WA food ambassador and gourmet caterer, Don Hancey, has slammed highway road food as "freezer to the fryer" tucker, putting the blame squarely on roadhouse operators.
"There's usually a choice of chips, pies, burgers, cheese sausages, hot dogs, Chiko rolls, toasties and sandwiches. And, usually, bad coffee.
"And that hasn't changed since the 1970s, yet we've experienced a revolution in people's appreciation for fresh, nutritious food over the last 20 years," he said.
The food guru believed there was a simple answer for the unimaginative, calorie, fat and salt-laden roadside offerings.
"I reckon there's a chute in the roadhouse that goes directly from the cold room straight into a vat of bubbling fat," he said.
"There's no excuse for it. The people who churn out this rubbish are just not interested in offering good food. It takes just as much time to produce bad food as it does good."
Mr Hancey said that roadhouse operators were missing an opportunity to better market their businesses and to increase their bottom lines.
"Take the ever-present hamburger. It doesn't take much extra effort to use beef from a local producer, make your own patties and then freeze them for use," he said.
"One of the best steak burgers I had in my life was down at a roadhouse in Mount Barker – and that's because they used local beef."
Mr Hancey also suggested hand cut chips as a point of difference and – perfect for winter – hearty soups.
"Easy to make and freeze and really hearty, comfort food at this time of the year," he said.
Mr Hancey said that the roadhouse operators should try to incorporate fresh, local product that they could promote as their specialty.
"It would be great to get a fish burger up north that was made with the local catch, rather than something caught and frozen in China," he said.
"People would drive further to get great food and that's how you build your reputation and your profits."
A recent study by the Heart Foundation found that many West Australians were obese and not doing enough exercise. The most overweight and inactive people were found in country WA.
Where have you had the best roadhouse food in WA?
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