Calorie overkill: quiz.

Why are two out of three Americans either overweight or obese? Experts may debate the causes--snacking, junk foods, vending machines, TV, desk jobs, cars. But one surefire contributor is restaurant food.

Don't believe us? Check the nutrition facts on the Web sites of your favorite chain restaurants--Panera, Au Bon Pain, Starbucks, Baja Fresh, Denny's, Jamba Juice, Subway, Cosi, Bob Evans, Boston Market, P.F. Chang's--or any fast-food chain.

You'll find pesto chicken or turkey club sandwiches and grilled portobello mushroom & mozzarella paninis with 700 calories. And those are the healthier sounding ones.

Solution? Restaurant menus should list not just prices, but calories (and, ideally, sodium and other key nutrients). If they did, consumers would have fair warning, for example, that an innocent-sounding Turkey & Brie Sandwich packs 800 calories, 200 more than a Big Mac. And that might lead to slimmer sandwiches ... and patrons.

Here's a quiz to steer you away from the calories that may not show up on the menu, but that will show up you know where. (Not that calories are everything. Even some of the lower-calorie dishes are loaded with salt.) Questions that don't mention brand names are based on typical sandwiches, entrees, sweets, etc. Each question has just one correct answer.

1. Which sandwich has fewer than 500 calories?

a. chicken salad

b. tuna wrap

c. turkey

d. tomato & fresh mozzarella

e. turkey or chicken panini 

2. Which breakfast has about half the calories of the others?

a. pancakes with syrup

b. Belgian waffle with fruit topping

c. French toast with syrup

d. scrambled eggs with buttered toast

e. eggs Benedict

3. Which Italian dish has fewer than 800 calories?

a. fettuccine alfredo

b. eggplant parmigiana 

c. spaghetti with meatballs

d. lasagna

e. cheese ravioli

4. Which breakfast has fewer than 300 calories?

a. bagel with light cream cheese

b. scone 

c. pecan roll

d. English muffin with preserves

e. Danish

5. Which salad has fewer calories than the others?

a. Greek

b. Asian chicken

c. chef

d. chicken Caesar

e. cobb

6. Which grande (16 oz.) Starbucks drink has fewer than 200 calories?

a. Frappuccino Blended Coffee

b. Frappuccino Blended Creme

c. Chai Tea Latte

d. Caramel Macchiato 

e. Cappuccino 

7. Which sandwich has roughly 400 more calories than the others?

a. tuna melt

b. hummus & veggies 

c. roast beef

d. Asian chicken

e. veggie burger

8. Which Chinese dish has fewer than 1,000 calories?

a. shrimp with garlic sauce

b. kung pao chicken 

c. General Tso's chicken 

d. beef and broccoli

e. house lo mein

9. Which sweet has fewer than 500 calories?

a. Starbucks Biscotti 

b. Cinnabon

c. Starbucks Carrot Walnut Muffin

d. The Cheesecake Factory Cheesecake

e. Starbucks Old Fashioned Crumb Cake

10. Which side dish has at least twice the calories of the others?

a. mashed potatoes with gravy

b. cole slaw 

c. rice pilaf

d. buttered vegetables

e. buttered baked potato

11. Which Mexican dish has fewer than 500 calories?

a. cheese quesadilla 

b. two chicken tacos

c. chicken burrito

d. chicken fajitas 

e. vegetarian burrito

12. Which dessert has at least 600 fewer calories than the others?

a. large milkshake

b. banana split

c. fudge brownie sundae

d. chocolate dipped waffle cone plus 2 scoops vanilla ice cream

e. small lowfat frozen yogurt

ANSWERS

1. C. Turkey has fewer calories (350) than chicken salad (550), a tuna wrap (600), tomato & fresh mozzarella (700), or a turkey or chicken panini (700 to 900).

But the calories start to climb when you add cheese (or mayo, guacamole, or sauce). For flavor, add mustard or, better yet, veggies.

2. d. The calories in two scrambled eggs (300) and one slice of toast with butter (130) look trivial next to those in eggs Benedict (700), three slices of French toast with syrup (800), a Belgian waffle with fruit topping but no whipped cream (800), or four pancakes with syrup (900).

To dodge the eggs' 400 milligrams of cholesterol, try egg whites or scrambled egg substitute (130 calories) or hot or cold cereal with lowfat milk (200).

3. e. A plate of cheese ravioli typically has about 600 calories, fewer than eggplant parmigiana (800), lasagna (950), spaghetti with meatballs (1,200), or fettuccine alfredo (1,500). Unfortunately, they all have at least half a day's saturated fat (the alfredo has more than two day's worth).

Instead, split an order of pasta (whole grain, if possible) with puttanesca, arrabiata, pomodoro, marinara, or red clam sauce.

4. d. The English muffin (ask for whole grain) with preserves has 200 calories, far less than the bagel (300) plus light cream cheese (100), the Danish (350 to 600), nearly any scone (400 to 600), or the pecan roll (500 to 800).

Why not just grab a fresh fruit cup at around 150 calories?

5. b. An Asian chicken salad typically has the fewest calories (400), largely because it's missing the cheese that you'll find in Greek and chicken Caesar (500) or chef and cobb (700).

Four tablespoons of regular dressing supply anywhere from 150 to 400 of those calories. Instead, ask for light dressing on the side and use it sparingly.

6. e. Even with whole milk, a Cappuccino has only 150 calories, far fewer than a Chai Tea Latte (290), a Caramel Macchiato (310), any Frappuccino Blended Coffee with whipped cream (420 to 550), or any Frappuccino Blended Creme (490 to 580).

Our advice: go for a grande Cappuccino or Iced Caffe Latte with nonfat milk (roughly 100 calories), a Light Coffee Frappuccino without whipped cream (150), or a Caffe Latte with nonfat milk (160).

7. a. A tuna salad sandwich without cheese typically has 600+ calories (thanks to its mayo). The cheese in a tuna melt brings the total to 800+ (and throws in an extra dose of saturated fat). You're better off with hummus & veggies, roast beef with mustard, Asian chicken, or a veggie burger.

8. a. The 950 calories in an order of shrimp with garlic sauce (including some 250 calories' worth of rice) only looks low next to the house lo mein (1,100), beef and broccoli with rice (1,200), kung pao chicken with rice (1,600), or General Tso's chicken with rice (1,600).

Solution: order one dish for every two people or take home leftovers for tomorrow.

9. a. A Starbucks Biscotti adds only 140 calories to your coffee, far less than a Starbucks Carrot Walnut Muffin (510), a slice of The Cheesecake Factory Cheesecake (630) or Starbucks Old Fashioned Crumb Cake (670), or a Cinnabon (810).

10. e. At most restaurants, the buttered baked potato has about 400 calories, far more than the vegetable of the day with butter (100) or the cole slaw, rice pilaf, or mashed potatoes with gravy (200 each). And the pilaf and the potatoes with gravy can have 1,000 milligrams of sodium, more than half a day's worth.

You can cut the baked potato's calories to around 300 by replacing the butter with a tablespoon of sour cream. Just make sure you avoid the real calorie traps: french fries (600), loaded baked potato (600), or onion rings (900).

11. b. Each chicken taco has roughly 200 calories, so even if you get three, that's better than chicken fajitas (800 calories without the sour cream, quacamole, rice, and beans that often come on the side). It also beats a cheese quesadilla (with sour cream, pico de gallo, and guacamole), a chicken burrito, or a vegetarian burrito (1,000 each).

12. e. Okay, that was a giveaway. It's no surprise that a small lowfat frozen yogurt has fewer calories (200) than the other frozen desserts. But the 800 to 1,400 calories in the others is a lot to swallow.

Appetizers, Entrees, Calories?

If you would like chain restaurants to list calories on their menus or menu boards, go to www.cspinet.org/cals or fill out this coupon and mail it to: CSPI--Cals, Suite 300, 1875 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20009.