According to a study by the Washington-based Center for Science in the Public Interest, many of the foods favored by fans of Chinese cuisine are packed with nutritional pitfalls, ranging from the 14 grams of saturated fat and 900 mg of sodium in four BBQ spareribs to battered, deep-fried Lemon Chicken that tipped the scale at 1,400 calories per serving.
"I don't want to put all the blame on Chinese food," Bonnie Liebman, nutrition director for the center and a co-author of the study, told the Associated Press. "Across the board, American restaurants need to cut back on calories and salt, and in the meantime, people should think of each meal as not one, but two, and bring home half for tomorrow."
Not all the news about Chinese food was bad. The study, published under the admittedly droll title, "Wok Carefully," found that Chinese food is often has high vegetable content, and much of the fat used in Chinese cooking comes from heart-safe, trans-fat-free vegetable oils.
Still, on a dish-by-dish bases, there are some severe downsides to that heaping plate of Hunan. Portions of the study published on the Center's website, reported the following:
- An order of four BBQ Spare Ribs has 600 calories, 14 grams of saturated fat, and 900 mg of sodium, making it the unhealthiest Chinese appetizer the Center analyzed.
- A plate of Eggplant in Garlic Sauce has 1,000 calories and 2,000 milligrams of sodium.
- Shrimp dishes are among the healthiest choices on Chinese restaurant menus, because they are relatively low in calories, but they can be heavy in sodium ranging from 2,300 mg to 3,000 mg.
- Lemon Chicken - battered, deep-fried, and served with a sugary yellow sauce - has 1,400 calories and 13 grams of saturated fat. The Center compared it to eating three fried McChicken sandwiches at McDonald's plus a 32-oz. cola at McDonald's.
- The Center described Chinese noodles and fried rice dishes as mostly loads "of greasy, refined carbs." A test of a dish called Chicken Chow Foon (also called Chicken Chow Fun) found that it contained 1,100 to 1,500 calories and 2,700 to 3,600 mg of sodium.
On its website, the Center noted that consumers who crave Chinese have menu choices that reduce fat, calories and sodium. For example, instead of the 1,000 calorie Eggplant in Garlic Sauce, the Center pointed out that consumers could choose Szechuan String Beans or Stir-Fried Mixed Vegetables which contain 600 and 500 calories, respectively.
Liebman also pointed out that despite its downsides, Chinese food has remained roughly the same as it was in a 1993 test conducted by the Center, while many restaurants foods have actually lost nutritional value.
"We were glad not to find anything different," she said. "Some restaurant food has gotten a lot worse. Companies seem to pile on. Instead of just cheesecake, you get coconut chocolate chip cheesecake with a layer of chocolate cake, and lasagna with meatballs."
