THE DISH
The Dish: Nothing diet about this tuna salad
August 19, 2010
Megan Ogilvie
HEALTH REPORTER
Dish: Freddy’s Tuna Salad
Restaurant: The Pickle Barrel
Location: The Grand Atrium, 312 Yonge Street
Price: $9.99
At first glance, the creator of Freddy’s Tuna Salad seems a regular health nut.
His specialty, one of the “scrumptious salads” served up at the Pickle Barrel, is described as: “A scoop of solid white albacore tuna salad, lettuce, alfalfa sprouts, hard-boiled eggs, fresh tomatoes and tortilla crisps served with our own honey-mustard dressing.”
“This sounds like a diet plate special,” says registered dietitian Shannon Crocker. “A scoop of tuna, eggs, lettuce . . . people could be fooled into thinking this is traditional diet food. But with 700 calories and almost 50 grams of fat, there is nothing diet about this salad.”
A bit of a shock for those of us who assume tuna salad is good-for-you health food. In fact, this diner almost chose this exact salad last month while looking for a light lunch at the Pickle Barrel. At the last minute I was wooed away by a chicken wrap; I’ll know better next time the tuna looks enticing.
At 700 calories — 200 more than the average person should look for in a meal — Freddy’s tuna salad isn’t a calorie overload. Especially if you eat light at other meals that day.
But the point here is the salad has more calories, fat and sodium than most of us would guess.
The salad’s 50 grams of fat is the daily allotment for the average woman and about two-thirds of what the average man should consume in a day. And its 1,028 mg of sodium is the equivalent of a ½ teaspoon of salt, or about half of the maximum recommended daily allowance.
“This salad has the same amount of calories and more fat than the cheeseburger on the menu,” says Crocker. “People think they’re getting a light tuna salad and they could have had a cheeseburger and side green salad.”
In fact, Crocker adds, most meal-size salads served at restaurants are no better, calorie-wise, than gooey banquet burgers.
“The nuts, dried fruit, cheese, croutons, bacon, crispy noodles, all of these toppings add a lot of calories, fat and sodium to otherwise nutritious vegetables,” she says.
According to the Pickle Barrel’s own nutrition numbers, their julienne salad has 800 calories, 51 grams of fat and 2,300 mg of sodium, while the Thai chicken peanut salad has 1,030 calories, 49 grams of fat and 1,360 mg of sodium.
Rather than avoiding these big salads, Crocker says diners just need to realize what they’re biting into and ask for small changes.
Those who aim to be health conscious can get the dressing on the side, skip the bacon and crispy noodles and ask for half the cheese to help cut calories, fat and sodium. And at the Pickle Barrel, diners can opt for the healthier salad option Rose Reisman’s warm chicken and spinach salad — which has 570 calories, 22 grams of fat and 490 mg of sodium.
The tuna salad’s high vegetable content does make it more nutritious than a cheeseburger — but not by much.
“People see fish and think they’re getting the healthy kind of fat, but in fact you don’t get a lot of omega-3 fats in canned tuna,” Crocker says. “You’ll get a dose of veggies for sure, but there are better ways to do it than a salad loaded with fat.”
VERDICT: “Don’t be fooled. This is no diet plate.”
Find out how other popular take-out meals stack up:
Chicken clubhouse
Chicken quesadilla
Dangerous Dan's burger
Deli chicken
Fit for Life salad
Roasted vegetable Bagellini
Ikea cinnamon bun
Cora's breakfast
Meat-lovers' pizza
Vendor hot dog
Lemon Tart
Veggie Samosas
Tim Hortons Hot Breakfast Sausage Sandwich
Spicy Salmon Sushi Roll
Pad Thai
Veal Parmigiano
Peameal Bacon Breakfast Sandwich
Featured Sponsored Listings