Lab analysis reveals burgers shouldn't be an everyday treat July 15, 2010
No one ever claimed a fully loaded banquet burger is health food.
But compared to the biggest, gooiest hamburgers in the city, the double banquet burger at Original Motorcycle Gourmet Burgers is practically dietetic. And this is for a burger that still contains half the sodium an average male needs in a day, along with 75 per cent of the calories and 90 per cent of the fat.
“It is basically a heart attack on a plate, and these are the best numbers? Scary,” said registered dietitian Nicole Shuckett.
The Toronto Star rounded up five artery-clogging, kidney-stressing hamburgers from independent restaurants for laboratory analysis. Most exceeded the daily recommended allowance of fat and salt. And that’s before adding fries.
Many of the burgers were too big to fit into takeout containers, or mouths. In Taiwan, diners are apparently damaging their jaws because of humongous hamburgers. A dentist told The China Post problems can arise when tucking into burgers higher than eight centimetres.
Some even boast about unhealthiness, like The Burger Bar. Its $18 OMGTMJKM (Oh My Goodness, This Might Just Kill Me) Burger is an eight-ounce beef patty topped with chili, a fried egg, three cheeses (blue, brie and chevre), bacon and an onion ring. It comes, cheekily, on a whole-wheat bun.
