Which fast food chain has the most calories

We all know fast food is bad for us, but occasionally everyone likes to treat themselves to a fatty burger or salty box of French fries.

What’s less well known is how the same foods calorie and fat content can vary dramatically from one fast food chain to the next.  

FEMAIL compared six options at some of Britain’s most popular fast food restaurants – McDonald’s, KFC, Burger King, Nando’s, Five Guys and Wimpy – and found that the same foods can be hundreds of calories more at rival eateries.

FRENCH FRIES

Five Guys serve up enormous portions of fries (pictured), as Michael Hicks posted about on Twitter. Its 952-calorie medium serving has the most calories of any other fast food chain

FEMAIL compared a medium portion of French Fries at all six fast food chains – but the unhealthiness of each serving varied widely from restaurant to restaurant.

Topping the list by a long way is Five Guys, with its 953-calorie serving. And that’s only a medium size; its large portion has a whopping 1,314 calories.

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The chain’s fries are 673 calories more than the ‘healthiest’ on the list from Burger King, which come in at 280 calories.

But Five Guys’ portions are renowned for being enormous. Michael Hicks posted a picture of a huge portion of fries, which he claims was the ‘small’ size. He wrote on Twitter: ‘This was what Five Guys thinks small fries look like. What?’  

CHEESEBURGER

The cheeseburger at Five Guys (pictured) contains 830 calories, 330 more than Burger King’s Whopper Sandwich

For this test, FEMAIL compared quarter pounders with cheese at the four fast food chains which serve up this style of cheeseburger: Five Guys, Wimpy, McDonald’s and Burger King.

Five Guys tops the list again for its calorific cheeseburger, which contains 830 calories.

That’s 330 more calories than the ‘healthiest’ option on the list: Burger King’s Whopper Sandwich, which contains 500 calories.  

CHICKEN BURGER

Burger King’s Chicken Royale (pictured) tops the list of the unhealthiest chicken burger as it contains 570 calories

For this test, FEMAIL compared chicken burgers from Burger King, Wimpy, KFC, McDonald’s and Nando’s – as Five Guys does not sell a chicken alternative to its beef burger.

Burger King’s 570-calorie Chicken Royale tops the list in this category – 182 more calories than Nando’s grilled chicken burger, served at medium spice level.

Nando’s and McDonald’s share the accolade for least calorific chicken burger at 388 calories – although McDonald’s victory here is slightly more impressive given that Nando’s burger is unbreaded.

CRISPY CHICKEN SALAD (WITHOUT DRESSING)

McDonald’s Crispy Chicken Salad (pictured) is the joint most calorific on the list at 265 calories

Only four restaurants out of the six produce a version of a breaded chicken salad: McDonald’s, KFC, Burger King, and Nando’s.

McDonald’s and KFC come joint top of this test, with McDonald’s Crispy Chicken Salad and KFC’s Original Recipe containing 265 calories.

Nando’s comes in last for its ‘healthy’ mixed leaf salad with chicken, which contains 173 calories – but like with the burgers, its chicken is grilled and not breaded, which may have made the difference in terms of its calorie content. 

CHOCOLATE MILKSHAKE

Burger King’s chocolate milkshake (pictured) tops the list for being the unhealthiest fast food chocolate milkshake

FEMAIL compared chocolate milkshakes from Burger King, McDonald’s, KFC and Wimpy for this next test.

Five Guys, of course, famously sell milkshakes – but the restaurant has not published the nutritional information of its UK shakes.

However, their US versions contain between 910 and 1,030 calories.

For now, Burger King tops the table for the most calorific chocolate milkshake, as its version contains 610 calories.

This is more than twice the ‘healthiest’ option from Wimpy, which contained 297 calories. 

ICE CREAM CARAMEL SUNDAE 

McDonald’s 344-calorie Toffee Sundae is the unhealthiest on the list, as it contains 9.3g of fat

It’s an indulgent treat at the end of a meal, but how much does a toffee sundae vary nutritionally between the fast food restaurants?

Comparing McDonald’s, Wimpy, KFC and Burger King, FEMAIL found that McDonald’s 344-calorie Toffee Sundae tops the list. 

Meanwhile, Burger King’s Caramel Sundae looks positively virtuous, as it only contains 90 calories. 

A spokeswoman for McDonald’s said: ‘We were one of first restaurants to display calories for food and drinks, enabling customers to make informed decisions about the purchases they make. 

‘The work to evolve our recipes as part of our long term nutrition strategy continues to put sugar, salt and saturated fat reductions as top priorities and today, 89 per cent of our core menu contains less than 500kcal. 

‘All our salads are available with a grilled chicken option, lowering calorie content even further.’

FEMAIL has contacted Five Guys, KFC, Burger King, Wimpy and Nando’s for a response.