Fast food is the term given to many items that can be prepared and served quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, such as TV dinners, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store which is rapidly prepared and served to the customer in a packaged form for take out/take away.Outlets may be stands or kiosks, which may provide no shelter or seating, or fast food restaurants (also known as quick service restaurants). Franchise operations which are part of restaurant chains have standardized foodstuffs shipped to each restaurant from central locations.The capital requirements to start a fast-food restaurant are relatively small, particularly in areas with non-existent or poorly enforced health codes. Small, individually-owned fast-food restaurants have become common throughout the world. Fast food restaurants with higher sit-in ratios, where customers can sit and have their orders brought to them, are known as fast casual restaurants.

One of the most common food choices for the average person is fast food. And, as if this is going to be a shock to anyone on the planet, fast food is one of the worst high calorie offenders. This list is taken from the nutrition facts of literally every single item from the menus of 25 popular fast food restaurants.

After going through the nutrition facts of every single item from the menus of 25 fast food restaurants, here's a list of the 272 highest calorie foods. A whopping 63 of them contain over 1000 calories.

The food served at neighborhood casual-dining chain restaurants is positively loaded with fat, calories and sodium, in amounts far surpassing those usually found in fast-food meals. Sodium ranged from a low of 245 milligrams (lightly dressed salad) to 4,450 (chicken fajitas). Also see http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2007/11/07/calorie_confidential

Health officials reintroduce a measure to force fast food restaurants to display calorie information.

The study found that many people tend to underestimate by 35 percent just how many calories those so-called healthy restaurant foods contain. The "health halos" of healthy restaurants also often prompt consumers to treat themselves to higher-calorie side dishes, drinks or desserts than when they eat at fast-food restaurants.