A McDonalds By Any Other Name
My wife discovered the hidden secret behind the new upstart fast food joints (Panera, Fresh City, et. al) that appear on the surface to be healthy alternatives. Sure, you get real lettuce and onions, fresh bread, and spicy exotic condiments. But nutrition wise, these offerings are about on par with the Big Mac. Here's the information page for Panera sandwiches (have to deal with the annoying javascript popups in order to unlock the nutritional information). Here's the nutritional page for Fresh City. Now, on one hand this doesn't really upset me because I prefer the food of these upstarts over the burger & fries menu of the traditional fast food outlets. But other than being perhaps more wholesome, the upstarts are providing a marginal nutritional benefit. My guess is you may get a few more vitamins out of the menu choices of the upstarts, but contend with the same sodium, cholesterol, fat, and calorie content as is found in the offerings of the burger & fries crowd.