The Nine Worst in Restaurant Eats: Center for Science in the Public Interest

May 25, 2010— -- Nine decadent restaurant meals got a slap on the wrist Tuesday when the Center for Science in the Public Interest (dis)honored them with its 2010 Xtreme Eating Awards.

"These meals are the calorie champions of unhealthy restaurant food, with all meals (and one dessert) weighing in at well over 1,000 calories and shocking amounts of sodium, saturated fat, and sugar," says Bonnie Liebman, co-author of the center's report.

"When two out of three adults in America are overweight and one out of three are too fat to join the military," she says, "we mean this [report] as a warning to people that some foods you order at restaurants are a lot worse for you than you think. People often target fast food but many sit-down restaurants actually have larger portions and more fat and calories."

But does calling out a handful of hefty meals make a difference?

Diet experts seem to be on the fence.

"This kind of 'reality check' is a useful…reminder of how far from reasonable the typical American diet can be, and often is," says Dr. David Katz, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine.

However, the actual affect on the American public tends to be limited, he says, because "the people who most often eat such meals will be least likely to read the report, or be influenced by it if they do."

Other diet experts point out that restaurants are responding to what people want to -- and will -- consume, so it may not be fair, or particularly useful, to lambast their offerings.

There's no question that America's diet is in need of an overhaul, experts say, but are these oversized offerings truly to blame?

Let's take a look at the lineup.