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Hold the KFC burger and pass the fried haloumi

Tory Saladdodger

by Tory Saladdodger

29 Mar 02:00pm

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Filed under: Fast Food, Fat, Health, Obesity, Overweight, Society

134 comments

It may sound like a risqué sexual manoeuvre, but in fact it’s a burger - KFC have decided to rid a chicken burger of its cumbersome bun – instead of those pesky empty bread calories you now get fried chicken. It’s called the Double Down.

Come and get me, tiger. Pic: AP

It’s two slabs of fried chicken spooning strips of juicy bacon, cheese, and it’s got almost 2000 kilojoules.  Mmmm… kilojoules.

Cue the righteous disgust from health professionals.

Because it is pretty revolting, laden with fat and salt, yadda yadda yadda.

But isn’t there an inherent snobbery in the outcry over the ‘horror’ burger? A sneering assumption that this sort of mass produced trans-fattery is why the unwashed masses are all bulging over the top of their jeggings?

2000 kilojoules is about 500 calories. What else is about 500 calories?

That half bottle of pinot noir you just polished off along with a couple of olive oil tortas.

The Greek meze you had the other night – the fried haloumi and taramasalata and salt and pepper squid.

The goat’s cheese rolled in smoked organic redwood ash that you scoffed with little fried bruschetta breads…

You don’t see stories decrying the horror of gourmet cooking, the disgusting fat content of creamy bries. 

I too was fooled into thinking that obesity was some sort of socio-economic condition that was only in epidemic proportions in the outer suburbs.

I had this idea that as long as I was steering clear of the fast food giants and never set foot in the food hall of a Westfield, I was safe.

So for years I dined out on pork belly and crispy duck, prosciuttos and marscapone. I dreamed of foie gras melting slowly into toast and I brunched on pain au chocolate and macadamia biscuits and lattes.

And now look at me. Fat. Yes, the f word. And not a Double Down burger in sight.

So I’m going to start calorie counting, starting today. And it turns out I’d be better off downing a Big Mac, with its 2060 kilogjoules and 26.9 grams of fat than I would going to my local gourmet salad bar and ordering the Caesar with all those delicious croutons, bacon bits, cheese shavings and mayo. 

Most commented

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333Animal experiments won't cure me from cancer
313Thomson didn't answer the question everyone is asking
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231Craig Thomson speaks. Meanwhile, in Australia...

134 comments

Show oldest | newest first

    • Sad Sad Reality says:

      02:15pm | 29/03/11

      Your bravery is commendable, Tory.

      Reply

    • john says:

      03:26pm | 29/03/11

      @Tory Saladdodger, Fake Juliar, real Juliar, fake Tory salad-dodger, real Tory. Fake KFC & real KFC-yummy,delicious, mouthwatering bliss.

    • charlie says:

      03:29pm | 29/03/11

      Exactly right Tory….. Too much of this argument has been about how outlandish the energy levels are in this burger. If more time was spent looking at the high (although not head-for-the-hills alarming) levels of sodium it would be an easier argument. I’m happy to be corrected here but i would think items from Macca’s original Deli Choice menu would be higher in kilojules and certainly most Ceasar Salads would leave the double-down for dead

    • Tony of Poorakistan says:

      11:46am | 30/03/11

      Now if we can just persuade them to serve battered and deep-fried frozen Mars Bars, we are laughing

    • Rover of North Cooma says:

      02:18pm | 29/03/11

      How many Tories can one website have?

      Reply
    • Tory Shepherd

      Tory Shepherd says:

      02:22pm | 29/03/11

      Is there such a thing as too many Tories? Oh, wait…

    • TheRealDave says:

      02:48pm | 29/03/11

      Let me check ‘The Suns’ website…...plenty apparently wink

    • Luke says:

      02:18pm | 29/03/11

      Good article.
      And another point of note - what if i eat two or more pieces of chicken from KFC? Is that not the same thing?

      Reply

    • Kricket says:

      02:27pm | 30/03/11

      Thats what I thought. Surely a two-peice feed is worse than the burger, because it has the potato & gravy, bun, chips and drink.

    • Unprotected Species says:

      02:19pm | 29/03/11

      Heroin will probably kill you quicker than smoking seven gram rocks of cocaine and screaming “winning” every couple of seconds, but that doesn’t exactly make crack more palatable.

      Reply

    • Elphaba says:

      02:22pm | 29/03/11

      Meh, if it feels good, do it.

      Not tempted by that burger at all though *vomit*.  Anyone who has one, let us know what it’s like.

      Reply

    • Slim KFC Lover says:

      03:47pm | 29/03/11

      I had one in the US last year and can confirm it is DELICIOUS!!
      Lower in carbs too wink

    • Kate says:

      02:26pm | 29/03/11

      Thanks Tory. I bought a nut bar from the health food section of my supermarket to have for afternoon tea today. 1000kj, but no one’s lining up takling about the horrors of honey and almonds.

      Reply

    • Null and Void says:

      02:39pm | 29/03/11

      Honey and Almonds are TERRIBLE. You should be ashamed of yourself for eating such filth!

      (Does that make you feel better now that someone is talking about the horrors of your afternoon snack?)

    • Jade says:

      03:07pm | 29/03/11

      Hhhm you know… I just had a snickers bar at 1120kj.  I find it interesting that that is only just a little bit higher in kj than your health food bar smile

    • Scott says:

      03:40pm | 29/03/11

      What you, Tory and just about everyone else fails to see is that there are essential nutrients in the caesar salads and the nut bars. There is next no nutrients in one of those double down burgers. Thats the difference. Most food has the good with the bad, the double down is all bad

    • Jade says:

      04:12pm | 29/03/11

      Exactly Scott.  Good fats V Bad fats etc.

    • Hamish says:

      04:28pm | 29/03/11

      Um, Scott, what about the protein and calcium and many other nutrients that are naturally occurring in chicken, cheese and bacon?

      This burger is actually lower in calories than normal burgers because it doesn’t include the buns which at fast food joints are basically like eating sugar out of a bag.

      I don’t eat this kind of crap, but a lot of the anti-fast food crusade is just paternalistic snobbery. I say down with all the health Nazis.

    • Jade says:

      05:48pm | 29/03/11

      @ Hamish… I would think that the nutritional benefits of the chicken, bacon and cheese are kind of taken away once they coat it is the delicious skin and fry the life out of it? You get what I am saying??

    • Bonestar says:

      06:44pm | 29/03/11

      Jade, you would think but who really cares? We get what your saying your a lemming like the rest.

    • drooler says:

      11:45am | 30/03/11

      Scott - you need to remember the diet pyramid
      cheese - dairy
      chicken - meats
      crumb coating - cereals
      oils - oils
      Bacon - consists of 3 periodic elements Ba (barium) co - Cobalt , n - Nitrogen.

      You can’t tell me that is not good for you.

    • AdamC says:

      02:31pm | 29/03/11

      Hold up, Tory, you’ll have the control freaks onto fine dining next. They’re already doing their best to ban fast food and binge drinking. Don’t give them any more ideas!

      Reply

    • Elphaba says:

      02:47pm | 29/03/11

      Agreed! 

      Sssssssssshhhhhhhhhhh….

    • notSue says:

      10:34am | 30/03/11

      Yeah ditto!

      Besides, many of us who like a tad of tasty ‘gourmay” now and again already know it’s fat, salt and sugar laden - we just ignore it!

      Pass the Champers! smile

    • Bobster says:

      10:58am | 30/03/11

      Hopefully Tory will back me up on this.

      Believe it or not, there aren’t actually any health nazis calling newspapers to complain about these things.

      What actually happens is an editor discovers the Double Down is due to be released in Australia. Some poor young journo is quickly dispatched to call every nutritionist in the country until one of them makes a motherhood statement about the dangers of deep fried food.

      They say something like, “It’s probably unfortunate and unhelpful at a time when obesity is such an issue, and anyway, I think it sounds horrible”

      Well, the young journo isn’t an idiot and he knows what his boss wants (and if he doesn’t, the boss won’t have a problem re-angling the story), so cue the moral outrage.

      Tomorrow’s headline: OUTRAGE OVER HORROR BURGER.

      This same formula applies to all stories about food, bike riders, cars and especially children. Well, really, it applies to any subject that has an interest group attached.

      A nutritionist can’t credibly say a Double Down burger is good for you, so no matter what they say, the headline will always include the words “outrage” or “horror”, and the poor nutritionist gets tarred as being a control freak because the media cornered them.

      A lot of the time, the nutritionist will probably say something along the lines of what Tory has written here as well, but that doesn’t allow for moral outrage and without moral outrage the media would have to resort to real journalism.

      Perish the thought.

    • AdamC says:

      03:21pm | 30/03/11

      Bobster, totally agree with your description of how the media works, but I still contend there is a well-organised movement out there that seeks to control people’s eating, drinking, smoking and gambling behaviour on the basis of ‘public health concerns’.

    • that looks horrible says:

      02:32pm | 29/03/11

      I think KFC attracts more horror because it is just *so* vile. At least the gourmet stuff tastes good, even if it’s not better for you.

      Reply

    • David C says:

      04:44pm | 29/03/11

      um that would be a matter of opinion yes?

    • Chubby Checker Dave says:

      02:34pm | 29/03/11

      Tory, you are so correct in this article. Let’s not forget shall we that alot of these so-called “health professionals” and “health freaks” meanwhile have their own bad habits.. such as prescription drug use, smoking cigarettes and dare I say it… ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION.

      I’m a fatty, but I dont go ANYWHERE near mcdonalds, KFC, chips, soft drinks etc. Its laughable the kind of stereotype out there that us fatties must just sit around stuffing our faces with junk food constantly. While I love my food, I havent gone near any junk food places or items like soft drinks or potatoe chips in YEARS. But I do love my cheese, dairy and meat.. and thats the reason why im a big fatty.

      But.. oh wait there’s more… I’m a fatty, but I also go to the gym 2 times a week, and I went to the doctor last Friday actually and my blood pressure is still low, and apart from being a fatty I am a healthy, happy person.

      I’d rather be fat and happy than be a stuck up, arsewipe who needs to act like a nazi for the rest of my life, telling others how to live their lives.The fact is we all have bad habits and the fact is, those bad habits cost everyone. You may be paying for my fatty strokes in 20 years time, but right now Im paying for your smoking/drinking/drug/psychological related illnesses… but am I whining about it? No.

      Eat. Be Merry. Enjoy life.. if you dont you may as well become one of thise health freaks who scream blue murder and are up in arms everytime KFC or McDonalds release a new burger.

      Come on health freaks write how my OBESITY is costing you billions and trillions of dollars and how i smell on the bus oh and how ugly am I.. just a minute, time for my daily whole chicken to scoff down..NOMNOMNOM.

      Reply

    • Zaf says:

      03:16pm | 29/03/11

      I applaud your gusto!  But just consider, if you will, that eating is not the ONLY pleasure…

    • Sad Sad Reality says:

      03:20pm | 29/03/11

      Me thinks the fatty protesteth too much.

    • skins says:

      03:30pm | 29/03/11

      Fatty Power! hehe.

      I am one too don’t worry. I have tried all the diets in the world but it does not shift so now my response is eff off. I’m happy, I have people who care about me and I love life! I would much rather be a fatty then be one of those skinny wenches who have nothing better to do with their time then make snarky remarks about people who arent a size 6.

      Would you like a whole jumbo tub of pasta salad with your chicken? I’m sure I have one hidden under one of my fat rolls. YUMMMMMMM!

    • Sad Sad Reality says:

      03:50pm | 29/03/11

      skins, drop the diets and take up a little exercise.

      For you the day that size 6 remarks on your weight is one of the most emotional days of your life. For her, it’s Tuesday.

    • Skins says:

      04:18pm | 29/03/11

      Sad, Sad Reality I could hear the wind all the way from the NT

    • Rover of North Cooma says:

      04:36pm | 29/03/11

      SSR, are you suggesting that Size 6s are snarky bitches who comment so regularly on other people’s appearances that it’s nothing out of the ordinary?

      I’m overweight but I have some lovely tiny friends who would never comment on my spare tyre.

      Not all skinny chicks are mean.

    • St. Michael says:

      10:38pm | 29/03/11

      The problem being that I consider enjoying life as having enough energy to keep up with my kids.  At 20+ kg overweight that is not happening.  And I consider enjoying life that I can make a good example for my kids and avoid the statistic that you are highly likely to have an obese kid if one or more of the parents is obese themselves.

      Kids change your entire perspective.  Bit hard to swan around like Henry VIII (who, to give him his due, died of Syphilis, not overeating) when your kids rely on you for their support and not to die of a heart attack.

      What’s your cholesterol levels like, Chubby Checker Dave? Triglicerides? Normal blood pressure isn’t the only thing that fat causes which kills you, mate.

    • Null and Void says:

      02:37pm | 29/03/11

      I think that Australian’s should now only eat Double Down burgers and wear jeggings. Because I, for one, am a massive fan of jeggings.

      Can we petition for a ban on any food with less than 3000 kjs? I think we can. It’s just good manners, really.

      Reply

    • Twit says:

      02:44pm | 29/03/11

      Calories .... of course food has them! It doesn’t make chickens fried in trans fat the same as olive oil. Geez ....

      Reply

    • Tim says:

      03:12pm | 29/03/11

      What about the amount of butter and cheese served in food from most posh restaurants?
      Is that better than this too?

    • Twit says:

      04:05am | 30/03/11

      I’m not sure where you’re going with that Tim, my point is just that food can’t be judged good or bad based on the measure of calories.

    • Tim says:

      08:10am | 30/03/11

      Of course it can’t Twit.
      But that’s exactly what the health nazis try to do everytime a fast food joint produces a concoction like this. Their reaction is always way over the top when there are far worse things that people eat regularly.

    • Semi Concerned Citizen says:

      02:46pm | 29/03/11

      If KFC bacon was ever served as crispy as the photoshoot i would get one. I like my bacon crisp not steamed and presented like wet lettuce.

      Reply

    • TimB says:

      03:26pm | 29/03/11

      I have to agree there. What is it with fast food places? The stuff they serve looks suspiciously like ham masquarading as bacon.


      It’s a goddamn travesty and someone should do something. I think I’ll send an e-mail to O’Farrell.

    • Bleuch says:

      06:37am | 30/03/11

      Well it would help if the KFC bacon was actually cooked on a hot plate and not in a microwave.
      Yes, you heard me. kfc bacon. Microwave.
      KFC chicken. 22 minutes in a deep fryer. I mean what?

    • Porky Pig says:

      09:47am | 30/03/11

      Most of the bacon bought in supermarkets around the nation is not real bacon.  It is processed and then the fat and rind is stuck on so it looks like bacon.  When you eat real bacon again you can taste the difference.

    • DougB says:

      02:56pm | 29/03/11

      What the Double Down really needs to make it delicious, is to take the patties and cheese out of a Hungry Jacks Whopper and put it between the Chicken Breasts, then they would have a real winner. MMM, I might have to try that right now.

      Reply

    • fairsfair says:

      03:25pm | 29/03/11

      why do I feel compelled to yell “Tendergriiiil, Tendergriiil, Tendergrill” (complete with dance moves) right about now?

    • Matt says:

      03:27pm | 29/03/11

      DUDE…. that sounds awesome!

    • AliceC says:

      03:34pm | 29/03/11

      Totally awesome idea! Will have to try that too. But instead of just adding the patties and cheese, just remove the bread and add the chicken breasts, extra cheese and bacon.

    • macca-d says:

      04:44pm | 29/03/11

      Are you seriously going to do that WITHOUT adding pickles and mustard?  Shame on you sir.

    • DougB says:

      05:20pm | 29/03/11

      macca-d , shame on you sir, I am Australian, I will of course add beetroot, not pickles or mustard.

    • Likes Joining Dots says:

      05:49pm | 29/03/11

      Now the challenge, to find a cheeky insouciant wine to go with that.

    • DougB says:

      06:00pm | 29/03/11

      @Likes Joining Dots, Hmm we now have both chicken and beef in there with cheese, I’d tend to favour a red.  Then Honey Merlot from Lost Lake vineyard would be a good choice. It is sweet, refreshing with very little tannic aftertaste and light enough to be almost a rosè. It should sit nicely with it.

    • dancan says:

      02:58pm | 29/03/11

      It looks so disgusting, and I know I’d feel like crap after eating it.  And yet.  It calls to me, a siren song of chicken and fat badness

      Reply

    • saz says:

      06:49am | 30/03/11

      Me too *sigh*

    • Richard says:

      03:01pm | 29/03/11

      If you want to lose weight, wake up in the morning, drink a cup of black coffee (no milk no sugar) and head out the door for an 30min~1hr walk/run. Excercise in the morning will raise your metabolism for the entire day.

      Then when come home and have your breakfast, make sure its the most carbohydrate intensive meal of the day. Complex carbs that is. Mass produced foods are a no no. You want Oats, with apple and cinnamon (no milk no sugar, almond milk is better), or like I have~ Millet with pepitas, walnuts and gojis.

      Lunch is a salad with chicken or tuna, grated carrot, rocket and a hard-boiled egg, Make sure you don’t eat any carbs at all after lunch at all. No bread no pasta no rice no potato no fruit no sugar no chocolate no nothing, from lunch time onwards. Only thing for dinner should be stir fried beef and green vegies or steamed fish and vegies or something like this.
      Sip green tea and or water in between breakfast~lunch and lunch~dinner to give you mouth something to do and keep the appetite at bay.

      Once a weak have a cheat day to recharge your leptin levels when you can eat anything you want: pizza, cheeseburgers, thickshakes, KFC, whatever you want. Eat for the whole day if you want to, but only that 1 day per week. The rest of the week is green vegies and salad and protein, with complex carbs only at breakfast time.

      That was the sensible approach, but if you really really want to shred those kilos Asap, then its all about raw brocoli and cabbage and sprints. You can get seriously shredded in 2 weeks by eating only raw brocoli and cabbage and doing sprints everyday.

      Losing weight is easy, but no one likes raw brocoli and sprints…

      Reply

    • Brian B says:

      05:10pm | 29/03/11

      Someone kicked me in the gojis once and boy did it hurt!!

    • Ddeeble says:

      05:52pm | 29/03/11

      Sorry…I like to enjoy life..not just endure it.

    • Richard says:

      08:06pm | 29/03/11

      Ddeeble, so you call pigging out at every meal on greasy fried fatty starchy hi-carb hi-G.I. foods “enjoying life”? What a strange attitude.

      Enjoying life is being vital, fit and healthy.
      Enjoying life is playing sport with you friends, and being able to play well.
      Enjoying life drinking clean water and breathing fresh air and enjoying simple nutritious foods.
      Enjoying life is being attractive to the opposite sex, and enjoying their flirtatious attentions.
      Enjoying life is working hard during the week and letting your hair down on the weekend.

      I can still feast and banquet on the weekend. Life is for living, but our bodies have evolved to operate best in certain ways. If you want to live at odds with the natural rythym of your body, you’re setting yourself up for pain, disease, lack of energy, dreary colourless emotional states of being, and ultimately, an early death.

      You call that enjoying life?

    • skepdad says:

      01:13am | 30/03/11

      Hmm…. an hour long run in the morning, say 6 days per week, is three waking years spent running over an average adult life.  So if that extends my life from 70 to 73, in exchange for spending an hour a day in my prime running instead of enjoying life, what’s the point?

    • Helge says:

      04:07am | 30/03/11

      You don’t want to share an office with me if I’m having oats for breakfast.

    • Tim says:

      08:14am | 30/03/11

      Richard,
      there are fatties who gorge on fast food constantly not caring what they eat and then there are people like you whose whole food intake and life is planned down to the wire.
      You’ll excuse me if I prefer somewhere in between.

    • Fitness/Health Convert of 2.5 years and LOVING IT! says:

      09:16am | 30/03/11

      Marry me, Richard!

    • AliceC says:

      09:20am | 30/03/11

      “Enjoying life is being attractive to the opposite sex, and enjoying their flirtatious attentions”

      Why the opposite sex? I like both genders checking me out, more flattering me thinks

    • bot says:

      09:20am | 30/03/11

      @Richard, wow you went from super healthy 6 hours running a week to gorging on “greasy fried fatty starchy hi-carb hi-G.I. foods” in a blink, cas Ddeeble didn’t like your regime. Doesn’t mean they eat bad foods… just means your’s methods are anal and judgemental. Easy? No, or else everyone would do it.

    • Mike says:

      03:22pm | 30/03/11

      You sound like a barrel of laughs Richard. Gratz for still wanting to be alive, if that’s your “routine”.

    • Ddeeble says:

      05:30pm | 30/03/11

      I never said every meal…But since you missed the point I will spell it out for you. No one should sneer or patronise people on what they chose to eat, or drink, or smoke for that matter. Food nazi is a good word. But here are your points right back at you, Richard….
      1. I am vital, fit and healthy. I am not fat or obese…Sure, I may have a few more kilos on me than I did when I was seventeen…but hey, I am in my forties now.
      2. I never played sports. Didn’t like them. But I can bushwalk with the best of them, and I can keep up with my three grandsons playing tag in my (admittedly small) yard.
      3. I drink water every day (iced, I can’t stand it any other way), I eat a mostly balanced diet, meat, veg, fruit. I have takeaway once a week because (about 25 years ago) I decided I wasn’t going to work, shop and cook on the same day. I work, it’s my money, and I will spend it any way I like.
      4. I have been with my husband since 1987 and he has never complained about the way I look, or the way I can still make him feel…what does someone like me care about the attracting looks?
      5. I work hard everyday of the week for my minimum wage….I also let my hair down on the weekends, but not with food.

      My point Richard, I guess, is the same as most peoples…Life is for living and enjoying. I have faced death 4 times in my life (two breast cancer scares, one ovarian cancer scare, and once nearly bleeding out after surgery. And that has changed my attitude. I will not let someone else make decisions for me, when they are none of their business anyway.

      Have fun with your running Richard…I will stay in bed..unless someone wants to make that socially unacceptabel as well.

    • AFR says:

      03:02pm | 29/03/11

      come on, even if it is atkins-friendly, it does look pretty fowl.

      Reply

    • DougB says:

      04:28pm | 29/03/11

      If you’re too scared to eat it, does that make you the chicken?

    • david says:

      05:15pm | 29/03/11

      doug don’t egg him on…

    • DougB says:

      05:36pm | 29/03/11

      david, he set the eggsample!

    • So hungry right now.. says:

      03:02pm | 29/03/11

      Totally picking up one of those tonight

      Reply

    • Jade says:

      03:05pm | 29/03/11

      I don’t mind a bit of greasy KFC chicken and chips after a big night out (which thankfully are a rarity these days). But I wouldn’t be able to stomach that particular “burger”.

      Reply

    • TimB says:

      03:06pm | 29/03/11

      Careful Tory. At this rate you’ll end up with more personalities The Badger.

      Back on the burger. I know I shouldn’t. It’s wrong on every level. It is repulsive

      But it is also hypnotically compelling. So I must. So that I can say I did. In the name of science.

      I’ll try to convince my mates that we should go out and get one of these on the weekend. Assuming I don’t die of food poisoning/a triple heart attack, I’ll share the experience in the Open thread on Monday morning. smile

      Reply

    • TimB says:

      03:18pm | 29/03/11

      Oops, I see a word havs been kidnapped.

      “personalities *than* The Badger.”

      There we go.

    • fairsfair says:

      03:31pm | 29/03/11

      I’ve marked it on my calander TimB - I will cross out the days with a thick, red felt tipped pen. I’m looking forward to your recap of the experience followed by a detailed description of your digestive patterns following consumption of same.

    • NicoleG says:

      03:51pm | 29/03/11

      Ewwww. You’re not going to survive that Tim. I don’t mind junk food and I don’t care who eats it, but that thing is just plain wrong in soooooo many ways. Could you at least make them cook the bacon properly? I hate it when you get it and it’s bloody raw. Good luck.

    • Zaf says:

      03:11pm | 29/03/11

      A reasonable person could consider dying for foie gras.

      For the pictured double down….not so much.

      What I’m saying is get a delish-ness bang for your calorie buck.

      Plus: portion control easier if you feel you got something good the first time round.  I think.

      Peace

      Reply

    • Elphaba says:

      03:16pm | 29/03/11

      “Assuming I don’t die of food poisoning/a triple heart attack”.

      I think it’ll exit your body way too fast to do any real damage…

      Reply

    • TimB says:

      03:32pm | 29/03/11

      I think that comes under food poisoning wink

    • E says:

      05:31pm | 29/03/11

      I want a news article at then end of this about someone who ate 1 a day for the 4 week promotion.

      Awesome. grin

    • Robert Smissen, rural SA, God's own country says:

      03:23pm | 29/03/11

      Funny how people on 6 figure salaries are always banging on about the “low socio-economic class” ALWAYS eating junk food, yet the reality is that if you feed your kids bulking up foods like potatoes, rice, pasta & bread to fill their little tummies you end up with fat kids. Not to mention that PE in schools is just tokenism, yes fatties will prevail.

      Reply

    • Paul says:

      03:27pm | 29/03/11

      can we just stop going on about food?  it isn’t hard: don’t eat fatty stuff every day (whether that be a glazed dollop of french goose liver or a deep friend wedge of alleged chicken) and go for a walk now and then.  being fat isn’t a crime, I could stand to lose about 2 stone, but being fat and complaining about it as if there’s no choice but to keep throwing back the cheeseballs (there being no other food available, anywhere, ever) isn’t an argument, it’s wanton.

      Reply

    • Homer Simpson says:

      03:17pm | 30/03/11

      Mmm, wanton.

    • Errrk says:

      03:28pm | 29/03/11

      Oh my god! Is that a real photo of someone called Tory? Wow, What a disgustingly ugly person. More chins than a chinese phonebook!

      Reply

    • Kelly says:

      02:30pm | 31/03/11

      @Errrk.
      Always got to be one high school bully, doesn’t there?
      I hope you’re good to look at Errrk, because you’re bloody ugly and nasty inside.

    • Gladys says:

      03:33pm | 29/03/11

      Yeah, but no.

      Half of all Australians are overweight or obese or super morbidly obese. I am 1kg overweight so I’m in your group and on your side.

      There is no way I would eat this thing because I want to be in the other half of the population.

      Because if you’re just saying that it’s as full of calories as anything else, that’s rubbish. Calories can be good for you or bad for you. That thing is bad for you.

      Cheese has calcium. Meat, including chicken, has iron and other essential minerals. But too much of it will clog your bowels so you have to balance it with fibre - like salad. That KFC thing doesn’t have salad.

      A chicken Ceasar salad has more calories in the dressing, but you at least get some omega three from the egg, some fantastic protein and, again, some chicken. Most of all, there’s lettuce. A leafy green which has folate.

      Better yet, have a thai beef salad. Just as full of calories, but with a greater variety of vegetables.

      If you do one thing for yourself, Tory, buy a set of flat scales and put them near the stove. Measure out the recommended amount of red meat and white meat when you’re cooking and stick to it.

      That’s what I’m doing. Jangie it’s hard. But that’s the only way to do it.

      Reply

    • michael j says:

      03:35pm | 29/03/11

      Well that looks absolutely yummy,wish i could afford one,,,,,,,,,

      Reply

    • bella starkey says:

      03:41pm | 29/03/11

      There’s a burger chain in California (the name escapes me) where you can order a “protein style” burger where the bun is replaced by lettuce leaves. It’s not bad for greasy America fast food, like a sang chow bow burger.

      Reply

    • Gavin says:

      03:51pm | 29/03/11

      In and out burger. I look forward to it everytime i’m in vegas.

    • fairsfair says:

      03:54pm | 29/03/11

      Is it not San Choi Bow? I love that stuff but I also love grouping together three asian sounding names at random. It has become somewhat of a tradition in my household. I will use Sang Chow Bow next time wink

      I’d buy that burger.

    • hungry says:

      03:47pm | 29/03/11

      The double down is better for you than a Zinger, but not as good as an original, but then you get 2 of those chicken breast peices… I’m in.

      The original recipe burger has 1939 kilojoules, 22.3 grams of fat
      Double Down has 540 calories (2259 kilojoules), 32g of fat
      The Zinger burger has 2515 kilojoules, 35.7 grams of fat

      Reply

    • DaveinPerth says:

      03:51pm | 29/03/11

      Looks terrible.
      I want one.
      (Just to make sure it’s terrible, of course)

      Reply

    • Ddeeble says:

      05:33pm | 30/03/11

      Exactly!!!!!

    • Ddeeble says:

      03:58pm | 31/03/11

      Tried one last night…they don’t live up to the hype, they are expensive, and really…they are not that good. On a minor side note….they are marketed at men, not women. Dumb idea really.

    • Duff says:

      04:04pm | 29/03/11

      How about you talk to a nutritionist before writing an article like this?  Pretty sure they might poke a few holes in this theory of yours.

      Reply

    • Tim the Toolman says:

      09:36am | 30/03/11

      “Pretty sure they might poke a few holes in this theory of yours. “

      Unlikely…she’s spot on.

    • Bob the Builder says:

      04:13pm | 29/03/11

      2000 kilojoules? What’s that, about 100 Calories?

      Reply

    • Gregg says:

      07:42pm | 29/03/11

      More like 500 Bobby, but you’ll work that off framing a few rooms.

    • Bitten says:

      04:35pm | 29/03/11

      This looks like the sort of thing that would either be in and out of you in 30 minutes or would stop you up completely for a couple of days.

      Reply

    • Ron E Coote says:

      06:53pm | 29/03/11

      I reckon they could have made it a double-decker, Tori. With onions and extra cheese.
      That “recent” pic has got the old heart fluttering, and I’m not talking about cholesterol either. Rowr!

      Reply

    • Ron E Coote says:

      06:54pm | 29/03/11

      Woops!
      Tory. So sorry.

      Reply

    • Gregg says:

      08:01pm | 29/03/11

      Maybe it’s time you joined the underworld Tors.
      Go for a subway and even get a foot one and they have fresh enough ingredients, half will keep for the next days lunch.
      Great choices of fresh baked rolls and real healthier fillings including salad mixes, you’ll think you have been to your gourmet deli.
      Whathisname, that foul mouthed guy Gordon is it?  might even be satisfied.

      Reply

    • HappyCynic says:

      11:15am | 30/03/11

      Lol Subway is your definition of gourmet??????  And your definition of fresh?

      Subway is crap food, not filling and has horrid “bread” (it’s more air than bread).  Take one of those footlong rolls and scrunch it down in your hands until all the air is gone.  If you’re left with a ball of dough that’s bigger than a walnut I’ll be very surprised.

    • mikki says:

      03:17pm | 30/03/11

      @HappyCynic very true . . . not to mention the highly refined carb laden bread ... is exactly what eventually stores as fat.  Subway ‘health’ is an advertising gimmick aimed at the nutritionally uneducated.

    • Dazeddazza says:

      08:08pm | 29/03/11

      Would love to try one myself, but unfortunately in the country where I work and reside, Maccas and KFC serve chicken and RICE!!!!!!  Forgive my scream, that burger looks bloody delicious.  Here there is a wait of 10-15 minutes for a beef burger, aaaaaarrrgh!!  oh well, back to the Jack Daniels and a plate of sate.

      Reply

    • Luke says:

      09:39pm | 29/03/11

      You people always treat Maccas or KFC as a meal… where in fact its just a snack, Yes some people have why to often but that is purely their decision, I have Maccas or KFC once a month as a treat, a mere luxary. Im not overweight, im not the skinnest person either. Its not about eating healthy its about balancing a stable diet and regular exercise… you can still have luxuries but its all about the portion you have. This item is not for children and in fact aimed at men between 18 and 29, the most likely the group that work in labor intensive industries and if they will have this they will most likely burn it off within half a day anyways.

      Either way this looks delicious and cant wait to lay my lips around one.

      Reply

    • Gregg says:

      02:32am | 30/03/11

      It might just be Luke that you and other people like you have never really experienced what a decent hamburger should be like and they are a far cry from Maccas, HJs and the like.

      You need to find your old fashioned Hamburger shop and even then not all of them may prepare the best so it can take some hunting out to find with the right mix.
      . decent pattie of good quality beef or even unbattered chicken breast.
      . options like bacon, egg, onion, cheese, pineapple or the works.
      . crisp buns, even perhaps a multigrain one and fresh salad.
      And not to spoil the combination you need to ask for no sauce or just a dash of BBQ.
      They alone can be a meal and certainly so with a serve of chips, wrapped in paper of course.

      You have to be prepared to wait for ten minutes or so, perhaps even longer if they’re busy but our younger generations probably know not what they have been missing out on.
      Seek out one for your next splurge Luke and find a good shop and you’ll be mightily surprised.

    • baal says:

      08:30am | 30/03/11

      @gregg. i agree. Working up on the coast ans got myself a works burger that had real mince plus cheese beetroot onions lettuce pineapple and other salad. It was awesome and I felt healthy and was a meal unto itself. 
      pretty much all your food groups in one.
      There is a world out there between the wanky cafes and fast food junk where tasty but healthy food lives.

    • St. Michael says:

      10:27pm | 29/03/11

      I was amused to watch the headlines as the online day continued: first it was shock over a 500 KJ burger, and then suddenly they were edited to the “2,000 calories!” headline.  Not sensational enough?

      There’s still something valid about it, though.  Anyway, being roughly 25 kg overweight I finally decided to do something about it and started on a particular “completely prescribed food intake” diet—I won’t mention the brand name since I’ve seen enough brand dropping here, thank you very much.  This is not the first time I’ve tried it, either; I’ve tried other “prescribed food intake” diets and they haven’t worked (or I haven’t).

      This time I seem to be doing okay.  As far as weight loss is concerned, these are the things that struck me:

      (1) Portion size.  Nobody talks about it, but everyone should.  It’s bulldust that you can eat as many carrots and/or celery as you like and it won’t get you fat.  Which I guess is the point of the photoshopped (oh dear god please let it be photoshopped) Tory.  What eating too much stuff, healthy or not, will do is expand your stomach, which just means you have to fill up that much more of it to make and means you have to eat more to stop being hungry.  You have to arrest that by getting your stomach to shrink.  For men, taking a US example, the CDC recommends you should only be eating a piece of meat the size of a deck of cards with your meals.  Unfortunately, that message gets lost with the stupid, huge portion sizes we get served up or shown on TV and advertising—as if you are somehow being a bad host or a bad chef if the food isn’t occupying the entire plate.  People joke about how they get miserly portion sizes at restaurants; the irony is that the restaurants have a better handle on what’s a healthy portion size than most of their clientele do.

      (2) Lack of time to prepare healthy meals.  Seriously.  Of course, there’ll be the silly nellies out there on compo, the pension, or the dole who’ll preen and puff themselves up that *they’ve* got plenty of time on their hands to prepare balanced meals.  Too bad most of the wage-earning economy does not.  Anyway, when you look at what this diet gives you, being a balanced and varied diet over the course of a week, you understand why people despair.  It’s hard enough to get 5 food groups into a weekly diet, much less perform the idiot culinary gymnatics the morons on PastaChef, MyKitchenSucks, and BetterHomesThanYours dish up as “easy” and “quick”.  For Chrissake, how about some decent vegetables rather than putting two hundred exotic spices from fifty separate pretentious “gourmet” shops into the dish? I reckon it’s easy to get overwhelmed unless you’re being one of the annoying folks who plans out your meals for an entire week (and probably your bowel movements as well.)

      (3) “Diet” Coke, Pepsi Max, or Coke Zero.  Never mind the chemicals that go into it requiring a Chemistry PhD to work out whether it will kill you or not. Its base biological effect is bad enough.  True, no calories.  That’s what makes it so bad.  If it had calories your body would react at least somewhat normally to it.  But Zero, Diet, or Max don’t do that.  Instead, they screw your metabolism over because it tricks your body into thinking it’s getting a sugar hit which kicks it into overdrive.  You end up hungrier faster and you want to eat.  There really is no free lunch.

      (4) Emotional eating.  It’s true.  It’s still my biggest weakness.  And fast food advertising is designed and primed to catch you when your emotional response is to eat, or to have you associate the food with an emotion.  For example, the KFC heart-killer under discussion was being advertised on billboards in my local train station before this story broke.  Why, when there’s not a KFC in sight? Because they want you to either associate the damn thing with anxiety (going to work) or pleasure (going home from work.)  There’s other subgenres of course, but especially with The Gruen Transfer I think we’ve really normalised and made tolerable the brainwashing bullshit the advertising industry pushes on us.  This really has to stop.  “It’s your free choice” advocates are missing the point; advertising is designed to take away your free choice, and given they’re still doing it, it clearly succeeds.

      Exercise isn’t enough.  You have to cut down the amount you eat to lose weight.  Pure and simple.  The old American comedian had it right: “If ya wanna lose weight, then stop eatin’, ya fat bastard!”

      Reply

    • Lara says:

      12:53pm | 30/03/11

      You might want to start at learning the difference between calories and kilojoules. Just a thought.

    • Govt@FauxCitizen says:

      10:35pm | 29/03/11

      We do eat a lot of adulterated crap with lashings of sugared sauces and salt. Truth be known the humble backyard BBQ is pretty toxic too, if you only knew what goes into snags and mince I guarantee you would never touch the crap ever again,  by comparison Bear Gryles eating a peice of 3 day old venison left by wolves aint half bad really, and a heap more wholesome.

      Reply

    • Marv says:

      11:51pm | 29/03/11

      KFC is an American based firm operating under the vertical integration business model utilising economies of scale to maximise profits to share holders and franchise owners. In this case they have constructed some kind of culinary monstrosity to achieve a free or a low cost marketing strategy. Whether it be good or bad any publicity is good publicity as they say.
      Vertically integrated food companies (KFC, Mcdonalds, even Subway etc) like to control their ingredients and associated marginal costs they accrue from barn door to cardboard container at store to maintain continuity of product.
      KFC are only able to supply market at their current menu prices by nurturing vast poultry mega factories where genetically mutated fowl suffer beyond imagination in truly gulag like conditions. Meat from these birds is generally blistered, discoloured or diseased (notice how every burger has that weird bit when your chewing) which is masked by various chemical agents and of course the famous seasoning and cooking processes.
      Armed with these facts it seems unsurprising that consuming any food created in this fashion would cause a litany of personal and public health concerns which are so evident at present.

      Reply

    • TimB says:

      07:03am | 30/03/11

      Dude, that weird bit is the best part.

      So tasty.

    • Steve M says:

      09:35am | 30/03/11

      Marv, that would have to be the greatest collection of urban myths i have seen in quite some time. I’ve seen the facilities and i can tell you without hesitation you are wrong.

    • Twit says:

      06:06am | 30/03/11

      Perhaps I should have got the joke immediately, silly me, but regardless I’m not sure what you’re trying to get at putting out a fatter version of yourself.

      There must be a point buried in that chicken sandwich, but it isn’t coming through loud and clear for me. Best guess now is that it is a cousin of the fart joke?

      Gullible? Yes. Slow? Sometimes. Sense of humour? Bring me your gas.

      In the words of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: I call upon the author to explain.

      Reply

    • Shane says:

      07:34am | 30/03/11

      I’d just like to reiterate what Scott mentioned earlier - there’s a difference between a caesar salad and this double down craziness.  At least in the salad you’re getting nutrients from the tomato and lettuce etc and protein from the shredded bacon and eggs.

      Generally I think it’s agreed these days (at least amongst bodybuilders who generally know what’s what when it comes to bodyfat) that the biggest evil to people’s weight problems these days is carbohydrates.  Having a high-carb meal last thing at night such as a big bowl of pasta is absolutely insane.  It sits in your stomach and since you’re most likely shutting down for the night your body just stores it as fat without even bothering to burn it off.  Let’s not mention the fact you’ve probably had toast or cereal for breakfast or a whole heap of sugary snacks during the day, maybe a sandwich with a bottle of soft drink for lunch and maybe another soft drink with your pasta dinner.  Sugar = carbohydrate and it adds up to an amount of pointless food you really get nothing from.

      Kudos Tory for counting calories but I’d like to point out it’s important to also make sure you’re getting plenty of vitamins and minerals to give your body the best chance it could possibly have at doing what it’s meant to be doing.

      Don’t underestimate weight training either when it comes to weight loss wink  The more muscle you have and the healthier it is, the more fat it will burn for you just lying around trying to exist!

      Look forward to hearing about your progress!

      Reply

    • Woof says:

      08:07am | 30/03/11

      Darwin at work. Wonderful. Eat up everybody… num num num

      Reply

    • Skins says:

      09:31am | 30/03/11

      Think it is a plot to eliminate us? well those of us who are stupid enough to eat the thing.

    • malohi says:

      09:01am | 30/03/11

      “unwashed masses are all bulging over the top of their jeggings” that line made me lol. Observational comedy back on the rise.
      Energy content of food, manner of cooking and the gradual progression to larger serving sizes as the norm are certainly a trap and it is no longer a case of the fatty just being a glutton.
      It is a daily battle to win the energy in energy out turf war and i wish all good luck.
      Malohi’s number one tip for the 20 somethings- straight from work to gym/sport, and never exercise at home.. you will visit the fridge constantly and put it off more often then not. I know I did wink

      Reply

    • PatC says:

      12:21pm | 30/03/11

      Is there any truth to the rumour that we converted from calories to kilojoules so that newpaper headlines could look more alarming.

      2000kj has to be much worse than 500cal doesn’t it.

      Well I’m of for my Double Down before some do gooder makes them illegal.

      Reply

    • Darrem says:

      02:31pm | 30/03/11

      I might need to have two of them to make up for the lack of carbs, and yes always upsize it, oh and a desert, no that will be all thanks, ok heading to the next window

      Reply

    • Enjoying Life says:

      08:10pm | 30/03/11

      Shane - I agree completely that carbs are the issue not calories.
      Since embarking on a diet restricting carb intake I am losing, in the initial diet stage- 1/2 a kilo a day (yes I am a tubby but not for much longer and see myself meeting my size 10 target by July)  whereas using a diet which restricts calories would only enable me to lose that amt over a week.
      Restricting carbs increases your naturally occuring HGH which spur’s one’s metabolism into action and also assists with complexion and skin elasticity.
      Nothing but incentive.
      I would probarly eat one of those burgers once a year though - don’t see the point of completely depriving oneself.  (Although that attitude got me to size 16 wink)

      Reply

    • james says:

      11:25pm | 30/03/11

      All the health people can get stuffed. never ever let anyone tell you how to lose weight, your bound to fail. find what works for you and stick with it.

      I lost 34kg since aug last year, by not snacking between meals, and eating salads as a big portion of lunch and dinner.

      I didnt count calories, i didnt go to the gym (until a month ago), i still ate bad food, i just ate before 7pm and didnt eat afterwards.

      What works for you works for you. i ate a double down today, weighed the same after digestion. so health critics can shut their mouths it has no affect.

      Reply

    • LC says:

      09:23am | 31/03/11

      The author ain’t seen nothing yet. Google “Epic Meal Time”.

      Reply

    • Darren says:

      02:39pm | 31/03/11

      just looked up “Epic Meal Time”. Cant wait till they make a chocolate covered candied double down wrapped in candied bacon

    • Sean says:

      05:22pm | 31/03/11

      Honestly, knowing what I know about bread, the Double Down is probably healthier than a normal KFC burger.

      Reply

    • Darren says:

      08:26am | 01/04/11

      but I shared a bucket of lard with Tory just last week!

    • Louise says:

      06:31pm | 03/04/11

      Caesar salad ISN’T healthy?!? You don’t say!

      Reply
 
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