A new trend towards oversized and unhealthy foods has set the heart rate of Irish nutritionists racing, writes Fiona Tyrrell
A new trend among American fast food outlets to push jumbo, meat-laden "indulgent" offerings has raised alarm bells among nutritionists and food experts on both sides of the Atlantic.
Hoping to appeal to serious meat lovers, this trend for unapologetically oversized and unhealthy food is a massive U-turn for the industry, which only a couple of years ago began introducing healthy choices to its menus to counteract a fast food backlash.
Burger King's new Stackers Quad burger, for example, consists of four beef patties, four slices of cheese and eight strips of bacon. Fancy trimmings such as lettuce, tomato and onion have been abandoned.
It seems that the anti-fast food movement, which heralded the arrival of all sorts of healthy meal choices, salads and fruit in fast food restaurants, has prompted a backlash of its own. Now US fast food operators are ditching the healthy eating campaigns and salads and going back to basics. Macho advertising slogans in the US such as "Stack it high, tough guy" and "No veggies allowed" hammer home this un-politically correct message.
Stackers come in three varieties: double, triple and quadruple layers of beef and cheese. Two weeks ago the Guardian newspaper reported how Denny Marie Post, Burger King's chief concept officer, said the Stackers concept aimed to satisfy "the serious meat lovers by leaving off the produce and letting them decide exactly how much meat and cheese they can handle".
Despite how much meat and cheese fast food chains think you can handle, it is worth noting that weighing in at 311g with 1,000 calories and 68g of fat, a Stackers Quad is a handy way to consume half of your recommended calorie intake and 97 per cent of your fat intake.
It remains unclear whether Stackers will be launched in Ireland. A spokeswoman for Burger King in the UK says there are "no current plans" to introduce Stackers to Ireland or the UK. While much of the Burger King menu is the same around the world, there are some products available in certain areas that reflect local preferences, she says. The Enormous Omelette Sandwich, released in the US, has not been released in Britain or Ireland, she points out.
Nonetheless, the very thought of Stackers Quad has set the heart rate of Irish nutritionists racing.
Nutrition consultant Nuala Collins says she would be "shocked and horrified" to see anything like Stackers available in Irish fast food restaurants.
Stackers "fly in the face" of the concept of portion control, according to Collins. "It doesn't take a genius to know that four burgers and four slices of cheese constitutes overeating."
A Stackers Quad, Collins estimates, will provide eight times the recommended portion size of protein.
"We are struggling to help people understand what constitutes correct portion sizes at the moment, the availability of these mega meals would really undermine any success we could achieve."
Portion control, rather than fad diets, is the new focal point for nutrition and dietetics, according to Collins. It is seen as the smart way to help people lose weight and, more importantly, unlike fad diets, keep weight off. Portion control is a particular challenge for Irish people, who, according to Collins, are eating in "excess to the extreme".
"In the weight management clinics I run, portion size is a fundamental problem. People don't know what a portion is and are eating too much. They often can be eating all the right foods but eating too much of it."
Educating people about portion size is integral to weight loss, according to Collins. She often finds that young people who are overweight are eating the same portion size as their parents. Changing this "can make a big difference".
Burger King is not the only offender. A promotional product introduced for the duration of the World Cup by McDonald's called the Mega Mac, which is 40 per cent larger than the Big Mac and has four beef patties, "sold very well", according to the spokeswoman.
The burger was targeted at young active males looking for a filling meal between World Cup matches, she explains, and was available only during the World Cup, she says. A trip to my local McDonald's indicates, however, that World Cup fever continues unabated with a Mega Mac, fries and drink available for €7.40.
According to the chain's informative website (www.mcdonalds.ie), which gives nutritional information on all its products, the Mega Mac packs in 695 calories, 44g of protein, 38g of fat and 2.8g of salt. This will provide strapping young football fans with 35 per cent of their recommended daily allowance of calories, 59 per cent of the protein they need, 57 per cent of the fat and 56 per cent of the salt they are recommended to consume in the entire day. And that's not counting the soft drink and French fries they presumably eat with the meal.
A large fries from McDonald's will give you 24 per cent of your recommended calorie intake, 34 per cent of your fat and 36 per cent of your recommended daily allowance of salt.
Sales figures for salads in McDonald's were not available, but the spokeswoman admits "they are not huge".
Healthier options available at the restaurant include four different types of chicken salads and fruit juices. However, while the salads may be relatively low in fat and calories, the chain's crispy chicken ranch salad, for example, contains 58 per cent of the recommended daily allowance of salt.
Chief executive of Supermac's, Pat McDonagh, says his chain of restaurants has no plans to bring out Stackers or anything similar.
The chain, like many others, introduced salads three years ago. However, McDonagh admits that they sell "poorly".
However, he argues that people "don't go into a fast food restaurant for a salad", they go in once or twice a week or once a month to "enjoy what they eat and not to watch their calories".
While no research has been conducted on the eating habits of Irish adults, Collins believes that because of time, work and commuting pressures, Irish adults are eating takeaway, restaurant or ready made food at least once a week.
The good news, however, is that only 6 per cent of the energy children derive from food is eaten outside the home, according to a national survey of children's eating habits conducted last year.
This indicates that the way to improve Irish children's health is to target what is happening at home and what is going into the supermarket trolley, she says.