January 27, 2009
NEW YORK — "Eat This, Not That!" authors David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding revealed this year's list of the "Worst Foods in America," compiled from their popular book series. The annual list ranks the nation's worst nutritional offenders at major chain restaurants across the country, while offering healthier alternatives at each establishment.
The authors spent the past year scouring the menus of the America's most popular chain restaurants to determine which foods warrant a "worst" ranking. Zinczenko and Goulding start by analyzing calorie counts, but also take into consideration a cluster of other nutritional markers: fat, saturated fat, sodium levels and added sugar.
Topping the 2009 list is Baskin Robbins Large Chocolate Oreo Shake, which contains more calories (2,600) than 49 Oreo cookies, more sugar (263 grams) than 20 bowls of Froot Loops, and three days' worth of saturated fat.