Chipotle, Panera No Better For You Than Burger Joints

(RTTNews) - Most of us opt a burrito from Chipotle over a juicy burger from McDonald's, as its healthier than the former. But are you sure?

A new research study has found that entrees served at fast casual restaurants like Chipotle and Panera Bread contains about 200 more calories than entrees served at places like McDonald's.

The study conducted by scientists at the University of South Carolina determine whether the caloric content of entrees served at fast-food restaurants differed from that found at fast-casual restaurants.

People who usually eat from outside have a common perception that fast-casual restaurants are healthier than traditional fast food. However, the results found out that on an average, fast-casual dishes contained about 760 calories while fast-food meals had about 561 calories.

The researchers studied menus from 34 fast food and 28 fast casual restaurants for their study.

"We were surprised that there were higher calories at fast casual restaurants, but one of the main takeaways from the paper is that there are a lot of high-calorie options at both kinds of restaurants," lead researcher, Dr. Danielle Schoffman, said.

However, the study was conducted on the calorie content of the entrees, not the nutritional value of the dishes.