According to a study by researchers at Tufts University and published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association, about a fifth of the dishes analyzed at restaurants had at least 100 more calories than listed. Talk about food inflation!

The researchers studied 269 dishes at 42 quick-serve and tableservice restaurants in three states, primarily chain units. One — a chips-and-salsa side order at On the Border Mexican Grill — actually underreported by about a thousand calories. Maybe they just misplaced the decimal point…

The discrepancies were more prevalent at sit-down type places, perhaps indicating higher levels of unit-level discretion in dish preparation than would typically occur in the more controlled operations of chain QSRs. There also seemed to be more problems with dishes pitched to diet-conscious consumers.

For example, the classic blue cheese wedge side salad purchased at an Outback Steakhouse unit contained over a thousand calories, which is just a little bit more than the 375 or so advertised on Outback's website. Unit level discretion indeed! Does Outback tell its kitchen staff to feel free to go crazy with the blue cheese?

So the next time a calorie count on a menu or website seems too good to be true, it probably is. Either that, or they're really talking about the child's portion…