“The Most Xtreme Meals in America”
That’s the title of CSPI director Michael Jacobsen’s article in the Huff-Po, about the “winners” of this year’s Xtreme Eating awards.* The finalists are arrayed in a slideshow at the Huff-Po, but you can also see them in the CSPI’s own publication here.
If you have the stomach for it, that is…
In keeping with earlier “awards,” the winning dishes are loaded with sodium, saturated fat, sugar, and – of course – calories. I’m not averse to the occasional rich meal, and I loves me a good, sloppy burger, but I can’t imagine ordering any of these, under any circumstances.
And it’s not just me. My son’s reaction was even stronger than mine. Ryan happened to amble into my office while I was flipping though the slideshow – he was curious to see what I was looking at.
He immediately regretted that impulse: the look of disgust on his face was priceless.
Now, Ryan’s a pretty normal American college student, when it comes to his food choices. He likes burgers/fries; smoothies/shakes; mac & cheese; pasta; ribs; veal etc. So, in a general sense, there wasn’t anything in the slideshow that he’d reject out of hand.
But those “meals” were simply overwhelming. He’ll happily eat a peanut-butter-and-jelly-sandwich, for example, but he was totally grossed out by the “Peanut Power Plus Grape Smoothie” – which is the caloric equivalent of 4 average PBJs (343 calories each, according to caloriecount.about.com). He enjoys food, but within reasonable limits.
To me, that kind of “bust-a-gut” eating is joyless at best, sickening at worst. It’s not food, it’s food porn – ugh.
*The article appeared about a month ago, so I’m a little late to the game, but I’m still catching up on the news.
February 21, 2013
I agree with your son! That stuff is nasty. I can’t believe you can get that many calories out of Mac & Cheese. Also the sodium content would be enough to kill you eating any of those foods regularly.
I’m with you, an occasional splurge is fine. But it would’nt be any of those!