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Move over Subway, Chipotle is the new favourite ‘healthy’ fast food chain

 
 

On Sunday it was announced that Chipotle Mexican Grill has taken over the top spot from Subway as America’s favourite ‘healthy’ fast food chain, Business Insider reported.

The news comes in light of an earlier story about Andrew Hawryluk, a 23-year-old animator in L.A. who has eaten Chipotle every day for the last 159 days (and counting). On his blog, Chipoltlife, he explains, “on February 18, 2015, the first day of Lent, I decided I would give up not eating Chipotle at least once per day. I deemed it the season of Chipotlent.” After completing the 46 days unscathed, he decided to continue the challenge to see how long he could last.

In Colorado Springs, 30-year-old Mark Rantal is on a similar spree, having eaten Chipotle more than 100 days in a row ABC reports. “The whole thing was totally an accident,” Rantal tells ABC. “On Monday I decided to get Chipotle and on Tuesday I made the same decision, then got lunch with my friend there on Wednesday.” A hundred days later and he’s still going strong.

Both Hawryluk and Rantal tend to favour the burrito bowl with white rice. Hawryluk tops his with chicken, guacamole, lettuce and Tabasco chipotle sauce while Rantal goes for pinto beans, pico de gallo, corn, medium salsa, cheese and lettuce.

Andrew Hawryluk from Chipotlife
Andrew Hawryluk from Chipotlife

Business Insider predicts that the major shift in Chipotle's ranking has come from consumers concerned with the various additives and fillers found in Subway meats. Chipotle is known for serving meats without human antibiotics and unlike the ingredients behind the glass at Subway, the Chipotle toppings are chopped and prepared right in front of customers while they wait in line.

But does that make Chipotle 'healthy'?

According to a study in the New York Times, the majority of options at Chipotle have "more than 1,000 calories and almost a full day’s worth of sodium.” Nutrition stats improve when you start looking at meat-free options that forego cheese, sour cream and beans. In 2013, Business Insider did a side-by-side comparison of a Chipotle burrito and Taco Bell's Supreme beef burrito and found that the Taco Bell version has nearly half the calories and fat. That said, it also had less protein and fibre than the Chipotle version.

Darren Tristano, executive vice president at food industry research firm Technomic tells Business Insider, "millennials care less about calories and more about where their food comes from."

But really, isn't all about the guac? Earlier this year the Huffington Post reported that Subway would be adding guacamole to the menu. The feature ingredient on the new chipotle chicken melt, it may just be a matter of time before Subway is on top again.