The average meal at a chain restaurant contains more than half the calories, 1.5 times as much sodium and almost all the fat that people are recommended to consume in an entire day, researchers in Canada found.

Scientists at the University of Toronto analyzed nutritional information for 685 meals and 156 desserts reported by 26 sit-down restaurant chains. On average, the meals contained 1,128 calories, or 56 percent of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s 2,000 calorie-a-day recommendation.

The meals contained 151 percent of the FDA’s recommended limit for sodium, 89 percent of the limit for fat and 60 percent of the limit for cholesterol, the researchers reported today in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

“Calories, fat, saturated fat and sodium levels are alarmingly high in breakfast, lunch and dinner meals” at chain restaurants, the researchers said. “Addressing the nutritional profile of restaurant meals should be a major public health policy.”

Restaurant Meals ‘Alarmingly High’ in Fat, Study Finds – Bloomberg