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The beefiness in your fast-food burger may not be exactly what it seems. Natalie Jeffcott/Stocksy
  • Beef, chicken, and fish products at fast-food restaurants aren't ever made from 100 per centum meat.
  • They tin can contain additional additives, such every bit a textured vegetable protein or a soy product, that make them cheaper to produce.
  • Wellness experts say these types of processed meats are less healthy than unprocessed meats.
  • If you're concerned about the quality of the meat a fast-food establishment is serving, health experts suggest checking the ingredients list on the carte, equally it may offer unprocessed options as well every bit plant-based alternatives.

Recently, The New York Times took a deep dive to get to the lesser of i of the great questions of our time:

Is the fish production included in restaurant chain Subway's popular sandwiches actually tuna or… something else?

The investigative report by journalist Julie Carmel was in response to a class-action lawsuit in California filed dorsum in January against the fast-food giant. The lawsuit makes the claim that the brand's tuna fish sandwiches "are completely bereft of tuna as an ingredient."

The lawsuit spread far and wide, even eliciting some sympathy from popular star Jessica Simpson — herself once famously questioning the provenance of Chicken of the Bounding main (is it chicken or tuna, afterwards all?) — on Twitter.

The headlines generated around the tuna confusion played into the long-standing argue of what exactly is in the meat we swallow at fast-food restaurants.

How healthy are the highly processed items you might order at McDonald's or Subway? Are they everything they claim to be as advertised?

In an email statement to the The New York Times, a Subway spokesperson wrote that "in that location just is no truth to the allegations in the complaint that was filed in California."

"Subway delivers 100 percent cooked tuna to its restaurants, which is mixed with mayonnaise and used in freshly made sandwiches, wraps and salads that are served to and enjoyed by our guests," they added.

For her function, Carmel sent samples of Subway tuna sandwiches to a commercial nutrient testing lab. The results were somewhat inconclusive.

The labs constitute that "no amplifiable tuna DNA was present" in the samples she sent over, and that they could not "identify the species" present in the sandwich products.

A spokesperson from the lab told The New York Times that two conclusions be from this: either the tuna products are "then heavily candy" that it was impossible to make a articulate identification of tuna, or "there's merely nothing at that place that's tuna" in the samples sent over.

Carmel cites an earlier Within Edition study that found positive tuna identification derived from samples from 3 Subway locations in Queens, New York Urban center.

Registered dietitian Amber Pankonin, MS, LMNT, offered some more context for Healthline.

When asked whether the allegations that Subway might be selling questionable meat products is a common manufacture exercise in fast food, Pankonin said "information technology really depends on the brand, who their supplier is, and what they offer on the menu."

She said fast-food brands that take more than than twenty locations in the The states are required past the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to clearly mail their nutritional information publicly.

"There are fast-food chains that might apply a textured vegetable protein or a soy product as a filler in their beef burger or tacos," she explained. "If you are concerned almost this, I would recommend looking for '100 percent beefiness' in the menu description and checking allergen data."

Pankonin directed Healthline to readily accessible information that you can easily reference if yous're concerned about what foods you might be consuming from a fast-nutrient establishment.

This includes official bill of fare labeling guidelines from the FDA and publicly available information on beef sourcing from popular brands like McDonald'due south, Wendy's, and Taco Bong.

Dana Hunnes, PhD, MPH, RD, a senior dietitian at the UCLA Medical Center, echoed Pankonin that it really depends on the specific product.

She told Healthline that it is "difficult to 'imitation' a product that looks like just what it is," such as a meat patty-based hamburger.

"Nonetheless, if it is a fried asset, i.due east., chicken asset, the question may become a flake murkier, every bit in that location are oftentimes a number of additional ingredients in the product, like breading, starch, dextrose, for case, that could either mask an alternative meat product or actually make upwards more, past weight, of the product than the 'chicken' or so-chosen named meat itself," added Hunnes, who is likewise author of the forthcoming volume "Recipe for Survival."

What is the nutritional value of meat-based fast-food items?

Hunnes said she more often than not consults people to limit or avert meat intake, calculation that a plant-based diet is generally far better for one'southward overall health.

That existence said, if you do swallow meat-based products, she said "unadulterated meat" is amend due to the fact that you lot will be consuming "unprocessed meat production, which in some means volition be a tad fleck healthier than 'processed meat products.'"

She said many restaurants, even fast-food establishments, are offering more plant-based alternatives. Her personal opinion is to gravitate to these offerings more, and they're better for the surroundings at large.

Just by looking at bill of fare labeling requirements, Pankonin said it's now pretty like shooting fish in a barrel to access nutrition and allergen information for your get-to fast-nutrient items. She said you should avoid items that might contain potential allergens for you.

"Nutritionally, those products that incorporate fillers will probably be fairly similar," she added, emphasizing, again, information technology really depends on the specific restaurant and their suppliers.

So, how good for you is fast-food meat? There's no one-size-fits-all answer.

"In terms of cooking grooming and taste credence, they [fast-food meat items] might perform differently. With added fillers, there might be more than moisture or flour in the production that might impact cooking and quality. And depending on how much filler is used, this tin impact the flavor of the production," Pankonin said.

She added that with fast-food restaurants, "standardized products tin provide consistency in terms of estimating nutrition facts." This is compared with shopping for and preparing a burger from scratch at home; information technology all depends on the "meat that is used and the portion that is prepared."

"When I advise folks virtually what to order from fast-nutrient restaurants, it really depends on what their health goals are and if in that location are any food allergies. I tin help them evaluate the calorie and nutrition data to see if specific menu items fit in their overall diet plan," Pankonin said.

If you're concerned nigh the headlines about fast-food meat, what are proficient menu alternatives at your favorite fast-food place?

​"Some of the plant-based alternatives volition exist incrementally improve than actual meat in terms of health. I say incrementally, because they are withal a processed food production and volition contain table salt," Hunnes said.

"Simply, they are better for wellness in the sense that their fats are coming from establish-based sources, which are by and large meliorate than fats from creature sources, and they may as well contain fiber, which meat will not," she said.

Pankonin reiterated it's all about your dietary and wellness preferences.

"Again, I think it depends on health goals and if there are whatever food allergies. For example, if somebody is allergic to soy, they should be educated virtually meat fillers and also avoid some of the plant-based options on the menu equally well," she said.

Pankonin said if you're making a burger from the comfort of home and want to lower the fatty or the calorie content, for case, yous can try making "a burger blend" by "using ground beef and vegetables like onions and mushrooms."

She said some get-to breakfast suggestions include coming up with something yous tin can prep and freeze ahead of time.

Try a breakfast sandwich that uses a whole-wheat English muffin, egg, and slice of cheese. This could be a simple culling to getting your favorite breakfast sandwich to go earlier heading into the role.

She also said no-bake recipes are a good way to reduce your kitchen time. Additionally, Pankonin cited wraps that can be stored in a libation and brought to the family picnic or the lunchroom as expert options.

Beyond this, she said you can't go incorrect with charcuterie boards.

"They are basically developed Lunchables, and I love them," she said. "These are super easy to get together and tin be a bully culling to fast food. Instead of a board, package in a bento box and lunch is ready to go."

Hunnes said that while it might seem cheaper to go to a fast-nutrient identify and guild four burgers, four fries, and four soft drinks for your family or group of friends for $20, in reality, you might be doing a lot of impairment to your overall health and "you may pay for it on the back end."

"However, since well-nigh people practice not remember that far ahead when choosing meals, from a monetary, and momentary, standpoint merely, you lot absolutely can brand something like, healthier, and potentially even cheaper at abode," Hunnes said.

She said plant-based meat brands Impossible or Beyond Burger are just $9 to $11 per pound. A pound can feed iv people. Wheat buns are only $3 for about 8, with lettuce, lycopersicon esculentum, and onion setting you back about another $four, and soda adding a fleck more, say another dollar or and then.

The grand total? That's roughly $17 for your own bootleg burgers.

"It's really cheaper and far healthier to make at home," Hunnes added. "And, if you wanted to use actual meat, it would probably be even cheaper since most footing meats are maybe $5 per pound."

Overall, while we might not have solved the bang-up tuna mystery of 2021, a few things are clear.

E'er look into the dietary and nutritional background of the food you eat, assess whether it contains allergens, and consider potentially cheaper, and healthier, options y'all can make for yourself and your family unit.