Order off the light menu, be picky about what you want, and realize that sharing might not help.

And that's just the appetizer!

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—In its never-ending quest to educate the public about the dangers lurking in restaurant food, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is launching an annual “Xtreme Eating Award” for some of the worst offenders when it comes to calories, fat, and sodium in restaurant food. “Restaurants are hurting right now with the recession,” says the author of the annual awards report, Jayne Hurley, RD, senior nutritionist at CSPI. “They’re trying to give people their money’s worth, but they can just keep piling it on.” And the truth is, restaurants and other segments of the food industry have gotten quite good at creating fare that triggers our biological cravings, as David Kessler, MD, former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, explains in his new book, The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite (Rodale 2009). “The food industry has put fat, sugar, and salt in every corner, and made it very entertaining,” he says. Dr. Kessler calls the altered foods “hyperpalatable,” and says they lead us down a dangerous road to “hypereating” and obesity.

THE DETAILS: Below are a few of this year’s winners, and keep in mind that recommended daily intakes for the average adult, based on a 2,000-calorie daily diet, are 20 grams of saturated fat and 2,300 milligrams of sodium.

• The Cheesecake Factory’s Fried Macaroni and Cheese appetizer: 1,570 calories, 69 grams (g) of saturated fat, and 1,860 milligrams (mg) of sodium. That’s right, an appetizer that has almost as many calories as the average adult should eat in a day.

• Chili’s Big Mouth Bites, four mini bacon cheeseburgers with fries and ranch dipping sauce that are served as either an appetizer or an entrée, depending on the location: 2,350 calories, 38 g saturated fat, and 3,940 mg sodium. Fine, if you skip breakfast, lunch, and tomorrow’s breakfast.

• Olive Garden’s “Tour of Italy,” which includes lasagna, chicken Parmigiana, and fettuccine alfredo: 1,450 calories, 33 g saturated fat, and 3,830 mg sodium. Better hope that’s a walking tour, ’cause you’re going to be spending the rest of the day digesting.

• Applebee’s Quesadilla Burger, a bacon-cheeseburger sandwiched in a tortilla: 1,820 calories, 46 g saturated fat, and 4,410 mg sodium. Who would think a cheeseburger disguised as a taco could hide so many calories?

• The Cheesecake Factory’s Philly Style Flat Iron Steak, with cheese sauce and fries: 2,320 calories, 47 g saturated fat, and 5,340 mg sodium. Too salty for my taste; I’ll just dump a saltshaker directly on my tongue instead.

• Uno Chicago Grill’s Mega-Sized Deep Dish Sundae: 2,800 calories and 72 g saturated fat. In all fairness, it is meant to be shared. Plus, if this desert follows any of the above meals, you’ll probably be too weighed down to lift your spoon.

The numbers are shocking enough, says Hurley, but it’s the trends she saw in her research that are the most troubling. For instance, each of the mini bacon-cheeseburgers is equivalent in calories and fat to a McDonald’s Quarter Pounder, she says, and you’re getting four of them. “It’s this idea that mini is better for you,” she says, noting that other chains have started serving fat-filled deserts in shot glasses, and combinations of “small” dishes that pack on the pounds.

Restaurants also play to our indecision, piling three different entrées onto a single plate or, in the case of the Quesadilla Burger, fusing foods together to make them more appealing.