Week 9: Fast Food Facts

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - Week nine of the Extreme Family Makeover was full of fat and sugar. The Reneaus took a look at some better choices at fast food restaurants and saw how much sugar really is in some popular drinks.

"It gives you perspective when you see how much is in the clear cups," Amie Reneau said.

For ten different drinks, Nutrition Coach Kathy Wherle poured out sugar in tablespoon and teaspoon equivalents to what's in the bottle.

"Sometimes families can't relate to grams, so showing it in tablespoons of sugar really brings it home," Wherle said.

Mark Reneau was surprised to see how much sugar was in a lot of the drinks.

"If you think about making your own drink at home, would you put that many tablespoons of sugar in," Mark said.

Some of the bottles can be deceptive too, because there can be two or even two and a half servings in a bottle.

"I was surprised by the juice because people say it's healthy," Chloe Reneau said.

The 14 ounce bottle of grape juice was on the high end of the drinks with sugar with 80 grams, or 20 tsp. of sugar, but it's not necessarily bad.

"It's natural sugar, There's not a lot of added sugar. It is a dense form of calories, but it's good for vitamins and minerals, but don't overdo it because of the calories you can get into weight issues," Wherle said.

Here are the drinks Wherle showed the family and how much sugar is in them:

* 20 oz Sunny D:  70 grams sugar = 5 3/4 Tbs = 17 1/2 tsp
* 24 oz fountain soda: 84 grams sugar = 7 Tbs = 21 tsp
* 32 oz fountain soda: 112 grams sugar = 9 1/3 Tbs = 28 tsp
* 14 oz grape juice: 80 grams sugar = 6 2/3 Tbs = 20 tsp
* 20 oz RC Cola: 70 grams sugar = 5 1/4 Tbs = 17.5 tsp
* 12 oz Sprite: 42 grams sugar = 3 1/2 Tbs = 10 1/2 tsp
* Small Can Coke: 26 grams sugar = 6 1/2 tsp
* 8 oz Chocolate Milk: 26 grams sugar = 6 1/2 tsp
* 8 oz Skim Milk: 12 grams sugar = 1 Tbs = 3 tsp
* Gatorade Bottle: 35 grams sugar = 8 3/4 tsp

The family also saw how much fat is in common fast food items and compared it to healthier choices at the same restaurant:

Taco Bell:
Fiesta Taco Salad: 45 grams fat = 3 Tbs, 2 tsp
Fresco Ranchero Chicken Soft Taco with Mexican Rice: 11 grams fat = 1 Tbs, 1/3 tsp

Wendy's:
Baconator Burger with Large French Fries: 81 grams fat = 6 Tbs, 2 tsp
Jr.  Hamburger with broccoli Cheddar Potato: 10 grams fat = 2 1/2 tsp

McDonald's:
Sausage Biscuit with Egg: 37 grams fat = 3 Tbs, 1 tsp
Egg McMuffin: 12 grams fat = 1 Tbs, 1/3 tsp

Pizza Hut:
3 pieces Stuffed Crust Supreme Pizza: 63 grams fat = 5 Tbs, 1 tsp
3 pieces Fit and Delicious Chicken and Red Onion Pizza: 18 grams fat = 1 Tbs, 1 1/2 tsp

KFC:
Original Recipe Chicken Breast and Leg with Potato Wedges and Cole Slaw: 53 grams fat = 4 Tbs, 2 tsp
Tender Roast Chicken Sandwich with Corn on Cob and Green Beans: 17.5 grams fat = 1 Tbs, 1 tsp

Wherle used butter-flavored Crisco to represent the saturated fat content of the above menu items.

"That fat is just gross. To think about putting that in my veins and it's what will block my arteries when I'm 50," Mark said.

Wherle admitted it's hard to never have fast food, but wanted to illustrate ways to make better menu choices.

"Fast food drive throughs are common in today's world, so when you do have to go, think ahead and get the nutrition facts. You can get them online or most places have hard copies there if you ask," Wherle said. "There have been many shifts in food practices in the last 20 to 30 years and one is fast food consumption and one is increased use of sweetened drinks. If we just talk to those two subjects, for a lot of Americans, they can re-think habits a little bit."