The Reason You Should Avoid Marie Callender's Pina Coladas

When you hear the name Marie Callender, the first thing that might come to mind are the brand's frozen dinners, pot pies, and desserts that come in the boxes with green labels on them. The brand does make quite a few different kinds of frozen dinners from lasagna and country fried chicken and gravy to creamy parmesan chicken pot pie and shrimp mac and cheese bowls, after all (via Marie Callender's Meals). But residents of California, Nevada, and Utah should know that are actually Marie Callender's Restaurants and Bakeries with locations in all three states (via Marie Callender's).

Naturally, when you buy a frozen dinner or dessert from the grocery store, you seemingly have a little more control over what you are eating because all of the nutritional facts are readily available on the back of the box. You can then adjust how much of the frozen meal you eat. But when it comes to Marie Callender's restaurant, you might want to check ahead on the website to avoid a shock. Not to mention, one of the most indulgent items on the drink menu is the pina colada. There are always a few cocktails you don't want to order from some chains due to their calorie content, and this is Marie Callender's drink to skip. Though you might not inherently visit a Marie Callender's restaurant for its happy hour, this drink's nutrition is enough to make you pass on the whole hour.

As of this writing, here's a handy nutritional calculator online for all of the dishes, sides, and drinks that you can get at Marie Callender's restaurants and bakeries. When you visit and select the pina colada, you'll find what the drink is made with as well as its nutrition. The pina colada is made with just a handful of ingredients: Captain Morgan rum, pina colada mix, coconut, and whipped cream. Though there's no telling what is actually in the pina colada mix itself, there's probably a lot of sugar in it given the nutrition facts.

Each 184-gram pina colada has 460 calories, six grams of fat, four and a half grams of saturated fat, and 170 milligrams of sodium. To top it all off, there are 92 grams of carbs and 83 grams of sugar. All in all, this nutritional information means you'll get 23 percent of your daily saturated fat and 31 percent of your daily carb intake, based on a 2,000 calories diet, from this single drink. Even the coconut in this drink has added sugar, and there are tree nut allergens to be aware of.

So, if you find yourself at a Marie Callender's restaurant some time, definitely pass on this cocktail and save your calories, carbs, and sugars for the meal itself.