There are HOW many calories in a McDonald’s Big Mac? Your favourite fast food meals may be way worse than you think

WE all know fast food often isn’t the healthiest option and, with this in mind, many people keep track of their fat, salt and calorie intake when eating out.

Calorie counting is common among dieters, but what if someone told you the labels on food from popular chains such as McDonald’s and Pizza Hut weren’t always accurate?

Or that you could be scoffing a quarter more calories than advertised in your meal? That’s a LOT of extra food you just don’t need.

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For their experiment, bought enough fast food to beat even the worst hangover.

They then used what they claim is an incredibly-accurate bomb calorimeter to work out the number of calories in each item.

The researchers compared these numbers to the calories the restaurant giants claimed were in each meal. And the results were pretty shocking.

Big Mac

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Labelled calories: 540

Actual calories: 702

Difference: +23%

To put this in context, if you were to eat 23 per cent more calories than the recommended average 2,000-a-day, you would consume 167,900 more cals in one year.

Meaning you could gain 3st 6lb, if you feasted in Maccys every day.

Large McDonald's fries

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Labelled calories: 510

Actual calories: 594

Difference: +14%

So if you had a full meal of a burger and chips, you could be eating 18 per cent MORE than your expected 1,050 calories – which is already HALF your daily allowance.

A McDonald's spokesman told the Sun Online that Business Insider's research was done in the US, and assured customers that nutritional information for all UK products is up-to-date and accurate.

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Chipotle chicken burrito

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Labelled calories: 1,315

Actual calories: 1,670

Difference: +21%

If you eat one of these for dinner every day, you could pile on an unexpected 3st 2lb.

Chipotle were the only chain to respond to Business Insiders' request for comment.

A spokesman said: "Our food is prepared in our restaurants and assembled to order by the people who work there (not by machine as you would have in a packaged food production facility), so there is always the possibility of some variation in calories, though we work hard to be sure portions are consistent and correct."

Pizza Hut pepperoni pizza

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Labelled calories: 640

Actual calories: 865

Difference: +26%

The worst of the bunch in terms of the jump, a pizza-a-day could make you eat an extra 190,000 calories-a-year.