cultured Pasteurized Milk, Salt, Enzymes, Artificial Color, Potato Starch and Powdered
Cellulose (to prevent caking), Natamycin (natural mold inhibitor).

Parmesan Peppercorn Ranch Sauce
Soybean Oil, Buttermilk, Water, Egg Yolk, Parmesan Cheese (part skim milk, cheese
cultures, salt, enzymes), High Fructose Corn Syrup, Distilled Vinegar, Peppercorns (packed in water, salt, vinegar), Salt, Garlic (including dehydrated), Spices, Onion (dehydrated), Xanthan Gum, Monosodium Glutamate, Natural Flavors, Propylene Glycol Alginate, Potassium Sorbate and Sodium Benzoate (preservatives), Citric Acid, Lactic Acid, Calcium Disodium EDTA (to protect flavor).

Pepper Bacon
Pork cured with: Water, Salt, Sugar, Smoke Flavoring, Sodium Phosphate, Sodium Erythorbate, Sodium Nitrite. Coated with Ground Black Pepper and Sugar

Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Cultured Pasteurized Milk, Salt, Enzymes, Artificial Color, Potato Starch and Powdered
Cellulose (to prevent caking), Natamycin (natural mold inhibitor). 
Discussion
Let's assume that an average adult eats around 2300 calories, 50% from carbohydrates (144g), 30% from fats (77g) and 20% from protein (115g).  The average recommended salt intake is 2.3g and sugar intake is 38g.  

This has 700 calories in it, about a third of what the average adult eats in a day.  46g of fat - over half of the average fat intake.  57g of carbohydrates,  about 40% of the average daily intake.  Sodium?  At 2g, this is just about all the sodium you should have in a day.  So overall, an average adult could afford to eat about 2 of these a day.  

This thing isn't even considered a meal, it's a side dish.  I used the "build a meal" tool on the Arby's web site and added a milk shake and a classic roast beef and cheddar sandwich, and the totals were 2060 calories, 107g of fat, 4g of salt, 227g of carbs, 123g of sugar.  One meal, and it meets or exceeds the total recommended intake of an adult per day.

This thing has around 80 ingredients packed into about half a pound.  Yes, some are natural, but many aren't.  It includes many starches, oils, artificial colors and preservatives.  I've stated many times, the healthiest foods have the fewest ingredients. You know something is wrong when cheese and bacon are the healthiest ingredients.  
Bottom line
Ok, I'm not ignorant.  I get it.  The commercial pokes fun of people trying to be more healthy for the new year.  The great marketing minds at Arby's came up with a fantastic idea - what if we threw all caution to the wind and made something so indulgent and obviously unhealthy people would laugh and salivate at the same time.  And let's get the venerable James Earl Jones to fawn all over it.  The message is basically "You know that your goals to become healthy are short-lived anyway, admit it already, be comfortable with it and just do what feels good."  Yes, it's funny.  But it's also irresponsible for a food chain to hype food that will hurt their customers.  If the nutrition information were featured as prominently, I doubt if as many people would buy it.  Yes, you could eat one of these every once in a while without much damage, but why when there are so many yummier, healthier alternatives?  
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