Beware restaurant, frozen meal calorie counts, US study says

If you're counting your calories to help with your weight loss, than you should be more careful when purchasing frozen dinners and dining out.

Researchers at Tufts University's Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy found that around half the dishes served in popular US restaurants delivered more calories than stated on the menu, with some packing double the stated energy value.

On average, restaurant foods were found to contain 18 percent more calories than what was stated on the menu, and frozen meals averaged eight percent more calories than stated on their packaging.

But some of the restaurant items contained more than twice the calories listed on the menu.

"If people use published calorie contents for weight control, discrepancies of this magnitude could result in weight gain of many pounds a year," the study's lead author Susan Roberts said in a statement.

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