Oof. Here’s How Many Calories Are in Those Wawa Pizzas


If you live in Philly and not under a rock, you probably heard that Wawa is selling pizza now. In the few days since its debut, the convenience store’s focaccia pizzas have gotten mixed reviews. The folks over at Philly.com got their hands on three of the five available pies—there are plain, pepperoni, buffalo chicken, veggie and bacon-jalapeño in all—and were generally unimpressed. But over on Twitter, people seem to be digging it—or at least digging the concept.

To wit:

At the risk of sounding all naysayer-y, I feel it is my duty as Unofficial/Official Food Monitor of Philadelphia (Can someone please print me some business cards to that effect? Thanks.) to ask: Has anyone bothered to look up the nutrition facts for these puppies? Because whoa, you guys, they might make you choke on that focaccia crust.

Here’s the breakdown:

Plain Focaccia Pizza
What’s in it: Tomato and herb focaccia pizza with provolone cheese
Serving size: One pizza
Nutrition facts: 770 calories, 27 fat grams (including 13 grams saturated fat), 40 milligrams cholesterol, 1,750 milligrams sodium, 100 grams carbs, 5 grams dietary fiber, 5 grams sugar, 31 grams protein.

Pepperoni Focaccia Pizza
What’s in it: Tomato and herb focaccia pizza, pepperoni, provolone cheese.
Serving size: One pizza
Nutrition facts: 900 calories, 39 fat grams (including 18 grams saturated fat), 70 milligrams cholesterol, 2,270 milligrams sodium, 101 grams carbs, 5 grams dietary fiber, 6 grams sugar, 37 grams protein.

Buffalo Chicken Focaccia Pizza
What’s in it: Tomato and herb focaccia pizza, Buffalo sauce, chicken steak, cream cheese, cheddar cheese.
Serving size: One pizza
Nutrition facts: 1,010 calories, 44 grams fat (including 22 grams saturated fat), 100 milligrams cholesterol, 2,610 milligrams sodium, 107 grams carbs, 5 grams dietary fiber, 7 grams sugar, 48 grams protein.

Bacon-jalapeño Focaccia Pizza
What’s in it: Tomato and herb focaccia pizza, applewood-smoked bacon, cream cheese, jalapeño peppers, pepper jack cheese.
Serving size: One pizza
Nutrition facts: 940 calories, 44 fat grams (including 21 grams saturated fat), 100 milligrams cholesterol, 2,250 milligrams sodium, 101 grams carbs, 6 grams dietary fiber, 6 grams sugar, 39 grams protein.

Veggie Focaccia Pizza
What’s in it: Tomato and herb focaccia pizza, onions, spinach, tomato and provolone cheese.
Serving size: One pizza
Nutrition facts: 810 calories, 27 fat grams (including 13 grams saturated fat), 40 milligrams cholesterol, 1,770 milligrams sodium, 108 grams carbs, 5 grams dietary fiber, 5 grams sugar, 31 grams protein.

Let me give you some time to recover from your shock.

….

Better? As you can see, Wawa’s new pizzas are not so much healthy choices, which I’m sure you could have guessed, but be honest: Did you assume, in your wildest dreams, that they were that bad? What alarms me most, besides the fat and calorie content, is the sodium; all of the pies clock in at over a thousand milligrams, and three break into the 2,000s. As a reminder, the CDC recommends that kids and adults consume less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium each day, and only as much as 1,500 milligrams a day for some groups, including adults over the age of 50, African Americans, and anyone who has high blood pressure, diabetes or chronic kidney disease. Too much salt can increase your blood pressure and put you at a higher risk for a heart disease and stroke.

If you’re simply dying to try one of the Wawa pies, your best bet—no surprise here—is the veggie focaccia. You could even go the tomato-pie route and cut out the cheese, which would put you at 610 calories and 11 fat grams. Note, however, the sodium count is still high, at 1,370 milligrams.

And lest you think I’m just here to pick on Wawa (I’m not! Really! I love the place as much as you do!), let’s do a quick comparison: A 10-inch hand-tossed Domino’s pizza (that’s 2.5-inches bigger than the 7.5-inch Wawa pie, by the way) with Buffalo wing sauce, cheddar cheese and chicken comes in at 1,290 calories and 48 fat grams for the entire pie. Does that somehow make you feel better?

RELATED: 10 Healthiest Road-Trip Snacks at Wawa

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