Consumer group releases annual 'Xtreme Eating Awards'

A grilled cheese sandwich with four deep fried mozzarella sticks in the center. A cheeseburger topped with a thick bacon and a fried egg. Spaghetti and meatballs stuffed with provolone cheese. And a 24-ounce peanut butter and chocolate shake.

All of those items earned the recent distinction of getting named to the Center for Science in the Public Interest’s “Xtreme Eating Awards,” which points out some of the biggest calorie offenders in the restaurant industry.

“It’s as if the restaurants were targeting the remaining one out of three Americans who are still normal weight in order to boost their risk of obesity, diabetes, heart attacks, and cancer,” said CSPI nutrition director Bonnie Liebman in a release.

Cheesecake Factory, Applebee’s, Denny’s, IHOP, Morton’s and Cold Stone Creamery were the “dishonorees” this year.

The Xtreme Eating Awards included:

Cheesecake Factory’s Farmhouse Cheeseburger: The burger topped with smoked pork belly, cheddar cheese, onions, lettuce, tomato, mayo and a fried egg” has 1,530 calories, 36 grams of saturated fat and 3,210 milligrams of sodium.

Denny’s Fried Cheese Melt: This is fried cheese melted into more cheese and stuffed between two slices of sourdough break. The sandwich with “four fried mozzarella sticks and melted American cheese” has 1,260 calories, 21 grams of saturated fat and 3,010 milligrams. And it’s just $4.

Applebee’s Provolone-Stuffed Meatballs with Fettuccine: The Italian dish features “Provolone cheese-stuffed meatballs braised in a rich marinara sauce…layered over tender fettuccine pasta lightly blended with Parmesan cream sauce.” That item has 1,520 calories and 43 grams of saturated fat (two day’s worth).

Cold Stone Creamery’s PB&C Shake: If you need some dessert after dinner, the “Gotta Have It” size of the peanut butter and chocolate shake has a full day’s calories (2,010) and more than three days worth of saturated fat (68 grams).