Dr. Gourmet's Health and Nutrition Bites
May 11, 2007

Salad Dressings: This week's Friday Dr. Gourmet Bite is about salad dressings. I had set out to write about eating healthier when you are at a restaurant salad bar and got side-tracked into the amazing world of restaurant salad dressings.

Most people who work at eating better know that the salad bar can be a terrific way to eat out, eat great food and have a healthy meal. There are a few items that can tip the scales as far as fat and calories are concerned -- especially if you're trying to watch your weight. I'll get to that part of this discussion next week but for today's column I have created a list of the Nutrition Facts for salad dressings from major chain restaurants.

I've included nutrition info that is available on the "big boys" like McDonald's and Burger King but also restaurants like Souplantation and Golden Corral who offer extensive salad bars. I am sure that there's some that I missed and maybe you have a smaller regional chain that you would like to see included in the list. If so, write me and I'll contact the restaurant and get the info. Note that some of the information isn't complete. Many restaurants simply don't report on the complete information so, as always, it's buyer (or eater) beware.

The best part of this is that the information is available on the Dr. Gourmet web site but also as a set of PDF files that you can download. These PDF files have been formatted so that they can be easily read on your Palm or other handheld computer. That way you have the info with you when you're at the restaurant. If you need to download an Adobe Acrobat Reader for your computer or your Palm, you can find that information here on the Adobe website.

Eat well, eat healthy, enjoy life!

Timothy S. Harlan, M.D.
Dr. Gourmet