Factory flaw.

No one expects cheesecake to be good for their waistline, hips, or arteries. It's a splurge no matter how (thin) you slice it.

But at some restaurants, it's a colossal splurge. Take The Cheesecake Factory Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake. (Apparently, ordinary cheesecake or Godiva chocolate isn't enough for dessert these days.) Few foods are more calorie-dense than the cream cheese, chocolate, cream, and butter in this doozy of a dessert. That's why each slice (of a 10-inch cake) packs 980 calories--half of what most people should eat in a day.

Is there anyone left in the United States who can afford to eat a slice of cake with close to 1,000 calories and with 41 grams (two days' worth) of bad fat? it's like ordering a Pizza Hut Personal Pan Pepperoni Pizza--topped with 10 pats of butter--after dinner.

But, then, heavy is what cheesecake is all about. Odds are, you won't exactly float out of the restaurant after a slice (or half a slice), even if you ordered nothing but a tossed green salad or a bowl of edamame (steamed fresh soybeans) for dinner (as it).

Fortunately, most people don't end up in a Cheesecake Factory that often. Good thing ... or they'd need a chain of Liposuction Factories next door.

The Cheesecake Factory: [phone]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]