Applebee's Lawsuit: Suing Over Fat

You may have heard news of folks suing McDonalds and other fast-food franchises over the fat content and unhealthy nature of their food.

One of the latest lawsuits to be filed in this milieu is one against Applebee's, also over the fat content in their food. The difference is that Applebee's has a Weight Watcher's menu. The dispute specifically pertains to these items.

"According to the lab tests reported by WXYZ in Detroit, Applebee's Cajun Lime Tilapia was supposed to contain 6 grams of fat, but really had 14.3 grams of fat. Applebee's Garlic Herb Chicken also was advertised at 6 grams of fat, but really had 18." Source: The Consumerist.

That's a fairly large discrepancy between the advertised amount of fat and the actual amount of fat. WXYZ sent the meals to and independent lab to determine the veracity of the claims. Once the information was made public, at least two lawsuits were filed in response.

On The Consumerist comment boards most people find the lawsuit to be frivolous. After all, who goes to a restaurant to get skinny or stay healthy?

But that doesn't get to the heart of the matter. What is at the heart of the matter is false advertising. Yes, we're jaded about companies and restaurants lying to us about what's in their products, but that doesn't mean that we should let them get away with it.

First though, we should consider why the discrepancy happened.

If food is cooked fresh, there is a variance in calories and fat. How much calories and fat an item contains will vary according the materials used and how much. Even if 20 chickens are all fed the same diet, some will have more fat content than others.

Also, each kitchen differs slightly in their prep of the food. More or less oil might be used in cooking, also, if a hot pan is used to cook a fatty item and the "lean" option is cooked in the same pan, there's a chance that some of the fat might adhere to the lean item, adding fat grams.

It's difficult to tell if Applebee's had known about the vast discrepancy and went ahead with falsely labeling the items. If they did, then they've done something wrong by purposefully deceiving their customers.

For the dieter who's eating out, it's still better for them to order from the healthy menu. Even if the numbers aren't accurate, they are certainly nominally healthier than other menu options. "Healthy" menu items are often smaller in portion and use less fat-filled additives to boost flavor.

What Applebee's does in a test kitchen doesn't reflect what goes on in their actual kitchens. If a consumer wants an exact calorie and fat count, the only real way to know that is if everything is pre-done, frozen and cooked under specific conditions-aka fast food.

Fast food, while not fresh, is still a bit more likely to have accurate calorie counts because less is fresh and less is left to chance.