You may want to think twice about ordering The Cheesecake Factory's Bistro Shrimp Pasta-a nutritional nightmare adding up to 3,120 calories.
Keep in mind that the recommended daily amount of calories that a typical adult should consume is 2,000-according to The Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
That is why the tempting, but waistline endangering, dish was officially named a "dis-honoree" in the Center for Science in the Public Interest's annual Xtreme Eating Awards.
The nonprofit group releases the information in hopes of increasing awareness about the poor nutritional quality of foods that may prove shocking to the public, according to the organization's executive director Michael Jacobson's column on the Huffington Post.
"Nutritionists here at the Center for Science in the Public Interest are always visiting America's chain restaurants to look for examples of meals that have surprisingly high levels of calories, saturated fat, sodium, or added sugar," Jacobson posted on his blog. "Our studies of the nutritional quality of movie theater popcorn, steakhouse fare, and Chinese food gained headlines around the world."
The caloric content of the Bistro Shrimp Pasta may surprise customers who read the item's description as containing shrimp, mushrooms, tomato and arugula. But the Xtreme Eating Awards "winner" has the most calories out of any other menu item at The Cheesecake Factory.
And the numbers seem to present a much larger pattern that endangers the slowing trend of obesity in the country, according to the group's report.
"Obesity rates may show signs of leveling off, but it looks like America's major restaurant chains are doing everything possible to reverse the trend," they said in a press release about their findings.
And it's not only the number of calories in the pasta dish that are way above the recommended daily amount.
The pasta dish also contains 89 grams of saturated fat. That is 69 grams over the daily recommended maximum amount of saturated fat. That is "enough to keep your arteries busy from Monday morning to noon on Friday," the group wrote in their findings. "It's the nutritional equivalent of three orders of Olive Garden's Lasagna Classico plus an order of Tiramisu.
The nonprofit group featured other menu items from popular restaurant chains in their report including Johnny Rockets' Bacon Cheddar Double and the Deep Dish Macaroni & 3-Cheese at Uno Chicago Grill.
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