As you know, I talk about healthy fast food. In this economy, eating at fast food joints makes sense financially. But, processed food typically isn’t healthy. Hence, I try to point out the really good options.

But, as you may have seen at fast food restaurants, and other locations, ads to the effect of “As featured on HealthyDiningFinder.com.”

I don’t like HealthyDiningFinder.com. Quite frankly, they list a lot of food that isn’t healthy. Of course, their response to that subject is that it depends on what your definition of healthy is:

“The FDA has very strict criteria for any food or meal designated as “healthy.” Most of the menu items featured on this site do not meet the FDA criteria for “healthy,” and neither the restaurants nor Healthy Dining claims that the featured items meet the FDA’s criteria for “healthy.” The criteria for this website focus on calories, fat and saturated fat, whereas the FDA’s criteria for “healthy” also include cholesterol and sodium. So that a sufficient variety of items can be listed, the criteria on this site do not include cholesterol and sodium. However, values for sodium and cholesterol are posted, so that consumers can make informed choices.”

Now, the FDA doesn’t make these criteria to give restaurants a hard time. Sodium and cholesterol are key factors in preventing cardiovascular disease. How many times do we hear ads about blood pressure and cholesterol medicine!?

HealthyDiningFinder.com seems to argue that the things that cause high blood pressure and high cholesterol (namely, eating too much salt and cholesterol) aren’t as important as the FDA thinks they are.

I think that HealthyDiningFinder.com should, at the very least, tell people straight which foods meet FDA criteria (in the context of a three-meal-a-day diet), and which ones don’t. I’ve seen items on HealthyDiningFinder.com that have almost double the day’s recommended limit on salt… in one food item!

If you want to use the site, do so with caution. Keep in mind that cholesterol and sodium aren’t factors in inclusion on the site. Know the FDA’s RDA and count the milligrams of each. They can easily add up to sudden cardiac arrest.