New Study Shows Which Fast Food Chain Is Truly The Unhealthiest
Experts have long warned about the health risks associated with fast food and often cite McDonald's, the world's largest fast food chain, as one of the unhealthiest. However, according to a new study published by the telehealth company Plushcare, it may offer the least unhealthy fast food available. The chains with the unhealthiest menu options may surprise you, too. Five Guys and Popeye's received the highest unhealthiness scores for some of their most popular menu items.
Plushcare looked at five menu items at 24 of the leading fast food chains, compared them based on calories, sugar, saturated fat, and sodium, and then scored them using the U.K. Department of Health nutrient profiling method.
Five Guys is known for its delicious food, but both its cheeseburger and fries have received the highest unhealthiness scores compared to other fast food restaurants. Its cheeseburger, says Plushcare, has 73% more saturated fat than that of any of the other restaurants measured. McDonald's and Burger King had the lowest unhealthiness scores for their cheeseburgers. Five Guys' fries also achieved a high score for saturated fat as well as sodium. Again, McDonald's (along with In-'n-Out Burger) had the lowest scores for that menu item.
Popeye's also scores high
While Five Guys has the unhealthiest cheeseburger and fries, it's far from the only restaurant with unhealthy options. Popeye's may be recognized for its crispy, crunchy fried chicken, but its classic chicken sandwich and nuggets were the highest-scoring chicken dishes in Plushcore's survey. Again, high levels of saturated fat and sodium contributed to the high scores. McDonald's found itself at the bottom of the list for these items as well.
When it came to vanilla shakes, Fatburger took the honor of being unhealthiest and McDonald's for being least unhealthy. Fatburger's shake was cited for 30 grams of saturated fat and 86 grams of added sugar.
The study did not exclusively compare the meals based on serving size, so it's possible that the results might look different if the nutrients were assessed on an ounce-for-ounce basis. Still, although no one goes into a fast food restaurant expecting the healthiest meal, knowing which chains have the least unhealthy options is helpful.