TORONTO – Planning a road trip to the U.S. this summer? The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has recommended you avoid Long John Silver’s ‘Big Catch’ meal. They named it the “Worst Restaurant Meal in America”.
Besides the fact it has 1,320 calories (a Big Mac with fries and a milkshake at McDonald’s comes in at 1,310 calories), the ‘Big Catch’ packs an eye popping 33 grams of trans fat, one of the biggest contributors to heart disease. The recommended intake of trans fat is less than 2 grams per day, according to the American Heart Association, putting the ‘Big Catch’ at over 16 times the daily suggested amount.
The high levels of trans fat in the ‘Big Catch’ are attributed to the use of industrially produced partially hydrogenated frying oil used to cook the meal, according to the CSPI findings.
“Long John Silver’s Big Catch meal deserves to be buried 20,000 leagues under the sea,” said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson. “This company is taking perfectly healthy fish—and entombing it in a thick crust of batter and partially hydrogenated oil. The result? A heart attack on a hook. Instead of the Big Catch, I’d call it America’s Deadliest Catch.”
In response to bad publicity and lawsuits, along with government regulations, most major fast food chains in the U.S. have stopped using partially hydrogenated oil to cook their food.
The ‘Big Catch’ also comes loaded with 19 grams of saturated fat and 3,700 milligrams of sodium. The Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada recommends a daily maximum of 2,300 milligrams of sodium.
SOUND OFF: Does the ‘Big Catch’ at Long John Silver’s get a bad rap – or justified in being named the “Worst Restaurant Meal in America”. Let us know in the comments below or on our Facebook page.
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