The McSubway Project

by Nick Vagnoni, Posted Oct 21st 2005 @ 5:09PM

Researchers that surveyed people finishing meals at McDonald’s and Subway found diners eating at McDonald’s had a more accurate idea of how many calories they’d consumed. Both groups of customers estimated that they’d eaten fewer calories than they actually had, but while the McDonald’s customers’ estimates were about 100 calories less, the Subway customers’ estimates were, on average, 250 calories lower than what they actually ate. McDonald’s customers still consumed more calories than Subway customers overall, however: 710 to 560, respectively.

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Filed Under: Science, Chefs & Restaurants, Restaurants

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

10-22-2005 @12:29AM Wing said... So, wait, did everyone they surveyed eat the same amount? How could they do that---even with a set meal from the researchers---if they, as the article claimed, took leftovers into account? Was this an average thing? Or was the sample size just one person?

Seriously, this "project" sounds like a sloppy attempt to get press and spend grant money by pointing out the obvious.
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10-22-2005 @1:09AM Dmnkly said... It doesn't matter what they ate. All that matters is that they accurately report what they ate. Guy A eats 500 calories and guesses 300. Guy B eats 800 and guesses 200. On average, they consumed 650 and underestimated by 400.

Obviously, a two person data set would be useless, but it isn't any more complicated than that. And it makes a valuable suggestion... that people eating a "healthy" food like a sandwich are probably more likely to underestimate just how many calories they're consuming (not their words, of course).

And I think there is value to the study. Though I'm personally not surprised by the result, I suspect a lot of people would be. And it certainly doesn't sound like a study that requires much funding :-)
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10-22-2005 @1:22PM michelle said... This doesn't surprise me too much. Subway is a little misleading, I think. Sure, they have a lot of "low fat" choices but if I remember correctly, once you add cheese, oil and vinegar and other condiments, you have blown the six grams of fat or less they advertise.

Sure, it's still better than McDonald's but I'm not surprised that people eating Subway think they are eating less calories than they're actually eating.

At the same time, I think people eating McDonald's, by this time, pretty much know how calorie and fat heavy their fast food choice is.
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