Consumerist's Ultimate Fast Food Nutrition Guide: 2008

Back in January of 2007, we took a look at fast food and chain restaurant websites to see who was hiding their nutritional information and who was making it easy for consumers to find out what was in their favorite menu items. We found that some chains were offering a veritable buffet of information, while others either ignored the subject altogether or hid links to PDFs in the depths of their fine print. Because of this, inside, we’ve got a nutritional info report card of about 50 top fast food joints. We tell you whether they have the info online at all, provide nutritional info for all items, if it’s easy to locate, and whether they have allergen info. We also give an overall rating to the overall quality of the nutritional info, and provide direct links to the nutrition page or PDF.

In the year that’s passed since our original post, there’s been quite a bit of controversy over nutrition information — city and state governments have tried (with varying degrees of success) to pass regulations that would require fast food and chain restaurants alike to post nutritional information where customers would see it while ordering. When New York City passed a law forcing restaurants who already provided nutritional information to post calorie info on menus, some restaurants pulled their nutritional information from their websites rather than be forced to disclose it on the menu. Now that the dust has finally settled (NYC’s original law was overturned and they passed a new one that required chains with more than 15 locations to post calorie information on menu boards), we decided to take a look at fast food and chain restaurant websites to see what, if any, effect the scuffle had on the availability of nutritional information.

We have good news. More restaurants are posting nutrition and allergen information than a year ago, and the information is featured more prominently on restaurant websites. There are a few exceptions, of course. A few restaurants have taken a step backwards or are treading water. Chains like Red Lobster, Applebee’s and Olive Garden are notoriously unwilling to divulge too much information. Outback Steakhouse is full of suggestions on how to order healthier versions of their menu items, but that’s about it. Quiznos has a list of low calorie menu items, but when you compare their information to Subway’s website with its extensive nutrition section… well, you get the idea. For the most part, however, nutrition and allergen information is getting top billing on fast food websites, and that’s a step in the right direction.

So without further ado:

Consumerist’s Ultimate Fast Food Nutrition Guide: 2008

Restaurant
Nutritional Information Provided For All Items?
Nutritional Info Easy To Locate?
Allergen Info?
Rating?
Is there a nutrition page?
Applebee’s
No
No
No
Nonexistent
No
Arby’s Yes
Yes
Yes
Excellent
Yes
A&W Yes
Yes
Yes
Excellent
Yes
Baskin Robin’s Yes
Yes
Yes
Excellent
Yes
Bennigan’s No
No
No
Nonexistent No
Burger King Yes
Yes
Yes
Excellent
Yes
California Pizza Kitchen No
No
No
Poor Only For Grocery Items
Chipotle Yes
Yes
Yes
Above Average
PDF only
Chili’s Yes
Yes
Yes
Above Average
PDF only
Chick-Fil-A Yes
Yes
Yes
Excellent
Yes
Dairy Queen Yes
Yes
Yes
Excellent
Yes
Denny’s Yes
Yes
Yes
Above Average
PDF only
Domino’s Pizza Yes
Yes
Yes
Excellent
Yes
Dunkin’ Donuts Yes
Yes
Yes
Excellent
Yes
Fat Burger Yes
Yes No
Average PDF only
Friendly’s Yes
Yes
Yes
Above Average
PDF only
Fuddrucker’s No
No
No
Nonexistent
No
Hardee’s Yes
Yes
Yes
Excellent
Yes
Hooters No
No
No
Nonexistent
No
In-N-Out Burger Yes
Yes
No
Above Average
Yes
International House of Pancakes No
No
No
Nonexistent
No
Jack In The Box Yes
Yes
Yes
Excellent Yes
Jamba Juice Yes
Yes
Yes
Excellent
Yes
KFC Yes
Yes
Yes
Excellent
Yes
Krispy Kreme Yes
Yes
No
Average
PDF only
Little Caesar’s Yes
Yes
No
Above Average
Yes
Lone Star Steak House

No
No
No
Nonexistent
No
Long John Silver’s Yes
Yes
Yes
Excellent
Yes
McDonald’s Yes
Yes
Yes
Excellent
Yes
Olive Garden No
No
No
Nonexistent
“Garden Fare” only
Outback Steak House No
Yes
Yes
Poor
Yes
Papa John’s Yes
Yes
Yes
Excellent
Yes
Panda Express Yes
Yes
Yes
Excellent
Yes
Perkins No
No
No
Nonexistent
No
Pizza Hut Yes
Yes
Yes
Excellent
Yes
Quiznos No
Yes
Yes
Poor
Yes
Red Lobster No
No
Yes
Poor
No
Red Robin Yes
Yes
No
Above Average
Yes
Ruby Tuesday’s Yes
Yes No
Average
PDF only
Sbarro No
No
No
Nonexistent
No
Sonic Yes
Yes
No
Average
PDF only
Starbucks Yes
Yes
No
Above Average
Yes
Steak ‘N Shake Yes
Yes
Yes
Excellent
Yes
Subway Yes
Yes
Yes
Excellent
Yes
TGIF No
No
No
Nonexistent
No
Taco Bell Yes
Yes
Yes
Excellent
Yes
Taco John’s Yes
Yes
No
Average
PDF only
Uno’s Chicago Grill Yes
Yes
Yes
Excellent
Yes
Wendy’s Yes
Yes
Yes
Excellent
Yes
White Castle Yes
Yes
No
Above Average
Yes


(Photo: Tom Simpson )