TAMPA, FL -- Restaurants often claim to have low calorie meals or things on their menus with half the fat. But our two month investigation back in May found that some restaurants making those claims aren't always serving up what they advertise.
Now, a customer has hired an attorney to put the restaurant and weight loss industry on notice.
It's known as your 'neighborhood grill' but Applebee's Restaurant is accused of being not such a good neighbor.
Applebee's parent company and Weight Watchers are accused in a 27 page lawsuit of making low fat claims about meals, often loaded with fat and calories.
This follows an ABC Action News investigation from May, when we worked with sister stations in seven different cities around the country. We bought and tested seven meals, claiming to be low in fat and calories from Applebees Weight Watchers' menu. And the results were not always what the restaurant claimed they would be.
While the calorie difference was slight, the fat was over on every item we tested, doubling and even tripling in three of the meals!
That's why a northeast law firm filed a class action suit on behalf of consumers across the country.
Lawyer Alison Foster said,"This lawsuit is really about the false advertising, where people bought something that was advertised different than what they thought they were getting."
They claim the entrees on Applebee's special Weight Watchers section are listed as 'healthy menus' but often "inaccurately represent the caloric and fat content of the food at issue."
"It's sort of a betrayal--it's taking advantage of people who want to pay attention to their health and instead selling them something that's going to hurt them," Foster said.
Meanwhile, Weight Watchers says "the company does not comment on current litigation."
And an Applebee's spokesperson said, "We take claims about our Weight Watchers menu
seriously. We believe variation between listed and actual food nutritional content is inevitable. We are reviewing the claims, but we don't think they have merit."
During our investigation six-months ago, ABC Action News purchased low fat, low cal items at some of the most popular restaurant chains and put them to the test.
Following our labs instructions, each menu item was placed in a ziploc bag, labeled, packed on ice, shipped, and tested for caloric and fat content at EPA certified AnalyticalLaboratories in Boise, Idaho.
Test results showed the cajun lime tilapia meal on the menu at Applebee's, which was supposed to have six grams of fat, instead had 12-grams of fat!
Also, the italian chicken and portobello sandwich was supposed to have six-grams of fat, but tested three times that with 18.6 grams!
"We want to have an informed consumer," registered dietician Nancy Holder said from
University Community Hospital. She analyzed our findings and suggested that viewers think about what they're eating.
"What is concerning is that what they're presenting as being healthful meals really have more calories and fat than the individual might think," Holder said.
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fallforward FoxDen Hall of Famer Registered: May 2007
Posts: 2688
This whole thing is probably as simple as a line cook using too much butter in the saute pan. Should it be fixed? Yes. Is a class action law suit in order? Ridiculous. I thought we were past this after the whole coffee on the lap mcdonald's incident.
To all of those individuals that feel violated by applebees, those 6-10 extra grams of fat aren't what has caused you to be in the current health situation in which you are.
I can't believe that they really said that they are selling us something that could potentially hurt us??? HURT YOU, it's 6 grams of FAT!!! The USDA reccomends 20 to 30 grams per day, so if you at that lime tilapia that is being "falsely advertised" for all three meals, you would still be below the USDA reccomended amounts.
F*CK these people **** me off.
Have a great day guys!
ff
"Do what you can with what you have, with the time in place, in the place you are."
11-25-08 03:07 AM
