WASHINGTON -- A non-profit consumer group which rates the healthfulness of the U.S. diet has slammed one of the most popular American menu items -- pizza -- as a belt-buster packed in sodium, fat and carbohydrates, AFP reported. According to a report released late Friday by the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) pizza is a 30 billion dollar-a-year industry in the United States, and is often seen as a healthy alternative to traditional fast food fare like hot dogs and hamburgers. But the CSPI determined that the typical two-slice serving of plain, unadorned cheese pizza packs about a half a day's worth of saturated fat. Two slices of one popular brand, pizza hut's stuffed crust pepperoni lover's pizza, deliver more than 800 calories and about a day's worth of saturated fat and sodium, the group said. The CSPI found that typical slice of pizza is generally less healthy than a fast food hamburger like a McDonald's "Big Mac." But the group's researchers noted that while consumers generally order just one burger, most don't stop at one slice of pizza. The single best thing you can do to improve your pizza is to get it with less cheese, according to the study. "More cheese on your pizza means more crust in your arteries," CSPI nutritionist and study director Jayne Hurley said in a press release. "The saturated fat in the carpet of cheese is one of pizza's biggest problems -- adding fatty meats just makes matters worse," she said. "But any pizzeria worth its sauce should happily accommodate a request for half the cheese." The group also recommended vegetable toppings and avoiding a recent popular pizza innovation "stuffed crust," slices that injects cheese into the pizza's crust. "You need cheese stuffed into a pizza crust like you need reverse liposuction to force more fat under your skin," says Hurley. CSPI analyzed 15 kinds of pizza from 36 pizzerias in Washington, Chicago, and Los Angeles and included company information from four major chains, Pizza Hut, Domino's Little Caesars, and Papa John's. The pizza study is the latest in a series of CSPI studies that have examined the nutritional content of movie theater popcorn, Chinese, Mexican, and Italian restaurants, as well as steakhouses, sandwich shops, and the fare at food courts in shopping malls. The group's pizza study is published in the June issue of its Nutrition Action Healthletter and in a new book, Restaurant Confidential