"A number 3, with extra cheese, an apple pie, a ice cream cone, and a diet coke"

Thinking about it, the words "diet" and "fast food" just don't mix. Just about everyone knows fast food is unhealthy, but most don't know just how unhealthy it can be. Let's take a teenager girl who goes to Wendy's for lunch. She may order an Apple Pecan Chicken Salad. She, like most people, assumes that it's low on calories and healthy. The salad is actually 580 calories, which she would only know if she went to the Wendy's website, went under Nutrition Facts, and searched for her food item.

The teenager probably has no idea that the salad is 580, not including her drink, and is probably unaware that she could even go to the Wendy's website to view the nutrition facts. Even if she did know, she probably would not have made the effort to look it up. However, if she saw the nutrition facts somewhere in the restaurant, she may not have ordered the salad, or eaten at Wendy's for that matter.

In Patrick Levy's article, he blames both the consumer and the fast food restaurant for the poor health of Americans.

People are completely unaware of what they are actually getting when they order a number 3. The mystery grows when they add the extra cheese, ask for an apple pie, add an ice cream cone, and even throw in a diet coke.