America’s Unhealthiest Fast Food Fries Are Sold In Several Minnesota Locations

Delicious as they may be, french fries are far from a healthy food. That's no secret, but many of us indulge from time to time.

The combination of salt, fat, and calories makes this delicious side something that probably shouldn't be a daily part of your diet. That said, not all fries are created equally.

In a recent study of fast food chains from the health company PlushCare, they found that among the top fast food french fry options across the country, there is one clear leader in the category of least-healthy. The shop that sells these delicious, yet super unhealthy sides has several locations across Minnesota.

What are the least healthy fast-food french fries in Minnesota?

By a significant margin, the burger chain Five Guys and their fries have been named the least-healthy fast food fries in the country.

With 23 Minnesota locations including Duluth, Rochester, St. Cloud, and several Twin Cities locations, finding these fries isn't quite as easy as those from places like McDonalds or Burger King, there are still plenty of places you can get them.

Don't get me wrong, they are delicious, but it's good to know about your food.

What makes these fries so unhealthy?

The study used a four-category scoring method to rank the unhealthiness of fries at fast food brands. They scored the sodium (salt) levels, amount of fat, sugar amount, and what they called "energy", which looks at the number of calories in a serving.

While comparing similarly-sized servings across all brands, Five Guys had the following scores in those categories for a regular serving of fries:

• Energy: 11
• Sodium: 10
• Fat: 7
• Sugar: 0
• Total unhealthiness score: 28

How does this compare to the next worst on the list? The second least healthy variety is from Steak & Shake, which has a total score of 19, with an energy score of 5, a fat score of 4, and a sodium score of 10. Aside from the same sodium score, there are some significant differences there!

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What about other popular fast-food fries in Minnesota?

The most prevalent fast food brands in Minnesota are places like Dairy Queen, Wendy's, Culver's, Burger King, and McDonalds. While this isn't an exhaustive list of all of the fast food brands that were scored, I have the biggest ones in Minnesota below. You can see the full list here.

• McDonalds: With an overall score of only 7 (3 energy, 2 fat, 2 sodium), these are the second least-healthy fries ranked.
• Burger King: BK has an overall unhealthiness core of 9 (4 energy, 2 fat, 3 sodium), their fries are tied for third least unhealthy.
• Dairy Queen: Creeping into the double-digits, Dairy Queen's overall unhealthiness scale is 11 (6 sodium, 3 energy, 2 fat), which makes them tied for fourth least unhealthy.
• Wendy's: With an overall unhealthiness score of 12 (6 sodium, 4 energy, 2 fat), Wendy's fries are tied for 5th least unhealthy.
• Culver's: The Wisconsin-based brand comes in tied with Wendy's with an overall unhealthiness score of 12 (6 sodium, 4 energy, 2 fat) - all the same as Wendy's and Zaxby's for fifth least unhealthy.