Saturday, May 07, 2005
Fuddruckers nutrition games
Under the category "viral," the Adrants weblog reports that Fuddruckers restaurant chain is behind a fake advertisement on the internet for a "beef relief patch." The ad's premise is that consumers need something like a nicotine patch to break their beef addiction or they will become irritable on their way to the nearest Fuddruckers restaurant for their fix. Adrants finds that the satire site is posted at the address http://www.beefrelief.com/ and also on the website for the Austin-based agency Fosfurus. The advertisement's nutritional sensitivity seems well calibrated with the Fuddruckers menu, emphasizing hamburgers ranging in weight from 1/3 pound to 1 pound. Naturally, like Quizno's and Applebee's, Fuddruckers hides its nutrition information from its customers. (If you are thinking to yourself, "we all know what a 1 pound hamburger contains," then -- without looking it up -- please post in the comments section your guess for calories and saturated fat as a percentage of the daily recommendation). The bottom of the menu page says: "Specific nutritional data on Fuddruckers menu items is not currently available." Nobody wants the government to regulate what these restaurants offer, but the economic case for better nutrition information than this is compelling, and the public deserves to know what these restaurants are selling.
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45 comments:
Calories: 50% of daily recommendation. Fat: 75%.
This is hardly a secret, and nutritional information is widely available from hundreds of sources online. Fast food chains have absolutely no responsibility to advertise their nutritional information if that information can be readily compiled from publicly available sources.
Can you give an example of a Fuddruckers product whose nutritional information can be compiled from publicly available sources?
I visited Fuddruckers today and asked for a nutritional value chart such as those put out by McDonalds and BK and the like. They told me all this can be found on the internet. I have to waive the bs flag here. I came across this thread during my search...still no luck.
I'm about to go eat at Fuddruckers tonight, and I really wanted the nutritional information first! It's so annoying when restaurants hide that from you - I just want to be aware of what I'm eating.
I am on a pretty strict diet. I usually track what I eat right after I eat it, but when I came home to track my Fuddrucker's chicken tenders, I had no luck. I've been frantically searching for hours and have found nothing. I thought that it was mandatory for this information to be disclosed!!
you're on a strict diet, but you're eating chicken tenders?
hmm....
but I agree, we consumers deserve to know what we're consuming! i don't think anyone goes to fuddruckers for a low-fat meal.
Just opt for a side salad and a garden burger (patty only) and you'll be good to go!
If you're going to Fuddruckers or any other fast food burger place, chances are you are not going to get a 'nutritional' meal. The food is good and you have the right not to eat there if you don't want the calories.
found your interesting site while looking for nutrition information on fast food chains. I am vegan my family is not but my teenagers like fast food on vacation as they rarely eat it. My kids are making their choices based on the lowest fat content on the nutrition sites so they can make a choice to split the meal with the lowest fat content. I refuse to take them anyplace that will not post this information. Nothing is lowfat at these places and the people eating it are not going to run away if they see a nutritional chart shame on Fuddruckers I vote with my pocket book.
Ok, lets be realistic here, there really are no healthy fast food restaraunts out there. Just because McD's and BK publish their nutritional menu doenst mean ***t, read it, burgers, fries, milkshakes, is any of that healthy? So it really doesnt matter if Fuddruckers publishes the correct menu or not, its damn unhealthy. With all that said, I like to go to these places, and I will probably be paying for it when I am an old man.
I asked a Fuddrucker's manager what kind of beef they use, and he told me flat-out, without hesitation "we use 79-21 beef." That means "21% fat". According to Calorie-King, that comes to about 231 calories per 3oz serving. Their minimum size is 5 and 1/3 oz (1/3 of a lb), which comes out to about 410 calories for the meat alone, which is not entirely unreasonable. Pile that up with their butter soaked bun, three kinds of cheese and bacon, and well...
All you people who constantly "eat healthy" are going to be in the hospital some day dying of nothing.
Obviously if I wanted to eat completely healthy all the time, I wouldn't have gone to Fuddruckers, however, I am following Weight Watchers and was trying to calculate what a grilled chicken breast might be. I am just curiouse if anyone knows what it is cooked in/with?
I too try to eat very healthy, but once a week I go out and have a "cheat meal". This is a very common practice, because it can be really grueling for some people to eat 100% healthy food for 100% of the time. So yes, a healthy eater still might occasionally want to eat out and also know what is in the food they are purchasing, nothing abnormal about that.
I am a mom of 4 but I am watching my weight. My kids wanted to go to Fuddruckers for a treat the other night. I am not going to punish my kids because I am on a diet. I got a carribean chicken salad then came home to get the nutritionals off the internet. There were none and that makes me made. I have found that after eating some salads I could have had a kids burger without cheese and been better off. So I was curious to see if I had made a wise choice. I am also tracking my calories and wanted to know if I was able to have a snack later that night or if the calories were too high. Shame on Fuddruckers!
Same here, I went for lunch today and ate a salad (wow at the size). Beware it's loaded with lots of oops like slivered almonds, cheese, and bacon and it comes with 2 pieces of buttery toast. YIKES! I emailed them when I got home so I could at least find out something about it. BEWARE fellow dieters. I'll let you know if I get a response!
To put it in simple terms, if you are trying to "eat healthy" eating "fast food" or quick service dining (Fuddruckers, TGI-Fridays, Appleby's, Chili's, etc.), is NOT your best option.
To put in even more simple terms, if you are eating at any one of the aforementioned places, you are OFF DIET eating.
I'm not preaching. I am on a diet/watching calories. I found this thread because I too want to find Nutritional Information on Fuddruckers. I know I went off diet when I ate there yesterday. I wanted to know just how bad I went off.
Don't fool yourself into thinking you have "healthy" choices when eating Fast Food or Quick Service dining. NOTHING you can find in these establishments will meet even the most liberal diets out there.
If dieting, simply stay away from these places. There IS A REASON that Fuddruckers does not want to post their Nutritional data (McDonald's fought it for YEARS).
I would best guess that you can add 20-40% more calories, fat, etc. to the Data you can find on McDonald's nutrition data and/or Steak/Shake data--to assume Fuddruckers data (Fuddruckers has a bigger bun, bigger patty, etc.).
For example, a Steak/Shake Large Milk Shake-Vanilla has just over 800-calories. I would bet Fuddruckers Milk Shake has about 1000 calories (else why not publish the information?).
Anyone disagree? I think this is a good assumption and was curious what others thought?
Their nutrtional values must be outrageous for them not to post it. I was there yesterday for the first time and was not impressed to find no nutrition information. I am fully aware that there is no healthy option when it comes to fast food but would like to be able to make a half decent choice. It should be required of all eating establishments to post their information.
Everyone telling people not to eat at Fuddruckers needs to hush. In the same way I have the right not to eat there, I also have the right to whine as loudly as I want about them not publishing nutritional info.
If I want to eat a 1500 calorie burger and then starve the rest of the day, that's my business. I want Fuddruckers to publish their info, and I don't care what you haters think about it.
I understand the gripe here. People want to know the nutritional content of what they are eating. However, Fuddruckers (and pretty much any restaurant) is never going to present a healthy meal in the true sense of the word. The bottom line is, if you eat at home for the most part and make healthy choices for those meals, one 1000-1500 calorie trip to Fuddruckers will not hurt any.
First of all, to the guy that said if you eat at Fuddruckers you are "off diet"... that makes NO sense! You can't be "on a diet" or "off diet," because diet is simply all of the food you choose to eat. That said, some people, like myself, like to know what the hell it is that we are putting into our bodies! We assume that a national chain would be responsible enough to provide us with that courtesy, but obviously that is not the case. And, just so you know, I had Chili's for dinner last night... guiltless grilled salmon, with only 480 calories, so you CAN eat at a fast food restaurant and eat healthy... IF you are informed!!! I can't believe Fuddrucker's hasn't been sued for making kids fat, like McDonald's was... wouldn't be hard to prove they were responsible in todays litigious society, seeing as how they don't tell you what they are feeding you.
I too just started counting calories and fat. But I can't quit my family - I thought the Caribbean with dressing on the side would not be so bad. I mean lettuce, chichen, fruit, pico de gallo - and a small amount of salad dressing - however, since they don't print any nutional info I just have to guess. I did sent fuddruckers and email asking for their nutrional info - especially on their salads. I'd like to see everyone do the same.
This has been an eye opener for me - I can tell you I will now be doing the research first - if there is no data, I'll go elsewhere.
My son is diabetic. Having carb info is essential for calculating the amount of insulin he needs to eat a meal. Type 1 diabetes means insulin allows a diabetic to eat; without insulin is certain death. Yes, we can guess on carbs, but it's not always correct. Why can't nutrition info just be provided?
I just ate there and kind of want to throw up, even tho it was delicious! First of all the bun is saturated in grease, as are the patty and any toppings. I had grease running down my arms. I finally took it off the bun and ate it w/ lettuce and tomatoes. and instead of fries got baked beans (which were awesome). I highly doubt too many visitors make it out of there w/out eating an entire days worth of calories/fat in one meal! I guesstimate the burger itself bordered on 1200 calories.
uh, since when was Chili's considered fast food? Fuddruckers is tasty but needs to be held accountable for what the hell they are serving. Clearly I'm worried since I got mine w/ cheddar cheese & bacon...I can still feel the grease on the roof of my mouth...
The fact of the matter is, in regards to providing nutritional data, ALL restaurants and food service companies should be required to provide the nutritional data on the food and meals they serve. Its already required on the raw ingredients. Go to the store, there isn't one item that does not carry the label of what's in it and its nutritional data. Why should a restaurant be any different. I personally boycott any restaurant that does not offer the info, because my daughter is diabetic (Type 1) and guessing at the carb content is not something I'm going to do when it comes to her life. For myself, I could care less, BUT I don't consider this an invasion or too much government control. I think, in this day and age, with all the diet conscious consumers, it's just good business practice and definately tells the customer you give a D**n about them.
I am not advocating Fuddruckers here when it comes to nutritional value, but simply because a restaurant serves a burger and chicken strips does not make it fast food. The truth of it is that when it comes to chosing food, the most important thing to consider is the realness and freshness of the ingredients, unless a doctor has prescribed you to be on a restricted diet. Though dining on a cheeseburger is not the best choice for a diet, chosing Fuddrucker's over ANY ACTUAL fast food chain is the smarter decision. Cut mayo, bacon, and chose a salad over fries (though their fries are actually better for you seeing as they are real potatoes). Also, the kids meal offers a smaller portion for those of you in Weight Watchers. It is a 1/4 lb patty with a small handful of fries. Drink water with it and you should be fine. HAve a great day!
Laura
I found this while googling Fuddruckers nutrition info since it still isn't on their website after all this time!! I think it's pretty bad because there are people out there that can only eat certain things because of things like diabetes and certain food intolerances. Personally, I was looking because I'm curious as to just how "lite" the turkey, buffalo, veggie, and ostrich burgers are. I am just wondering if it's really worth it to opt for the turkey burger over a real beef burger. If I'm gonna be bad, I want to know how bad I'm being and if it's really worth it to only be partly bad or to just go all the way!
I am a very healthy eater but I allow myself a cheat meal once a week and very often I choose the 1/3 Lb buffalo burger and fudd fries. The burger is advertised as being 97% fat free, which should make it just under 8 grams of fat for just the patty, but I'm not sure. I'm very frustrated that there is no nutrition info available and don't think I'll return.
I have a nutritional chart for Fuddruckers. Post what you want to know and I'll tally it up.
For example, a 1/2 pound cheeseburger and fries at Fuddruckers comes out to be about 1867 calories and 92 grams of fat. The butter they grill the bun in probably pushes that over the 2000/100 mark, but that part isn't on the nutritional chart.
The turkey burger you speak of? By itself with a bun, it comes to 720 calories and 27 g fat. That's with no butter on bun and no fries.
The garden burger comes out to be 630 calories and 14 g fat.
Even the spice they put on the fries has 4.5 g of fat. How can find a way to add fat to spices??
I am doing a very vigorous workout routine and pretty strict diet. However, once every 2 weeks or so I can't take the diet anymore and go get the full burger combo at Fuddruckers, soda and all. This restaurant is the best! Having this stuff every now and then is really no big deal. I've lost a ton of weight even with my occasional 2000/100 days eating at this place. If you do it every other day, they you are begging to put on the pounds and clog your arteries. The only one you can blame is yourself. No restaurant is forcing you to walk in the doors and order off of their menu.
And btw, I eat a Fuddruckers chicken sandwich almost everyday for lunch, M-F. No fries, and just water to drink. It works very well with my diet.
I can tally up any item on the menu, just ask. And no, I can't and won't email anybody the chart.
Oh, anonymous poster #32. You know very well that is simply the most fascinating in a long series of interesting comments on this post. Please contact me with more information, anonymously if need be. Now that Quiznos has finally caved and made nutrition facts available, it would a great public service to offer the full story on this chain.
Could the person who has the nutrition count for Fuddrucker's, please let me know know the calorie count for a plain grilled chicken sandwich? Also the calorie count for an order of fries. Thank you,
Could the person who has the nutrition count for Fuddrucker's, please let me know know the calorie count for a plain grilled chicken sandwich? Also the calorie count for an order of fries. Thank you,
www.calorielab.com has nutritional information for Fuddruckers
sorry, someone else told me that calorielab had all the restaurants nutritional info but they don't have Fuddruckers - I just checked.
www.thedailyplate.com has a few of Fuddruckers offerings with the nutritional count.
I found this when I was looking for Fuddruckers because I am going there today.
http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=25540
Not just calories but salt/sodium. I had a salad there with grilled chicken and honey mustard dressing. That was like 1300 mg sodium and 770 calories (I found it on some site here on the 'Net).
Damn for all that I could have been better off with a burger.
Food sensitivities/allergies are a real pain to live with. If I can't find out what is in an establishment's various sauces and other food products, then I have to avoid them. Not posting nutrition and allergen info is a loss all around. Way to go.
I'm no fan of regulatory intrusion into civilian life, but in this case I am surrounded by poison and my money goes to places who've taken the time to look out for me.
Obviously any burger and fries is not goin to be the healthiest choice. I enjoy them now and then, but work hard in the gym thereafter, Go to spin class or run extra....
I applaud those concerned about their health. Live on! Fight hard and never quit! HOOAH!
http://www.dietfacts.com/searchb.asp?searchKey=fuddruckers
My 7 y.o son is type 1 diabetic. You do not get this from eating badly, excessive weight etc. Because of his condition I have to counter act everything he eats with insulin. It is so hard to let him be a kid and eat places he wants when they won't give me the nutritional information. If I guess to high I could send him too low blood sugar wise inducing a coma. If I under guess then he could be high and require more insulin (another shot) later. It is so frustrating to try and eat places like this. That being said McDonalds while not my first choice has their information on the back of a menu. I know how unhealthy it is but I can pick and choose and correct him accordingly. People still eat there even with their information readily available.
I contacted them via their website, and they sent me the nutrition facts for several items in PDF format... It is not a complete list, but they have the burgers and buns for each size listed, as well as some desserts and some sides. For example, I estimated the 1/3 lb southwestern burger (which has bacon) based on the ingredients to be 861 calories and 38 carbs. My daughter has type 1 as well - we've gotten better at estimating but prefer to know. Of course, that means they actually follow portion sides - easier at Fuddruckers but at Fazoli's they are often off on pasta sizes.
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