Tag Archives: pizza

Pizza Hut’s 4 Million Calorie Debate Stunt Gets Slammed

Let’s hear it for Pizza Hut for trying to turn an already messy election year in to a circus stunt for entertainment. Utterly ridiculous news broke this week when Pizza Hut announced they’d give a large pizza every week for 30 years to the person who dared ask President Obama and Mr. Romney “pepperoni or sausage” during tonight’s town hall debate.

First of all, it’s a blatant disregard for our political system and the serious answers American voters are seeking in tonight’s second and final debate between the two presidential candidates.

As should come as no surprise from a company responsible for a hot dog stuffed pizza, it’s also a gluttonous promotion to keep making our nation fatter. Maybe we should understand more about their health care policies, since Pizza Hut, one of America’s top brands, is also a culprit in our obesity epidemic.

Just a single slice of their large hand-tossed pepperoni pizza has 330 calories, 14 grams of fat and 910 grams of sodium. That’s almost an entire meal’s worth of calories in just one piece of pizza, not to mention the near day’s worth of sodium. Consider most people eat two to four slices at a time and you’re looking at 660 to 1320 calories every week.

The company is now backtracking after meeting with some deserved backlash. A statement said they are taking their “pizza party” online and will ask people to vote online – pepperoni or sausage – and draw one random winner. The winner will still have the option of 1560 free large pizzas (or one every week for 30 years), or a cash equivalent payout of $15,600.

We say take the cash; you’ll need that money otherwise to burn off the four million calories you stand to consume in pizza alone over the next 30 years. (more…)

Posted on October 16, 2023 by Natalie K

5 Satisfying Summer Food Swaps to Maintain Your Bikini Figure

School bells are ringing, but summer isn’t over just yet. The weekend air will still fill up with the scent of barbeques and many tables will be set with traditional summer fare at least through the upcoming Labor Day weekend. Yes, bikini season is coming closer to an end but there’s no reason to let all that hard work go to waste as you dine in these last few weeks of summer.

If you haven’t already tackled our Summer Food Bucket List, considering taking advantage of a few healthy food swaps that will allow you to enjoy the best flavors of this season before they’re long gone! These great switch-ups will help you cut the calories, bulk up on nutrition, all while keeping great summertime food on the table.

Guacamole Give-in

Try swapping traditional guacamole and tortilla chips for edamame guacamole with lentil chips, a great idea we found at HuffPo. Instead of using avocado for a traditional guac, use edamame (soy) beans to give the added bonus of protein and still a great flavor. Lentil chips are much higher in fiber than a corn chip and will fill you up faster, so you’ll need less to be satisfied. (more…)

Posted on August 21, 2023 by Lacy

Ordering Food Online Shields Us from Public Food Shame

No matter what the most secure person says, we’re all a little self-conscious. We all care somewhat about what others think of us. Perhaps one of the most nerve wracking experiences for us all is eating. Whether we feel awkward about how we eat or what we eat, the act is often an uncomfortable one to share with onlookers. And if we’re not the healthiest eater, the process of ordering food may feel like judgement day.

As drive-thrus became more prevalent as I grew up, I recall hearing testimonies from obese people about their orders. I specifically remember a woman confessing that she’d always order two drinks so the employees didn’t think she was ordering all that food for herself. That way she could grab her over-sized meal in near anonymity and drive off with little notice.

Today, those who order food online may be pulling a similar “trick” in larger proportions. April Fulton recently reported on NPR’s food blog, “The Salt,” about a study conducted regarding online food ordering. The study was examined by Ryan McDevitt, an assistant professor at the University of Rochester’s Simon Graduate School of Business. McDevitt evaluated 160,000 orders from a pizza chain from a four-year period. He determined that online orders by the same people who had ordered on the phone or in person previously were 15 percent more complex, 4 percent more expensive, and 6 percent higher in calories. McDevitt pointed out the statistic that when online, people quadrupled their bacon toppings. (more…)

Posted on July 31, 2023 by Lacy

World’s First Pizza Museum to Serve Food with a Conscience

Pizza is everywhere in our culture, whether we realize it or not. It’s the one food that most people can agree that they like, and a favorite of millions.

It can be found at chic restaurants as well as gas stations, and is eaten hot, cold, and even for breakfast. So isn’t it hard to believe there is no museum dedicated to the preservation of all things pizza? Well, not until now. One man, Brian Dwyer, is about to change that with the opening of a Philadelphia pizza museum and restaurant, Pizza Brain, in August.

What interests us as much as a whole building dedicated to pizza memorabilia, however, is how Dwyer and his friends plan to operate their restaurant. Besides wanting to be thought of as a family restaurant where everyone is welcome to affordable, familiar pizza, Pizza Brain is also committed to working in a “socially, ethically, and environmentally responsible fashion,” according to their website. (more…)

Posted on July 30, 2023 by SarahS

American Pizza Chains Band Together to Hide Their Calorie Contents

This seems like a case of, “deal with it, you big rich babies.” The nation’s pizza giants are banning together to fight the proposed law requiring all chain restaurants to provide calorie contents on the menu. And the reason they’re stating as to why they won’t make the change? It will just be too difficult for them.

Pizza Hut, Domino’s, Papa John’s, Little Caesars, and other large pizza chains have joined together to form The American Pizza Community. Together they are arguing that pizzas are so varied from order-to-order that providing calorie content on their menus would be too taxing, and that their calorie content boards would be much larger than their actual menu board.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has heard similar complaints from other customizable restaurants. Their response was to provide the consumer with a calorie range. The American Pizza Community has an answer to that, too. They are stating that there can be a calorie swing of more than 1,000 calories based on people’s individual orders of extra cheese or meats. Again, it’s apparently just too much to ask out of these pizza players. (more…)

Posted on June 21, 2023 by Lacy

Vending Machine Pizza Delivered to the U.S. by Let’s Pizza

Have you ever wanted fresh pizza but didn’t want to pay the hefty price tag or wait for the 30-minute delivery? Well an innovative European-based food company is fixing that problem with its Let’s Pizza vending machines that produce a made-from-scratch pizza in less than three minutes.

The vending machine, which was developed by Claudio Torghel, comes from A1 Concepts – a company based in the Netherlands. Let’s Pizza has become quite popular throughout Europe, which is why the company has decided to plant a U.S. headquarters in Atlanta later this year.

The process of installing the vending machines is expected to be swift, and A1 hopes their tasty convenience pies will be met with open arms in the states.

If you’re wondering how the pizza is made, it’s a rather simple process.When a customer approaches the machine, they first make their flavor selection from one of four options. In Europe, those selections included Margherita, Salami, Prosciutto, and Speck. But stateside options may be more American-friendly. (more…)

Posted on June 15, 2023 by Dana

Pizza Hut Takes Fast Food Too Far With New Cheeseburger Stuffed Crust Pizza

To say Pizza Hut is going a little overboard with their new stuffed-crust trend is a gross understatement. And the gross is implied in more ways than one. 

Still on the wake of rolling out their hot-dog stuffed crust pizza in the U.K., the fast food giant is staying on theme and introducing a entirely new variety of stuffed crust pizza: The Crown Crust, which got its name from its ‘crown-like’ appearance.

This new menu item features the customer’s choice of either mini cheeseburgers or chicken nugget-like ‘gems’ stuffed around the crust. The cheeseburger variety comes with beef, veggies, and Pizza Hut’s special sauce. And the chicken version comes with barbecue sauce and green peppers.

This new pizza is currently only available in the Middle East, and we hope it stays that way. The U.S. doesn’t need another fast food nightmare to fend off. We’re still coming to terms with the hot dog-stuffed pizza and Burger King’s Bacon Sundae – both of which took fast food to new epically disastrous proportions. (more…)

Posted on April 25, 2024 by Dana

Hot Dog Stuffed Pizza Takes Grotesque Restaurant Food Too Far

Restaurant industry, we have had enough! Are you deliberately trying to gross us out? Do you get a kick out of making grotesque concoctions in your test kitchens and then send them out to mass market as a punch line?

This Hot Dog Stuffed Crust pizza from Pizza Hut is about the nastiest thing we’ve seen come from a restaurant in quite a while. While we’re glad it’s not available in the U.S. (at least for now, just give it time), we feel for the residents of the United Kingdom being subjected to this culinary nonsense.

Jillian Michaels coined the term best when she started describing this over-processed junk “Frankenfoods,” meaning they resemble food but calling it that would be a disservice to all of the things that are actually food.

Dressed like any other pizza with cheese, pepperoni, peppers, and onions, the Hot Dog Stuffed Crust pizza has the slimy little sausage tucked inside the crust and comes with a free mustard drizzle. The chest pains for dessert and gastric bloat are also free. (more…)

Posted on April 11, 2024 by Natalie K

Empty Calories Comic: Vegetarian Diet Weight Gain

See more Empty Calories right here in the blog each week, or receive one each month when you subscribe to our free newsletter.

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Posted on December 9, 2023 by Health Buzz

Congress Claims Pizza is an Acceptable Vegetable for Our Kids

When I helped the first graders at my son’s school with their food group assignment recently, I was amazed at how many were confused about where to place types of food. So many didn’t know what a green bean was, or what strawberries were. Most were completely unaware that fish was a “meat.” It was disheartening and a good glimpse at the nutrition blunders our kids deal with. After hearing this morning’s news, things are going to get much more difficult. According to Congress, pizza will now be placed in the vegetable category.

Surely, I’m not alone in the jaw-drop response to this news. I re-read it just to make sure I was getting this right. But in clear print, the fact that school lunch pizzas contain tomato paste allows Congress to mark it as a vegetable, therefore keeping it on the menu multiple times a month in schools all over the country.

A congressional committee is responsible for this and other ridiculous staples being allowed to stay on our kids’ menus. As a fightback against the Obama administration’s proposal to make school lunches better and healthier for our kids, a bill was released late Monday entailing all the guidelines. (more…)

Posted on November 16, 2023 by Lacy

Favorite Football Game Day Eats from Diets In Review Staff

With football season in full swing, odds are you are either watching the games to cheer on your favorite teams…or because you enjoy sipping a cold beer and eating nachos with chorizo.

While some of the writers and staff here at Diets In Review are avid fans of their hometown football teams, others (like myself) are in it purely for the halftime noshes.

Brandi Koskie, Managing Editor
Favorite College Team: Oklahoma Sooners
Favorite Game Day Eats: “I can’t watch a game without tacos and homemade guacamole. To keep it healthy, I use ground turkey with sauteed onions, green chilies, black beans and corn tortillas.”

Also try: Easy Grilled Fish Tacos, Baja Chicken Salad, Sunset Guacamole

(more…)

Posted on September 26, 2023 by Maris