Iowa State Fair Food Finder App

The Iowa State Fair officially starts this week! People come from all over to experience all the fair has to offer. This includes the entertaining shows and attractions, the delicious award-winning baking entries, the rides, the livestock, different 4-H projects, and yes, even the butter… both fried on a stick and carved into a life-size cow. The fair food itself is an attraction. This year, the fair features over 40 new foods ranging from Bomb Pop Lemonade to Cheesy Fried Enchilada Funnel Cake. What will they think of next year?

FYI – it’s completely okay to indulge in a couple of your favorite not-so-healthy fair foods. If you’re someone who is curious though about the nutritional information of the foods offered at the fair, or maybe you’re someone living with diabetes and need an educated estimate on how many carbohydrates are in your meal, you’ll be pleased to know there is an app available that allows you to do just that – browse the nutritional info of Iowa State fair foods. This app is called the Iowa State Fair Food Finder. Even if you have zero desire to know the nutritional info of your favorite fair foods, this app also serves as a fair food map and informs you of the different locations of fair foods.

   

This app contains a healthier fair food list. The list displays foods under 600 calories, such as:

·         Turkey Sandwich; 1 sandwich, 423 calories

·         Chicken Sandwich; 1 sandwich, 393 calories

·         Shish-Kababs (beef and vegetable); 1 kabob, 176 calories

·         Shrimp, grilled; 5 jumbo shrimp, 203 calories

·         Greek Gyro; 1 gyro, 595 calories

·         Walking Taco; 1 taco, 470 calories

·         Fresh Fruit; 1 cup, 46 calories

·         Pork Chop on-a-stick; 1 chop, 381 calories

·         Lamb on-a-stick; 4 ounces, 234 calories

This app also shows just how much physical activity it will take to burn off calories consumed. After selecting a food and viewing its nutrition info, you can then enter your weight and choose an activity and the app will generate exactly how long it will take you to burn the calories from a serving. Since fair-goers do a lot of walking, below you’ll see examples of new foods as well as traditional foods and the time it’ll take to walk off the calories.

Here’s a link to the web app: http://data.desmoinesregister.com/fairfood/index.html

1. Apple Taco: 410 calories per serving

Although this dish contains apples, the deep fat fried taco shell definitely makes this an indulgence. The good news is that you’ll be doing a lot of walking by just being at the Fair. For a 120 pound person, they’ll need to walk at a slow pace (1-2 mph) for 3 hours and 35 minutes to burn the 410 calories. Knowing this, it’s smart to stick with just one serving!

2. Bauder Mud: 790 calories

Brownie chunks with cream cheese in a chocolate shake and topped with whipped cream and chocolate syrup… this sounds like the kind of treat that will stick around much longer than it takes to consume. For a 140 pound person, this will take 5 hours and 55 minutes of walking at a slow pace (1-2 mph) to burn all those calories. Best to skip the sky ride and lace up if you decide to indulge in this Baud boy.

3. Traditional Funnel Cake: 1119 calories

For a 160 pound person, they’ll need to walk at a slow pace (1-2 mph) for 7 hours and 21 minutes to burn all these calories in a serving.

4. Turkey Drumstick: 1136 calories

This is one of the Fair’s most popular. Be prepared to be walking a lot with this one! For a 180 pound person, it’ll take 6 hours and 38 minutes of walking at a slow pace (1-2 mph) to burn the calories.

So in summary, go ahead and enjoy a couple of your fair food favorites, but indulge in all the other activities the fair has to offer. Enjoy the 2017 Iowa State Fair!

-West Lakes Hy-Vee Dietitian Team