Alas, think again. New research from Tufts University has found that the most ordered items—cheeseburgers, French fries, and grilled chicken sandwiches—at the country’s three largest fast-food chains have approximately the same number of calories and amount of sodium and saturated fat as they did 17 years ago. (The only dramatic change was a reduction in trans fat, which had all but dropped off the map by 2009 thanks to FDA labeling regulations.) MORE: 10 400-Calorie Breakfast Options Even worse: Many of the chains’ supposedly “healthy” options, like Pizza Hut’s “Skinny Slice,” McDonalds’s strawberry-banana smoothie, and Dunkin Donuts’ multigrain bagel, aren’t as healthy as you’d expect. In 2013, researchers at Yale University analyzed dozens of allegedly wholesome fast-food offerings using the Nutritional Profiling Index (NPI), which scores a food’s overall nutritional quality based on its number of calories and balance of healthy with unhealthy ingredients (like unprocessed fruits or veggies with sodium and saturated fat). What the researchers found is that only 4 out of 10 items on McDonald’s “Favorites Under 400 Calories” menu, which includes everything from chicken nuggets to oatmeal, had a favorable NPI score—not so good. What’s more, only 28% of Subway’s “Fresh Fit” meals, like its 6-inch oven roasted chicken and roast-beef sandwiches, made the mark—a sharp decline from 48% in 2010. At Sonic, only 4% of items on its lower-calorie “Sonic Smart” menu, which features items like a grilled chicken wrap and sweet-potato tots, met the Yale criteria. In fact, according to the researchers, the Sonic Smart menu scored lower than the restaurant’s “Everyday Deals” value menu: Since value menu items were served smaller portions, they had fewer calories overall. This is all a tad depressing considering the parade of “healthier” menu options the fast-food industry has unleashed during the past 15 years: McDonald’s McSalad Shakers, Wendy’s Garden Sensations salads, Dunkin Donuts’ DDSMART menu, Taco Bell’s Drive-Thru Diet, even Burger King’s reduced-fat Satisfries—and the list goes on and on. But that still doesn’t change the fact that the bestselling fast-food items (those burgers, fries, and chicken sandwiches analyzed in the Tufts study) haven’t improved their health game in almost 2 decades. It’s proof that no amount of shake-able salads or cheese-less tacos or athlete-endorsed breakfasts can change the fact that fast food still just sucks. MORE: How Nutritionists Eat Fast Food
