Let’s be real here. Anyone who orders a meal with three pieces of breaded chicken, a buttery sauce, and mashed potatoes can’t be much surprised that it’s high in calories. Or that a piece of cake that weighs close to a pound might, as they say, be applied “directly to the hips.”

So why would the Center for Science in the Public Interest — advocacy group or nutrition nag, depending on your perspective — give a dubious shout-out to those restaurant choices and several others on Wednesday by handing out “Xtreme Eating Awards”?

“It’s as if IHOP, the Cheesecake Factory, Maggiano’s Little Italy, and other major restaurant chains are scientifically engineering these extreme meals with the express purpose of promoting obesity, diabetes and heart disease,” said Michael Jacobson, CSPI’s executive director...

Read more at LA TIMES