Daily Dosage: A Denny’s menu digest
Denny's: Guilty of sodium assault?
I don’t eat at Denny’s. But when I did, it wasn’t for high-quality organic cuisine. Usually, it was to sober up or soothe a hangover. And I’m pretty sure most Denny’s diners are in their booth for the same reason, or because they really really like clogged arteries.
Apparently, the Center for Science in the Public Interest didn’t get the memo that very few people are dumb enough to think Denny’s food is nutritious. This week, the CSPI sued the chain of restaurants for the sodium content in their food. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Nick DeBenedetto, a 48-year-old New Jersey native who has high blood pressure that he blames on menu items like the Meat-Lovers Skillet Scramble.
I took a quick peek at the Denny’s menu for their most extreme items. And the winners:
Sodium: Spicy Buffalo Chicken Melt (3,880g)
Fat: Super Grand Slamwich (89g)
Two scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, ham, mayonnaise and cheese on one sandwich. A moderately active woman needs around 65g of fat a day.
Sugar: 4oz. granola (56g)
How they managed to put that much sugar in that little granola astounds me. For comparison, a double-serving of Nature’s Path granola contains 15g of sugar.
All-Around Extreme: Slap Slot Sliders with Finish Line Fries.
If you want to raise lil’ athletes, cook for them at home. If you want to raise obese children who eat athletically-themed food, take them to Denny’s for this 900 calorie lunchtime treat!
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What??? No Moon Over My Hammy??? How’s my personal favorite absurd “food” chain, Waffle House, measure up?
“Absurd” perhaps – but Waffle House management are no dummies. They don’t publish their nutritional information…probably a good thing, when your menu includes “The Grilled Bacon Texas Cheesesteak Melt”…yikes!
Not for nothing, but if you wanted to go to Denny’s and order a decaf tea and toast, that IS available on the menu.
DeBenedetto should have known that his personal favorite, Moon Over My Hammy, was no good for him. Sheesh.
I am well aware of the tea and toast option – as a vegan in high school, I usually ate toast with peanut butter and anemic fruit salad (all melon!) on 2 a.m. post-bar adventures…low-sodium, but also disgusting.
If you can get your head around ordering cold tofu, cold ramen, and assorted pickles at a Denny’s, the Denny’s in Japan is an otherworldly experience- their menus, logos, with common Japanese fare complete with calories and other nutritional information on the menus. And not a single Chicken Fried Steak in sight.
Pure heresy.
Actually, the Japanese Denny’s sounds right up my alley…hmm…