Reuters
Whether you like
it or not, America, the number of calories packed into fast-food
eats are getting harder to ignore. McDonald’s (MCD) , Subway and Panera Bread (PNRA) — and as of this week, Starbucks —
have already begun voluntarily posting calorie counts on their
menus, ahead of an anticipated federal mandate requiring all
restaurants with more than 20 locations to do so.
Let’s imagine for
a moment that you’re less worried about your waistline than about
getting the most calories for the least amount of money. Read on to
see which of the highest-calorie menu items at 10 of the nation’s
top fast-food restaurants offers the most bang for your buck.
— By Jennifer
Waters
Panera
Bread
* Steak and white
cheddar on a French baguette, 980 calories
* $1 buys 112
calories
Panera has a lot
of light, healthy-sounding items on its menus but the full steak
and white cheddar on a French baguette isn't among them, tallying
980 calories and 103 grams of carbs. That accounts for nearly half
the USDA’s recommended daily intake of carbs. At $8.79, you’re
getting a little more than one calorie per penny.
Dunkin’
Donuts
* Frozen mocha
coffee coolatta with cream, 730 calories
* $1 buys 166
calories
Dunkin’ Donuts’
(DNKN) frozen mocha coffee coolatta
with cream is 730 calories with 142 grams of sugar (the equivalent
of 35.5 teaspoons of sugar). It will cost you $4.39, or one cent
for every 1.66 calories. Want a little something to eat with your
beverage? A chocolate coconut cake donut, perhaps? That’ll be an
additional 550 calories.
KFC
* 10-piece bag of
original recipe chicken bites, 1,300 calories
* $1 buys 176
calories
At KFC (YUM) , a 10-piece bag of original recipe
chicken bites comes packed with 1,300 calories, compared with a
10-piece bucket of Kentucky grilled chicken at 1,280. What’s the
better “deal”? You get more calories for less money if you choose
the fried option. The chicken bites will set you back $7.39, or
you’ll trade a penny for 1.76 calories while the bucket will cost
$14.99, which means you don’t even get a full calorie for one
cent.
Wendy’s
* Dave’s Hot ‘N
Juicy 3/4 lb. triple patty with cheese, 1,120 calories
* $1 buys 184
calories
Wendy’s (WEN) wins the fattest burger award with
the Dave’s Hot ‘N Juicy 3/4 lb. triple patty with cheese, racking
up a gut-busting 1,120 calories. At $6.09, that works out to 1.84
calories per cent. Some 620 are calories from fat, which is a
jaw-dropping six times the recommended daily intake of calories
from fat. You get 69 grams of protein too, well above the
recommended dietary allowance of 56 grams of protein for men 19
years old and above, according to the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.
Subway
* Mega melt on
flatbread with egg, 670 calories
* $1 buys 206
calories
To be sure, most
of its six-inch sub sandwiches with meat range in calories from 290
to 320. But Subway, which has long marketed itself as a healthy
alternative to fast-food burgers and fries, also has its heavy
hitters: the 6-inch mega melt on flatbread with an egg has 670
calories. At $3.25 a piece, that works out to 2.06 calories for
every penny you spend.
Taco
Bell
* Volcanic nachos,
970 calories
* $1 buys 243
calories
Taco
Bell’s volcanic nachos are a mountain of calories at 970 with
92 grams of carbs for $3.99, or 2.43 calories per penny. The lowest
calorie dish on the menu is a side of black beans at 80, less than
the 90-calorie cilantro dressing.
White
Castle
* 20 chicken
rings, 1,760 calories
* $1 buys 252
calories
A sack of White
Castle’s hash brown nibblers, where available, pack 1,440 calories,
while a hand-to-mouth session with 20 chicken rings settles in at
1,760 calories. The hash brown nibblers sack costs $2.99, which
equals 4.82 calories per penny, which is a far better calorie deal
than the chicken rings: $6.99, or 2.52 calories per cent.
McDonald’s
* Big breakfast
with syrup and margarine, 1,350 calories
* $1 buys 286
calories
It might surprise
you that the highest-calorie item on McDonald’s regular menu isn’t
a burger or even a meal deal but the big breakfast of scrambled
eggs, sausage patty with hot cakes, hash browns and a large
biscuit, weighing in at a hefty 1,090 calories. That is half of the
recommended caloric intake for women ages 19 to 30. The hot cake
syrup is an extra 180 calories and two pats of whipped margarine
will cost you 80 calories. At about $4.72, it comes out to 2.86
calories per penny, including the syrup and margarine.
Burger
King
* Ultimate
breakfast platter, 1,450 calories
* $1 buys 338
calories
Burger King’s
(BKW) ultimate breakfast platter lives
up to its name with 1,450 calories (750 from fat), 134 grams of
carbs, and 41 grams of sugar. It also has eggs, a sausage patty, a
biscuit and hash browns. At $4.29, that works out to 3.38 calories
per cent.
Pizza
Hut
* 14-inch large
meat lover’s pan pizza, 470 calories
* $1 buys 376
calories
High-calorie meals
reign at Pizza Hut but we’ll stick with its namesake entrée:
One slice of a 14-inch large Meat Lover’s pan pizza has 470
calories. But who eats just one slice? Eat just two of the eight
slices and you’ll hit 940 calories. (The entire pie is 3,760
calories.) At $10, it is easy math of 3.76 calories for each
cent.