Sandwich eaters, beware! Some of those lunchtime favorites are loaded with fat, calories and salt, a consumer group says.
"People tend to think of a sandwich as just a bite to eat," said Jayne Hurley, senior nutritionist at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which released results of its sandwich survey Tuesday."But often, sandwich shops are giving you an entire dinner's worth of fat and calories between those two slices of bread," said Hurley, whose group previously has exposed the fat lurking in Chinese, Italian, Mexican and seafood restaurant food, as well as movie theater popcorn.
The three main sandwich culprits: meat, mayonnaise and cheese, she said.
But a roast beef sandwich with mustard was one of the best choices, at 12 grams total fat, 4 grams saturated fat. Only turkey with mustard tested better; it had 6 grams of fat, 2 grams saturated fat.
A ham sandwich with mustard tested twice as fatty as roast beef and had four times more fat than a turkey sandwich, according to the survey.
An avocado and cheese "veggie" sandwich was among the worst offenders, with 40 grams total fat - as much as in two McDonald's Quarter Pounders, Hurley said.
Tuna salad and chicken salad - two selections long favored by dieters - are both loaded with fat and calories. "It's not the chicken or the tuna that's at fault," Hurley said. "They're being drowned in mayonnaise."
A tablespoon of mayonnaise has 100 calories and 11 grams of fat.
The recommended daily allotment for fat is 65 grams.
Other sandwiches tested were the Reuben (50 grams of fat), BLT (37 grams), turkey club (34 grams), grilled cheese (33 grams), egg salad (31 grams) and corned beef (20 grams).
The 12 sandwiches tested also had high levels of sodium, ranging from 850 milligrams in a roast beef with mayonnaise to 3,200 milligrams in the Reuben. Health authorities recommend a daily sodium limit of 2,400 milligrams.
Overall, the sandwiches had much more meat than those typically made at home, and the cuts were fattier than supermarket meats, Hurley said. A slice of cheese also adds as much artery-clogging saturated fat as six bacon strips.
Hurley said consumers should ask sandwich shops and restaurants to use light cheeses, low-fat mayonnaise and dressings and lean meats, or make special requests when ordering a sandwich.
Failing that, they should make their own sandwiches at home.
The center bought 171 sandwiches and subs at 35 delicatessens, sandwich shops and restaurants in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C., including familiar chains like Subway, Au Bon Pain and Wall Street Deli.