Before we start, we aren’t saying which one you should choose, or that one is “better” than the other. This is simply to demonstrate how marketing can skew our perception of food intake. The “healthy” place is almost 400 calories more than the one that is demonized for being unhealthy. The portion size for the chips is bigger at Grill’d, but as far as we’re concerned, it doesn’t matter because you’re probably going to eat the whole packet of both sets of chips if theyre sitting right in front of you as part of your meal.
If weight loss is your concern, to be frank, just eat at home. Eating out, as you can see, will derail your efforts so quickly. Full stop. We don’t really need to elaborate on that one.
If general health is your concern, after a bit of digging, we discovered the chicken breast for both restaurants are preserved with preservative 250, aka sodium nitrate. Yes, those are the same nitrates that are found in deli meats and are a known carcinogen to humans. If oil is your concern, Grill’d does opt for high oleic oils which is higher in monosaturated fats (good fats) than the vegetable oil that Hungry Jacks used. Don’t be fooled though, it’s not necessarily for health reasons – high oleic oils have a good oxidation stability and are especially suitable for deep frying purposes. High Oleic oils allow you to use them for longer before switching out your fryers, saving the restaurant a heap of money. They also have a much longer shelf life than their ordinary counterpart. Great for business, and great for marketing “it’s the healthy kind of fat” ??♀️
The fat content is still so remarkably high regardless of what type of oil they are using, it’s really not even worth digging any deeper. Just FYI, olive oil and macadamia nuts are naturally high in high oleic acid so if you’re looking for good, clean fats – just stick to that instead.
Which one would we choose? Neither. Much rather eat a clean, home cooked meal ?