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February 22, 2022

Which fast food chain do you consider the healthiest?

It’s a testament to the fact this guy’s now a C-list celeb that fast food chains are obsessed with promoting calorie-conscious meals.

Because, really, that’s the only way a burger franchise or sandwich shop can compete these days. Even if most evidence points to the idea we don’t actually  care what we’re eating, we at least want restaurants to endorse healthy eating to soothe our guilt.

If you look around, near everyone boasts a more responsible menu section now, regardless of whether those items are indeed healthier or even remotely edible.

Yet, which of those restaurants do we trust? Which chains do the calorie counters among us lean toward if they’re forced to eat fast food?

A recent study was posed asking those very questions, in fact, and it appears Jared Fogle has done much more in these past years than just hang with LL Cool J.

According to U.S. firm Decision Analyst, Subway is by far the most trusted chain when it comes to nutritional claims, with almost one quarter (24.2 per cent) of participants saying they “completely” believe in the sandwich maker’s healthy menu choices.

Quiznos (with 11.1 per cent of consumers trusting their menu), Wendy’s (10.5 per cent), KFC (8.4 per cent) and – perhaps surprisingly – Taco Bell (7.5 per cent) rounded out the list.

While it may not shock you to see the dominance of Subway – which, largely thanks to Jared’s ads, also boasts 42 per cent of its customers choosing the restaurant because it “has a good selection of healthy items” – here, it’s interesting to note the absence of one fast food heavyweight that’s gone to great lengths to overhaul its fatty reputation.

McDonald’s is noticeably missing from Decision Analyst’s numbers, despite a recent flurry of the restaurant’s health-conscious menu changes to make itself a not-quite-as-disastrous-to-your-long-term-well-being destination for food.

And when you consider how far the chain has come (ABC News rated is as one of the 10 healthiest fast food restaurants last year, a list that was free of every other restaurant mentioned in this post), it’s apparent that Mickey Dees’ standing as a beacon of junk food might never wash off.

Which fast food restaurants do you find offer the healthiest choices in Canada?

By Jason Buckland, MSN Money

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Gordon PowersGordon Powers

A long-time fund company executive, Gordon Powers now heads up the Affinity Group, a financial services consulting firm. Gordon was a personal finance columnist for the Globe & Mail for many years, has taught retirement planning...

Jason BucklandJason Buckland

The modern-day MC Hammer of money, Jason can often be seen spending cash that isn’t his with the efficiency of a Wilt Chamberlain first date. After cutting his teeth as a reporter for the Toronto Sun, he joined the MSN Money team with...