Are Food Labels Making You Fat?

Can't believe that the rich-tasting, satisfying, 500-calorie entree that was marked with the "healthy" symbol really was only 500 calories? It might not have been.

When a team of research sleuths ordered from the "lower in calories" selections at 29 sit-down restaurants in the Boston area, they found that the meals delivered an average of 18% more calories than the menu said they did. So a 500-calorie meal could bring with it an extra 90 calories. And maybe a whole lot more: A number of the restaurants also served up free side dishes, some of which doled out even more calories than were in the entree they came with (in other words, there's no such thing as a free side dish; it costs you somewhere, and it's probably hanging off your stomach in the form of inflammation-causing omental fat).

If all this sends you to your supermarket's frozen-food section for an entree, well, rethink that, too. Ten frozen meals that were tested averaged 8% more calories than advertised.

This doesn't mean that all calorie counts are off. Or that you shouldn't use them as guidelines. It's always worthwhile to compare; people are always surprised when some restaurant salads contain two to three times the calories that some of that same restaurant's cooked entrees do. But it does mean that you shouldn't depend on the calorie counts to tell you whether you should eat the whole thing. Instead, rely on your taste buds to help you enjoy every mouthful, and your gut and brain to tell you to stop when you're just about satisfied.