Secrets the Restaurant Industry Doesn't Want You to Know

Men's Health -- a terrific magazine I subscribe to -- has a great article in January's issue.

It's something I have been telling you for a while, that fast food restaurants don't want you to know how many calories or how much fat are in its food. Why? Because you wouldn't eat it!

In the magazine's article, 16 Secrets the Restaurant Industry Doesn't Want You to Know, the authors, David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding asked a variety of restaurants to explain the large, fatty portions they were serving. Confronted by a magazine called Men's Health, the restaurants refused to divulge any information. The authors took the next logical step to accuse the fast food industry.

One of the true issues behind obesity is the fact that many chains —which provide one-third of all restaurant meals, according to the New York Department of Health —obfuscate the fat and calorie counts of their menu items, and fight any attempt to shed light on what, exactly, is going on between their buns and inside their taco shells.

You can read the full article on menshealth.com, but below is one of the most surprising secrets. But you are not surprise, are you?

What Maggiano's Little Italy doesn't want you to know: In Italy, a standard pasta serving means 4 ounces of noodles with a few tablespoons of sauce. At Maggiano's, a large order of pasta translates into 2 pounds of noodles piled high on a hubcap-size dinner plate (15 1/2 inches in diameter). A Maggiano's PR rep responded to our request for nutritional information a week later: "Sorry for the delay. I had to wait for corporate's approval. Unfortunately, they have declined to participate."

Unfortunately... for anyone wanting to eat healthy.