The sheer size of servings in cafes can provide a large portion of daily energy needs.
Doug Sherring/HoS
Question: Like many people, I enjoy a scone with my coffee when I’m out, but a friend recently told me that most cafes make their scones with lemonade and cream. How unhealthy is this compared with a standard scone?
Answer: Relaxing at a local cafe, reading the newspaper while sipping a hot drink and nibbling on a warm scone … there’s something especially gratifying about this pastime. For many people, a local cafe has unofficially become their favoured third place.
The term “third place” refers to a social place that’s separate from home and work. In The Great Good Place, author and sociologist Ray Oldenburg says third places contribute to a sense of community and form an important part of society. According to Oldenburg, third places are free or inexpensive to access, importantly (but not essentially) have food and drink available, are local and accessible, are welcoming and comfortable, and have regulars who gather there. A local cafe meets these criteria, perhaps explaining in part why cafe culture continues to blossom. So it makes sense to consider what impact these third places can have on our health.
The first thing many people notice about cafe fare is the sheer size of the average serving – muffins almost big enough to feed a family of four are now the norm. These large muffins can contain between 1500 and 2000kJ of energy – that’s equivalent to eating four or five MallowPuffs. And although we know these muffins are too big, and say to ourselves, “I’ll save half for later”, odds are we’ll eat the lot in one sitting.
American researchers found moviegoers ate 173 more calories of popcorn when given a large box instead of a medium box. And this was five-day-old stale popcorn. When told afterwards about the experiment, many moviegoers thought the box size wouldn’t have affected their personal intake – they were wrong, though, because almost everyone was subconsciously influenced by the serving size.
Tip: A recent British study found pre-meal planning to be an important predictor of how much someone is likely to eat in any given situation. Before heading to a cafe, consider either committing to halving your giant muffin with a friend, or opting for a smaller lower-calorie sweet snack such as a piece of biscotti.
Copious calories lurk in sauces and dressings, too. Eggs benedict is a popular cafe meal, but a mere quarter cup of hollandaise sauce contains over 37g of fat and 1450kJ of energy. Aioli dressing is a calorie-laden heavyweight: a quarter-cup serving contains more than 2500kJ of energy. An average adult requires around 8700kJ of energy per day, so a quarter cup of aioli will provide nearly 30% of the daily energy needs. In other words – sauces and dressings can set us up for calorie overload.
Tip: Ask for your sauce/dressing on the side, then dip your fork in the sauce before loading food on the fork – you get the taste but far fewer calories.
Most cafe cabinets are packed with foods made with pastry. Unfortunately pastry contains 30-40% fat by weight – and just one small sheet of flaky pastry contains 650kJ of energy.
Tip: Choose a pastry-free meal; try a chicken, beef or seafood salad, a grainy bread roll, a sandwich or a wrap with plenty of salad and a little lean meat, or a non-creamy vegetable soup.
And finally, is the good old scone a healthy option? Assuming eight scones are cut from a batch made from two cups of flour with butter and milk, each scone will then contain 680kJ of energy, 6.5g total fat and 4g saturated fat. The fat content is equivalent to around 1.5 teaspoons of butter. Interestingly, if the scones are made with lemonade and cream, the energy and fat content will be almost the same. However, using trim milk and a vegetable-oil based spread will reduce the scone’s energy content to 620kJ, total fat to 4.5g and saturated fat to 1g.
Tip: An occasional lemonade scone or butter scone isn’t a big problem. But if you regularly make scones at home, it’s a good idea to use trim milk and a vegetable oil-based spread.
Email: nutrition@listener.co.nz, or write to “Nutrition”, c/o Listener, PO Box 90783, Victoria St West, Auckland 1142.