Fast Food Items Highest In Trans Fat - The 88 Least Healthy Foods
One of the absolute worst ingredients your food could possibly contain is trans fat. Maybe you've heard of it? If not, here's a quick run down of some of the horrible things that studies have shown may be caused by a diet high in trans fat:
- Coronary Heart Disease (Raise bad cholesterol AND lower good cholesterol)
- Stroke
- Diabetes
There then exists some (albeit less) evidence that trans fat may also cause:
- Cancer
- Obesity
- Liver Dysfunction
- Infertility
Like I said, it's one of the worst ingredients your food can contain. And, guess what? Fast food is pretty much the most common place you'll find this evil type of fat. Fast food is also the place you'll find the highest amounts of it.
Knowing this, I looked over the nutrition facts of literally every single item from the menus of McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, A&W, Arby's, Hardee's, In-N-Out Burger, Jack in the Box, Little Caesars, Papa John's, Pizza Hut, Domino's, Sonic, Subway, Taco Bell, Wendy's, White Castle, Popeyes, Del Taco, Carl's Jr., and Dairy Queen to put together a list of the 88 fast food items highest in trans fat.
Keeping in mind just how terrible trans fat is and all of the terrible things it can cause, I have given this the very catchy nickname of "The 88 Fast Food Items Most Likely To Kill You." When you look over this list with the understanding that you should be eating 0 grams of trans fat per day, you'll realize that my little nickname really isn't that much of an overstatement. So, without further ado...
The 88 Fast Food Items Most Likely To Kill You:
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White Castle Homestyle Onion Rings - SackTrans Fat: 30 grams
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White Castle Fish Nibblers - SackTrans Fat: 16 grams
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KFC Chicken Pot PieTrans Fat: 14 grams
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Burger King Hash Browns - LargeTrans Fat: 13 grams
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White Castle Chicken Rings - 20 ringsTrans Fat: 13 grams
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Jack in the Box Fish & Chips - LargeTrans Fat: 12 grams
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Jack in the Box Bacon Cheddar Potato WedgesTrans Fat: 12 grams
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White Castle Clam Strips - SackTrans Fat: 12 grams
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Dairy Queen Chicken Strip Basket 6-pieceTrans Fat: 12 grams
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White Castle French Fries - SackTrans Fat: 11 grams
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Jack in the Box Fish & Chips - MediumTrans Fat: 10 grams
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Jack in the Box Natural Cut Fries - LargeTrans Fat: 10 grams
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Jack in the Box Onion Rings (8)Trans Fat: 10 grams
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Jack in the Box Seasoned Curly Fries - LargeTrans Fat: 10 grams
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White Castle Onion Chips - SackTrans Fat: 10 grams
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Dairy Queen Chicken Strip Basket 4-pieceTrans Fat: 10 grams
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Burger King Hash Browns - MediumTrans Fat: 9 grams
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Jack in the Box Fish & Chips - SmallTrans Fat: 9 grams
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Dairy Queen Large Onion RingsTrans Fat: 9 grams
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McDonald's Large French FriesTrans Fat: 8 grams
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Burger King French Fries King SizeTrans Fat: 7 grams
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Domino's Garlic Dipping SauceTrans Fat: 7 grams
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White Castle Onion Rings - SackTrans Fat: 7 grams
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Jack in the Box Natural Cut Fries - MediumTrans Fat: 7 grams
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Jack in the Box Sampler TrioTrans Fat: 7 grams
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Jack in the Box Spicy Chicken Bites (16)Trans Fat: 7 grams
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Jack in the Box Seasoned Curly Fries - MediumTrans Fat: 7 grams
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Jack in the Box Spicy Chicken BiscuitTrans Fat: 7 grams
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Dairy Queen Regular Onion RingsTrans Fat: 7 grams
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Boston Market Pastry Top Chicken Pot PieTrans Fat: 7 grams
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Arby's Apple TurnoverTrans Fat: 6.5 grams
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Burger King BK Chicken Fries 12pcTrans Fat: 6 grams
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Burger King French Fries LargeTrans Fat: 6 grams
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Burger King Sausage, Egg, & Cheese BiscuitTrans Fat: 6 grams
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Arby's Cherry TurnoverTrans Fat: 6 grams
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White Castle Chicken Rings - 9 ringsTrans Fat: 6 grams
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White Castle Clam Strips - RegularTrans Fat: 6 grams
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White Castle Mozzarella Cheese Sticks (10 sticks)Trans Fat: 6 grams
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Jack in the Box Chicken BiscuitTrans Fat: 6 grams
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Jack in the Box Sausage, Egg & Cheese BiscuitTrans Fat: 6 grams
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Dairy Queen Large Choc. Chip Cookie Dough BlizzardTrans Fat: 6 grams
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A&W Large FriesTrans Fat: 5.5 grams
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McDonald's Baked Apple PieTrans Fat: 5 grams
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Burger King Sausage BiscuitTrans Fat: 5 grams
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McDonald's Medium French FriesTrans Fat: 5 grams
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Burger King Ham, Egg, & Cheese BiscuitTrans Fat: 5 grams
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Burger King Bacon, Egg & Cheese BiscuitTrans Fat: 5 grams
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Burger King Hash Browns - SmallTrans Fat: 5 grams
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White Castle Onion Chips - RegularTrans Fat: 5 grams
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Jack in the Box Natural Cut Fries - SmallTrans Fat: 5 grams
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Jack in the Box Seasoned Curly Fries - SmallTrans Fat: 5 grams
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Jack in the Box Bacon, Egg & Cheese BiscuitTrans Fat: 5 grams
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Jack in the Box Original French Toast Sticks (4)Trans Fat: 5 grams
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Jack in the Box Sausage BiscuitTrans Fat: 5 grams
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Dairy Queen Large French FriesTrans Fat: 5 grams
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Burger King BK Chicken Fries 9pcTrans Fat: 4.5 grams
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McDonald's Chicken Selects Premium Breast Strips (5 pc)Trans Fat: 4.5 grams
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Boston Market Chocolate CakeTrans Fat: 4.5 grams
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KFC Chicken and Biscuit BowlTrans Fat: 4.5 grams
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Burger King Onion Rings King SizeTrans Fat: 4.5 grams
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Burger King French Fries MediumTrans Fat: 4.5 grams
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Sonic French Toast Sticks (4)Trans Fat: 4.5 grams
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Jack in the Box Sourdough Ultimate CheeseburgerTrans Fat: 4.5 grams
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Jack in the Box Stuffed Jalapenos (7)Trans Fat: 4.5 grams
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Jack in the Box Blueberry French Toast Sticks (4)Trans Fat: 4.5 grams
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White Castle Fish Nibblers - RegularTrans Fat: 4.5 grams
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Dairy Queen Med. Choc. Chip Cookie Dough BlizzardTrans Fat: 4.5 grams
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A&W Onion RingsTrans Fat: 4.5 grams
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A&W Crispy Chicken SandwichTrans Fat: 4.5 grams
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Burger King Tendercrisp Chicken SandwichTrans Fat: 4 grams
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McDonald's Hotcakes (2 pats margarine & syrup)Trans Fat: 4 grams
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Burger King Onion Rings LargeTrans Fat: 4 grams
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Burger King Cini-minisTrans Fat: 4 grams
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White Castle French Fries - RegularTrans Fat: 4 grams
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White Castle Homestyle Onion Rings - RegularTrans Fat: 4 grams
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White Castle Chicken Rings - 6 ringsTrans Fat: 4 grams
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White Castle Hot Chocolate LargeTrans Fat: 4 grams
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Arby's Cinnamon TwistTrans Fat: 4 grams
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A&W Papa BurgerTrans Fat: 4 grams
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A&W Original Bacon Double CheeseburgerTrans Fat: 4 grams
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A&W Original Double CheeseburgerTrans Fat: 4 grams
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A&W Chili Cheese FriesTrans Fat: 4 grams
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A&W Cheese FriesTrans Fat: 4 grams
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A&W Chili FriesTrans Fat: 4 grams
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A&W Kids FriesTrans Fat: 4 grams
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Dairy Queen 1/2 lb. FlameThrower GrilllBurgerTrans Fat: 4 grams
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Jack in the Box Mozzarella Cheese Sticks (6)Trans Fat: 4 grams
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Jack in the Box Sausage CroissantTrans Fat: 4 grams
*NOTE* The above list shows every fast food item that contained 4 or more grams of trans fat per serving. There were TONS of items that contained less than 4 grams (anywhere from 0.5 to 3.5) but I decided on 4 grams as the cut off point for the WORST 88 foods. 3.5 grams of trans fat is still terrible, but the above 88 are the worst of the worst.
Fast Food Restaurant Appearances On This List
For added fun, I figured I'd add up how many times each fast food restaurant appeared on the above list. Here are the results:
- Jack in the Box: 24
- Burger King: 16
- White Castle: 16
- A&W: 10
- Dairy Queen: 8
- McDonald's: 5
- Arby's: 3
- KFC: 2
- Domino's: 1
- Sonic: 1
- In-N-Out Burger: 0
- Subway: 0
- Taco Bell: 0
- Wendy's: 0
- Pizza Hut: 0
- Popeyes: 0
- Little Caesars: 0
- Papa John's: 0
Of the fast food restaurants that appeared 0 times on this list...
- Wendy's did have items that contained up to 3.5 grams of trans fat.
- Taco Bell did have items that contained up to 3 grams of trans fat.
- Popeyes did have items that contained up to 3 grams of trans fat.
- Pizza Hut did have items that contained up to 2 grams of trans fat.
- Subway did have items that contained up to 2 grams of trans fat.
- Little Caesars did have items that contained up to 1.5 grams of trans fat.
- In-N-Out Burger did have items that contained up to 1 gram of trans fat.
- Papa John's did not have any items that contained any trans fat. Every item had 0 grams.
The following fast food restaurants did not include trans fat content in the nutrition information provided on their web site. Every other nutrient was listed except trans fat. These restaurants were therefore not included in the above list.
- Hardee's
- Del Taco
- Carl's Jr.
In addition, as far as I was able to tell, some fast food restaurants didn't provide any nutrition information on their web sites whatsoever. These restaurants were also obviously not included in the above list.
- Nathans
- Roy Rogers
- Blimpie
- Kenny Rogers Roasters
- Quiznos
Trans Fat FAQ
How much trans fat are we supposed to eat per day?
The American Heart Association recommends a maximum of no more than 2 grams of trans fat per day. Not per meal or per food, but per day total. And, get this. They also say that there is enough naturally occurring trans fats in some meat and dairy products that most people already reach this maximum 2 grams without the additional consumption of the industrially manufactured trans fats contained in the foods on the above list. So, to sum up, if you care at all about your health and enjoy being alive, you should be eating 0 grams of trans fat per day.
So does this mean we should never eat fast food ever?
In a perfect world, pretty much. I mean, you know it's junk. Besides trans fat, there's the always fun stuff like saturated fat, calories, and sodium to also think about. It really is the type of food that should never be eaten... ever. Sure, there are some better choices you can be making at these types of restaurants. And, if you're going to eat this stuff, you should definitely be making those choices. For starters, avoiding the 88 foods on this list would be a fantastic idea.
Is this information all current? When was it put together and when was it last updated?
This list was originally created in October 2007, and last updated in November 2007. I'm thinking of updating the list once or twice a year to keep it all up to date. When I do update it, it will be mentioned right here.
I found this list useful. Do you have any other similar fast food content on this site?
You bet I do. This list is actually part of a series of really big fast food articles I have put together. Feel free to check them out: Fast Food Items Highest In Calories and Fast Food Restaurants And Nutrition Facts Compared.
Where did you get all of this nutrition information from?
All of the nutritional content (trans fat) used in creating the above list was taken directly from the official web site of each fast food restaurant.