Worst Fast Food of 2010
You think
holiday foods are bad for you? Sure, indulgent items like eggnog and pecan pie will warrant a few extra hours at the gym, but nutritionally speaking, they’re angels compared to some of the shocking fast food creations that have hit the market this year.
While the U.S. has an ongoing obesity crisis, companies like KFC and Friendly’s have been working to trump each other in the battle for most indulgent menu creations. The sandwiches seem to mock anti-obesity campaigns across America with single sandwiches that equal an entire day’s worth of calories.
Check out the worst fast food offerings of 2010:
Eater.com
BK’s Pizza Burger. This nine-inch burger is not for the faint of heart — it has four patties plus more cheese, pepperoni and marinara sauce than you can shake a stick at. No wonder it has more than 2,500 calories — in case you’re wondering, that’s pretty much an entire day’s worth of calories in one burger. It’s not surprising that BK had to divide it into slices.
YouTube.com
IHOP’s Cheesecake-Stuffed Pancakes. Eating pancakes for breakfast is one thing; eating pancakes stuffed with dessert and served with a side of bacon, hash browns and two eggs is quite another. And at 1,250 calories, IHOP’s Pancake Stackers, which were a featured menu item in spring, provided a lucky diner with half of one’s recommended daily calories in one meal — and that’s all before lunchtime.
KFC
KFC’s Double Down. What do bread and fried chicken have in common? They serve the same function, thanks to KFC. The Double Down, which consists of bacon and cheese between two pieces of fried chicken, changed the way we think about sandwiches — and not for the better. KFC did try to avoid controversy by releasing a grilled version of the Double Down, but with more sodium, no veggies and only marginally fewer calories, even the grilled Double Down falls short of being a menu item that can even remotely be considered nutritious.
Friendly’s
Friendly’s BurgerMelt. We thought the Double Down was bad until we saw this one. It’s your typical burger, but instead of a bun, the patty is enveloped by two grilled cheese sandwiches. Which is why the nutritional content comes as no surprise: 1,500 calories and 79 grams of fat.
Denny’s
Denny’s Fried Cheese Melt. Even die-hard cheese lovers might find this to be over the top. Earlier this year, Denny’s released a fried cheese melt, which is basically a grilled cheese sandwich with mozzarella sticks baked inside. Come on, do you really need deep-fried cheese in your cheese sandwich? What’s worse, it comes with fries. At 1,260 calories, it’s only slightly lower in calories than the BurgerMelt, but it should still be off limits.
Joel Sheridan
