Pizza Express tempts its customers with a festive pizza that will match the mood of the holiday cheer. The high street restaurant chain presents to us its Cauliflower e Carne Romana Pizza containing an amazing 1,524 calories of goodness- similar to nearly six Mars bars.
Pizza Express is aware of the newest food craze for cauliflower, hence making sure to top two of its Christmas specials with it. The catch to this holiday treat however is not the superfood vegetable. It's the guilty treat their holiday pizza has to offer.
Nutritionist Angela Dowden has warned the public against presence of high calorie Christmas special dishes, including pizza, which can subject us to serious health risks.
"Pizza Express has a range of healthier options, but this definitely isn't one of them, and at 1500 calories - three quarters of the daily calories recommendation for most people - it's the most fattening pizza on the menus despite healthy-sounding cauliflower being an ingredient," said Dowden.
"I think the increasing trend for high calorie, high fat and sugar festive food ranges is worrying as it encourages people to over indulge for a four-six week period, not just a couple of days," she added.
The Cauliflower e Carne Romana Pizza is equivalent to three-and-a-half McDonald's Quarter Pounders or six Mars Bars.
The controversial dish is made up of pecorino cheese, mozzarella, and of course roasted cauliflower florets nestled atop a cheese and mustard sauce base.
The entire pizza is estimated to contain 89.4 g of fat- equivalent to eight Snicker Bars. It provides twice the daily recommendation of saturated fat for women and 1.3 times for men.
Further, its salt content is calculated to be around 6.8 g- also twice the recommended daily intake for an average adult which is 3.2 g (2.4 g is the ideal amount).
A representative from Pizza Express said: 'Our Cauliflower e Carne Romana pizza was created as an indulgent Christmas treat which only features on our menu for a limited period."
The food chain confirms that they have lighter options to offer- Leggera range of pizzas containing under 600 calories, Leggera Pollo Ad Astra which is under 500 calories and has 14.1g of fat and 3.8g of saturated fat.
They also reiterated that they are transparent with the nutritional information of the food they offer. Calories, saturates, fat, salts and sugar values are reflected on their online menu, allowing customers to see what their dishes contain.
