Pizza Hut Sauce

Counting Calories Is A Tricky Business

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TONY COX, host: This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Tony Cox in Washington. Neal Conan is away. When it comes to watching your weight, many Americans are obsessed with one thing: calories. We count them, we track them on smartphones, and we feel guilty when we ignore them and dig into that plate of hot wings - or maybe not.

Regardless, the information is now there. As just one example, if you're trying to do the right thing, I'm sorry to report that a bleu cheese salad at Outback Steakhouse can set you back more than 1,000 calories. A grand peppermint mocha at Starbucks weighs in at over 300 calories.

The nation's new health care law will eventually require large chain restaurants to display calorie information on their menus, and some cities around the country already do. But how accurate are those calorie counts? And does labeling help people make healthier choices?

Furthermore, is tracking calorie intake the best way to lose weight to begin with? There is evidence that already provides some of the answers. We'd like to hear from you. Are you a calorie counter? How do you do it, and how does it affect the way you eat?

Give us a call. Our number here is 800-989-8255. The email address is talk@npr.org. And you can join the conversation at our website. Go to npr.org, and click on TALK OF THE NATION.

Later in the program, does crime go up when the mercury rises? But first calories. With us now to tell us more about the accuracy of calorie labeling is NPR health policy correspondent Patti Neighmond. She joins us from Los Angeles. Patti, thank you for coming on the show.

PATTI NEIGHMOND: My pleasure, Tony.

COX: More and more, chain restaurants, Patti, are adding calorie counts to their menus. A recent study at Tufts University examined some of those counts. What did they find, and can we trust what these counts say?

NEIGHMOND: Well, we can pretty much trust them in that they were about 10 calories up or down. Of the 269 foods these researchers chose, they went to all kinds of chain restaurants, including Pizza Hut and Boston Market, Olive Garden and Outback Steakhouse.

And they found about half of them, if not more, had fewer calories than stated on the menu, which is something of a surprise. For example, Au Bon Pain's orange scone had 16 less calories than the 470 listed. But the real story, I think, is when they were off, they were really, really off.

Pizza Hut sauce has changed??

It doesn’t taste anything like it used to. It used to be the very best pizza you could find anywhere! But after my last 4 trips there and getting crappy tasting food, I don’t go there anymore. I usually order Papa Johns or Dominos.

The sauce is not as tasty and they don’t put cheese on the bottom layer any more. I’m sure they’re still making millions, but they lost a lot of customers because people like us appreciate the good taste.

Make sure that you are getting the original “thin and crispy” version of pizza. It is the only version that uses the original sauce. You’re right about the other sauces, they are too sweet for my taste too. If you are already getting the thin crust pizza, go to a different Pizza Hut and tell them that you want the original tangy sauce used on your pizza. It is still available. In fact, I make them use it on any version of pizza I order and they usually get it right. It is also healthier for you because it has less sugar.

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