I am always intrigued, appalled rather, when a brand like KFC, which is already famous for offering unhealthy food items, tries to go even further in that direction!

These days, and for a limited time only (thank God!), the chain is selling a Cheetos Sandwich based on the Colonel Sandwich (well it’s a burger but some marketing genius thought the word sandwich had less of negative connotation).

To make a Cheetos sandwich, take a regular burger with fried chicken (yeah! healthy!), mayonnaise (yeah! healthy!) and regular buns (yeah! healthy!), add some Cheetos® sauce and a layer of Crunchy Cheetos®. You will get a great 560 calories (that’s two hours of walking) sandwich with almost no nutritional value (cost is about $5.35 at time of writing).

Wanna know why this is unhealthy food? Where should I start?

. Carbs : 42 grams (yes, that’s a lot!)

. Sodium: 1.2 gram, yes that’s a lot as it represents 42% of your daily maximum allowance. Reminder: An allowance does not mean you should reach it, it means you should not exceed it!

. Fiber: 0. Not surprising since the wheat that’s used for the bun has been stripped of all its fiber.

. Saturated Fats: 33g. A lot! And don’t let yourself feel good because you see that the Trans Fats are at zero, the important point is that this “thing” contains 33 grams of saturated fats (and not from a super healthy source).

. Yellow#6 coloring: Has been shown to increase hyperactivity and has no health benefits whatsoever

Oh and if you wonder about the ingredients, here is the list:

As you can see some ingredients are scary! I like to say that if you don’t understand the ingredients you should not eat the food. I guess then it is pretty clear that you and I should not even lay a finger on this one.

KFC will surely spend a hefty marketing budget to promote this new baby. We all know that savory, fatty foods please consumers across the board (the famous “umami” effect). So this is an almost sure bet for the franchise.

I would love to see some healthy creativity that keeps prices low, where a sandwich brings fiber, a healthy amount of healthy fat, less saturated fats, less sodium and yes, wayyyy less carbs.

I tried to find a healthy alternative at KFC but could not find one since the entire company is based on their flagship fried chicken.

If you are in a hurry, have to eat super fast, and have a limited budget I suggest Subway (and no I am not paid to write that): Their “turkey bacon guacamole signature wrap” is a healthier alternative to the Cheetos Sandwich, as is their whole wheat veggie or chicken sandwich. Subway also offers a nice choice of salads so you will be all set on the fiber front.

But….I am a fan of slow food. We are not meant to eat on a keyboard, while driving, or in a super hurry.

Why?

Because:

. it’s not healthy

. we eat way more this way (the satiety signal takes about 20 minutes to arrive to our brain)

. it costs more (very often we end up buying a soda + fries or equivalent which add up)

So if you are going on a trip, be prepared: Bring nuts and fruits, buy your own whole-what bread to make healthy sandwich. Bring bananas. To feed a whole family will end up being less expensive this way anyway.

Have you tried the Cheetos Sandwich? What did you think?

Valérie Orsoni

Your LeBootCamp Healthy Living & Weight Loss Coach