Deep-fried lasagna Fritta: 'Food porn'

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WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- The Mediterranean diet is usually considered a healthy one but a U.S. food advocacy group says it is not healthy to deep-fry lasagna as Olive Garden does.

Jayne Hurley, senior nutritionist at the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington, says the Lasagna Fritta appetizer is described by Olive Garden as: "Parmesan-breaded lasagna pieces, fried and served over Alfredo sauce, topped with Parmesan cheese and marinara sauce."

The appetizer has 1,030 calories, or one-half a day's calories; 21 grams of fat, or one day's worth of saturated fat and 1,590 milligrams sodium.

The CSPI publication Nutrition Action Healthletter describes Lasagna Fritta as "food porn."

"Lasagna's not exactly health food to begin with, but bread it with cheese, deep-fry it, and plate it with cream sauce and still more cheese, and you have a killer app," Hurley says in a statement. "Shared with four or five people it wouldn't be the end of the world. But odds are these 1,000-calorie appetizers are split with just one, amidst all-you-can-eat breadsticks and in advance of a 1,000-calorie entree. Lasagna Fritta is just garden variety food porn."