Subway as Unhealthy as McDonald's?

[SifuPhil]

Their commercials touting healthy lifestyles and weight-loss to the contrary, the Subway fast food chain's offerings may not be much healthier than the McDonald's menu, or so says a study in Journal of Adolescent Health.




Meals that the age group 12 to 21 usually bought at McDonald's contained an average of 1,038 calories, while at Subway the the average purchase was 955 calories, according to Lenard Lesser, MD, of UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.


There was no significant difference between the two restaurants, and participants ate too many calories at both, researchers said, referring to an Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommendation of no more than 850 calories in school lunches.


The average calories per sandwich purchased were 784 at Subway versus 572 at McDonald's. The sodium content at both restaurants was three times higher than the IOM recommended daily dose: 2,149 mg at Subway versus 1,829 mg at McDonald's.

 

[rkunsaw]

I never eat at either place but if I had to choose a meal from one I'd take McDonald's.

The only fast food places I ever get food from are a once a year or so burger & onion rings from Sonic or an even rarer pizza from Pizza Hut.

 

[That Guy]

 

[SifuPhil]

I never eat at either place but if I had to choose a meal from one I'd take McDonald's.

That's interesting, because I always saw Subway as promoting the whole healthy-diet thing, with their Jarod spokeperson. Who does McD's have? Some crazy clown.



(For a better view - click here)

The only fast food places I ever get food from are a once a year or so burger & onion rings from Sonic or an even rarer pizza from Pizza Hut.

Pizza is my Achilles Heel.

 

[Anne]

Well, dang....I love Subway, but do wonder about all the processed meat. That can't be good.

 

[SifuPhil]

I don't like either place - if I'm going to indulge in unhealthy foods, I'm going to Sonic. They also have the best milkshakes and make them big enough to be supper

I've never been to a Sonic - they only got them in this area after I stopped driving.

Probably didn't miss much ...

 

[That Guy]

 

[Happyflowerlady]

I think a person can choose to have healthier or not as healthy food, wherever you have your meal. However, I think most of McDonalds food is fried, whereas most of the Subway food is not fried, and I love how they have all of the fresh veggies to have on your sandwich.
I usually have either a vegetarian, or a turkey sandwich, and with every single veggie they can stuff between the whole wheat bun. I do have mayo, but also have the vinegar and oil, which gives it that awesome subway sandwich flavor. I love Subway .

I also love hamburgers, but McDonalds is definitely my last choice for burgers.
Being a child of the Fifties, I remember when a burger was made fresh at Don's Drive In, and was served with real homemade French fries, and a cherry coke (made with cherry flavoring, and maybe a maraschino cherry in the top), so there is absolutely no way that any fast food burger place can live up to that memory.
if I were to choose a favorite, I think it would be Hardee's though. They seem to have the freshest lettuce, tomato and onions for their burgers, and the fries are not bad either.

 

[SifuPhil]

There's definitely a pecking order amongst the chains. There might be some regional variations, or even differences in the same city depending upon the franchisee's priorities, but I also put McDonald's at the bottom of the list. I just always got the impression that they hired "fat" Jared from Subway to sit on their burgers before they were served.

Burger King is second from the bottom on my scorecard, whether it's because of their flame-broiling or just better-tasting ingredients.

Hardee's I'm not really familiar with. Wendy's used to be good and I liked most of their offerings, but I've sworn off them ever since that "Band-Aid in the Chili" incident ...

Among the two non-burger places that I know, Subway and Arby's, I think they're catering to two different tastes but each is decent in what they do and how they do it.

But like Don's Drive-In I have my favorites from the past - I can't even remember the name but it was a little greasy-spoon place in NYC back in the '70's that made a REAL burger - this thing must have been 3/4 lb. AFTER cooking, all fresh toppings and homemade fries. I've never found anyplace since then that serves up anything remotely equaling it.

 

[That Guy]

I tend to avoid those chains and have never been to Wendy's. But, must admit I have a television crush on the actress Morgan Smith Goodwin in the commercials. She's spunky and cute just the way I likes 'em...

 

[SifuPhil]

Granted, the original search for the Wendy Girl representative had a few bumps in the road ...



... but it's difficult to compare this -



... with this -




And yes, I know I'm being a Male Chauvinist Pig, but even pigs enjoy a pretty landscape.

 

[Anne]

With some of those latest Hardee's commercials (two bikini- clad gals feeding each other burgers, for instance) I would've thought guys would be rushing over to Hardee's for a burger pronto........

Where's the cute construction guys in these commercials????

 

[Happyflowerlady]

Wendy's used to have a salad bar, at least out in the ones in Washington State, they did, and I would sometimes go there for lunch, and it was a fast and healthy meal. Sadly, it must not have been profitable enough, because they eventually stopped serving it.
One of the fast food places that I really liked, was called Fazoli's , and it is fast food Italian . We don't have any of them close to where I live now, but I used to stop at the one in Paducah when I went to visit my daughter at Ft. Campbell . They have great salads , and they serve hot breadsticks with every meal..... Delicious !
Anne, you are SO right about the Hardee's commercials..... They are definitely more designed to catch the male attention, than to convince anyone about the quality of their hamburgers. So, if that is how they want to attract their customers, they could at least show us a few cowboys having hamburgers around the campfire, or something like that. (Sigh...)

 

[SifuPhil]

... Where's the cute construction guys in these commercials????

Here ya' go!

 

[That Guy]

I have no desire to consume Hardee's "food", Anne. But, will now be looking forward to their commercials...

 

[FishWisher]

I really don't think you live longer by doing as the diet-do-gooders that always second guess large enterprises say - they love ink!

But I'm sure it seems like you live longer what with all the drama.

God bless yummy hamburgers and sandwiches! I love 'em!