Restaurant food is bad for us. You may assume that anything you order at a drive-thru is less than sterling in a nutritional sense, but, in fact, the majority of what we eat at restaurants — even ones with helpful waiters and real tablecloths — is worse for us than we might ever imagine.

The scariest part is that it isn't our fault. By expanding portion sizes, spiking our foods evermore with added sugars and dangerous fats, and slapping misleading labels on menus, the restaurant industry has made it nearly impossible for consumers to accurately gauge the caloric heft of, say, a plate of spaghetti and meatballs or a tropical fruit smoothie.