From Yahoo! Health, written by David Zinczenko from “Eat This, Not That”:
The Worst “Free” Restaurant Food
“Remember the story of Hansel and Gretel? How the witch of the woods lured them into her edible candy hut and gave them piles and piles of free food—just so she could fatten them up and turn them into stew?
Well, think about that old fairy tale the next time a waiter drops a plate of “free” food on your table. For years I’ve been recommending the best foods to buy, and warning about menu items that might make you fat. But our newest Eat This, Not That! research reveals that some of the worst dietary sins aren’t ordered at all. They just come to your table for free!
Plenty of mischievous food peddlers are happy to give you free food—food that’s certain to fatten you up plenty, if not land you in a big black cauldron. Whether it’s “bottomless” buckets or “endless” entrees or the breadsticks and salad at Olive Garden, freebies almost always consist of high-fat, high-carbohydrate munchies that won’t fill you up—after all, the restaurant wants you to buy more food!—but will fill you out.
Of course, I wouldn’t recommend shoving the waiter into an oven; restaurants do sort of frown on that kind of thing. But I would recommend shoving these free plates to the other side of the table, before you create a dietary fairy tale of your own: ‘Hansel and Regrettal.’”
