Beginning Wednesday, all the major news outlets reported on a study that found Chinese food to be unhealthy. The AP called a typical Chinese menu “a sea of nutritional no-nos.” The U.S. survey, conducted by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, found that American-style Chinese dishes contain unhealthy amounts of fat, calories, salt and sugar. According to the survey, a plate of General Tso’s has 40% more sodium and more than half the calories an average adult needs for an entire day. And eggplant with garlic sauce, another good one, contains half of the 2000 calories recommended per day and more than the daily allowance of sodium. Nobody actually thought Chinese vegetable dishes were healthy, did they? Two questions. First, who finances these ridiculous studies? Whoever it is, I want them to fund two studies that I will conduct– the first on whether or not ice cream is tasty and the second on whether American males living abroad aged 25-26 enjoy coitus. Second, was anyone under the impression that American-style (the distinction is important) Chinese food was healthy? Everyone knows this already. Are there Americans on diets who walk into a Chinese restaurant thinking “today I’m going to supplant my Weight Watchers meal with an egg roll that drips grease down the side of my hand and Kung Pao Chicken with an extra bowl of rice so that after the chicken is gone I can spoon the residual sauce onto the rice (kind of a good move).” The only good news for Chinese food, says the CSPI, is that it’s better for you that Mexican and Italian, as it is less likely to cause heart disease. Mmmmm, Mexican and Italian.

•AP: Chinese Restaurant Food Unhealthy
•Flumesday.com: The History of General Tso’s Chicken

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