Understanding Hardees' Nutrition Information: Calories and Fat

Understanding Hardees' Nutrition Information: Calories and Fat
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Calories

The optimal calorie intake a day is roughly 1800 calories for men and 1200 calories for women. A study of Hardees nutrition information indicates that most of the items in the menu are high in calories.

Hardees menu choices such as the Double Thickburger (1150 calories), Double Bacon Cheese Thickburger (1200 calories), and Monster Thickburger (1320 calories) rank among the highest calorie food in the Hardees menu. A single serving of these items nearly matches the total recommended daily intake of calories. Original Thickburgers (770 calories), Big Chicken Fillet Sandwich (710 calories), Cheeseburger (620 calories) and the Charbroiled Chicken Club Sandwich (620 calories) are other high calorie items found in the Hardees’ menu.

The Low Carb Thickburger (420 calories), BBQ Chicken Sandwich (400 calories), Fried Chicken Breast (370 calories), Hot Ham n Cheese (280 calories), Small hamburger (310 Calories), Fried Chicken Leg (170 calories), and Mashed Potatoes (90 calories) are the comparatively low calorie items in the Hardees menu.

Among desserts, Hand Scoped Shake and Malt exceed 700 calories, whereas most other items in the menu fall between 200 and 300 calories per serving.

Fat

The American Heart Association recommends the ideal level of fat intake for adults as around 35 grams per day. A study of Hardees’ nutrition information indicates that many items in the Hardees menu exceed this daily optimal fat intake in a single serving.

The Monster Thickburger (95 grams), Double Bacon Cheese Thickburger (84 grams) and the Double Thickburger (74 grams) rank among the highest fat content foods in the Hardees’ menu.

Other high fat content food found in the Hardees menu include Sausage and Egg Biscuit (42 grams), Country Steak Biscuit (43 grams), Monster Biscuit (55 grams), Smoked Sausage Biscuit (46 grams), (Low Carb Breakfast Bowl (50 grams), Original Thickburger (48 grams), Bacon Cheeseburger (57 grams), Cheeseburger (33 grams), Mushroom and Swiss Thickburger (36 grams) and Fish Supreme Sandwich (38 grams).

Spicy Chicken Sandwich (21 grams), Regular Roast Beef (15 grams), Hot Ham and Cheese (12 grams), Small Cheeseburger (19 grams), Small Hamburger (15 grams) and Low Carb Carbonated Chicken Club Sandwich (20 grams) rank among the comparatively low fat food in Hardees menu. Most of the Fried Chicken, Sides and Desserts fall into this category.

Low fat or Fat free foods are rare in a Hardees menu. Exceptions include the BBQ Chicken Sandwich, which contains just 6 grams of fat, and Pancakes, which contains just 5 grams of fat.

Cholesterol

The American Heart Association recommends the optimal Cholesterol intake as 300 mg a day. A study of Hardees’ nutrition information suggests that a few items in the Hardees menu such as Low Carb Breakfast Bowl (325 mg), Loaded Breakfast Burrito (440 mg) and Big Country Breakfast Platter – Bacon (365 mg) exceed this limit in a single serving. The original Thickburger (95 mg), and Fried Chicken Breast (75 grams) are also high in Cholesterol.

A review of Hardees nutrition information however shows that most of the food in a Hardees menu has cholesterol within acceptable limits. Examples include Country Ham Biscuit (35 mg), Country Fried Biscuit (55 mg), Sausage Biscuit (30 mg), Pancakes (25 mg), Biscuits and Gravy (10 mg), Hot Ham and Cheese (35 mg), 3 piece Chicken Stripes (30 mg), and Fried Chicken Leg (45 mg). Natural Cut French Fries, Mashed Potatoes, Country Potatoes and Cinnamon n’ Raisin Biscuits are unique in the sense that they contain zero cholesterol.

Continue to Page 2 for more on Hardees nutrition information

Sodium

Hardees Nutrition Information

The United States Dietary Association (USDA) recommends an optimum quantity of sodium intake of 2400 mg a day. Most of the items in the Hardee menu have high sodium content that would lead to exceeding this limit.

A study of Hardees nutrition information indicates that the Loaded Breakfast Burrito (1700 mg), Big Country Breakfast Platter – Bacon (2200 mg), Double Thickburger (2410 mg), Monster Thickburger (3020 mg) Charbroiled Chicken Club Sandwich (1730 mg), Big Chicken Fillet sandwich (1610 mg), and Big Hot Ham n Cheese (2040 mg) have the highest level of sodium in the Hardees menu. A single serving of these items would match or even exceed the optimal recommended daily intake of sodium.

The lowest sodium content foods in the Hardees menu include Country Potatoes – Small (500 mg), Regular Roast Beef (840 mg), Small Cheeseburger (730 mg), Small hamburger (500 mg), 3 pc Chicken Stripes (620 mg), Fried Chicken Wings (740 mg), and all desserts.

Carbohydrates

The Institute of Medicine’s Food and Nutrition Board advises a healthy carbohydrate intake as anywhere between 45 and 65 percent of the total calorie intake. A study of Hardees’ nutrition information suggests that most of the items found in the Hardees’ menu have carbohydrate levels within the prescribed limits.

The high carbohydrate items in the Hardees menu include Pancakes (55 grams), original Thickburger (53 grams), Mushroom & Swiss Thickburger (47 grams), Monster Thickburger (46 grams), Charbroiled Chicken Club Sandwich (54 grams), BBQ Chicken Sandwich (62 grams) and Big Fillet Chicken Sandwich (62 grams). Most Fried Chicken and Side items have between 15 grams and 30 grams of Carbohydrates.

Desserts are comparatively high on carbohydrates, with Hand Scooped Malt topping the list with 98 grams, and Fresh Baked Chocolate Chip Cookie with 30 grams having the least amount of carbohydrates.

Hardees specialize in some low carb food products. The prominent low carb food products in the Hardees menu includes Low Carb Breakfast Bowl (6 grams), Low Carb Thickburger (5 grams) and Low Card Charbroiled Chicken Club Sandwich (14 grams).

Continue to page 3 for more on Hardees nutrition information

Proteins

Hardees Nutrition Information

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommend 65 to 80 grams of protein a day for adults and a study of Hardees nutrition information seem to suggest that much of the food found in the Hardees’ menu fall within optimal limits.

Among Hardees’ breakfast menu options, the Big Country Breakfast Platter – Bacon has a high protein content of 39 grams, whereas Cinnamon & raisin Biscuit (3 grams), Biscuits and Gravy (9 grams) and pancakes (8 grams) are low protein breakfast options.

Hardees Thickburgers are high in protein, with a single serving almost covering the recommended daily intake. The Monster Thickburger tops the list with 70 grams, whereas the original Thickburger contains 35 grams of protein. Even the low carb Thickburger has 30 grams of protein.

Low protein meals in the Hardees’ menu include Spicy Chicken Sandwich (11 grams), Regular Roast Beef (17 grams), Small Cheeseburger (16 grams), Small Hamburger (14 grams), Fried Chicken Wing (10 grams), Fried Chicken Leg (13 gram) and the like.

Among desserts, Hand Scooped Malt (14 grams) and hand Scooped Shake (17 grams) are high in protein whereas most other desserts have protein content of less than 10 grams.

Like all fast foods, breakfast sandwiches found in Hardees’ menu that includes lots of meat, cheese, and egg are high in calories and fat. The cinnamon raisin biscuit is a good pick in this category as it is low in calories (300 calories) fat (15 grams), sodium (600 mg), carbohydrates (40 gms), and Protein (3 grams).

Hardee’s Thickburgers, though famous and tasty, is nevertheless high on calories, fat, sodium and protein. The Low Carb Thickburger has more calories (420 calories) and more fat (32 grams) than the Small Cheeseburger (350 calories, 19 grams of fat).

A good lunch alternative to the Thickburger is the Regular Roast Beef (350 calories, 15 grams of fat, 40 grams of cholesterol, 840 mg of sodium, 28 grams of carbohydrates, and 25 grams of protein), or the Spicy Chicken Sandwich (440 calories, 21 grams of fat, 50 grams of cholesterol, 1140 mg of sodium 41 grams of carbohydrates and 11 grams of Protein).

Fried Chicken Wing (200 calories, 8 grams of fat, 30 grams of cholesterol, 740 mg of sodium, 23 grams of carbohydrates and 10 grams of protein) and Fried Chicken Leg (170 calories, 7 grams of fat, 45 g of cholesterol, 570mg of sodium, 15 grams of carbohydrates and 13 grams of protein) are also good choices.

A review of Hardees nutrition information identifies some great lip smacking options that one can consume without being overtly concerned about the calories.

Disclaimer

The information provided in this article does not constitute medical advise. Please refer to a certified dietician before acting upon the information based on this article. The figures provided for Hardees nutrition information are only indicative. Please contact Hardees for the exact values.

References

  1. Hardees’ Nutrition Information. Retrieved from https://www.hardees.com/content/downloads/hardees_nutrition_guide.pdf on 2010-03-10.
  2. American Heart Association: https://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=1200010. Accessed March 10, 2010.
  3. The Food and Nutrition Information Center: https://fnicsearch.nal.usda.gov/. Accessed March 10, 2010.

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