Incorrect Nutrition Data for Restaurant Salad Online

Details

Created on 02, May, 2011

A restaurant trade magazine reviewing restaurant nutrition calculators quotes a consumer saying a restaurant salad was not a good/balanced choice according to data she saw online.

Data the consumer saw on a third party nutrition info site weren’t even correct (or at least didn’t match what the restaurant’s Web site currently shows). More importantly, the consumer does not understand that most of the calories and fat in the salad come from the dressing, which she can easily order in a smaller amount (“please dress my salad lightly, or with half the dressing, or on the side with lemon juice to thin in out,” etc...). There is no reason to avoid salads (including the Greek salad here which actually is balanced due to having protein, fiber and antioxidant vitamins in addition to the (good) fat from olive oil) simply because they look “caloric” in a database that isn’t even checked /verified for accuracy. Keep in mind that 1) online information is only a gross estimate, and 2) actual nutrition of the dish can easily and significantly be changed/improved by simple requests and changes in how it is made (and by whom -- e.g., heavy hand with the dressing, vs. light). What you see in online nutrition calculators/charts is neither reality nor static.