- We kill our fans!
A four-pound, gut-busting burger, consisting of five beef patties, five slices of cheese, nearly a cup of chili and liberal doses of salsa, sour cream and corn chips ” all served on an eight-inch bun ” has come under fire from Susan Levin, a staff dietitian for the Washington-based Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. The bodacious burger, created as a promotional gimmick for the minor league West Michigan Whitecaps, contains 4,800 calories. Levin sent a letter to the Grand Rapids team earlier this week asking that the burger be labeled a “dietary disaster.” She cited the recent study released by the National Institutes of Health (see Red Meat in the Hot Seat).
Team spokesperson Mickey Graham says the burger is a publicity stunt that is being promoted as a very unhealthy menu item. He hopes the gimmick will attract patrons to come to the ballpark and try a burger. “We’ve had people come here just for dinner,” Graham said. “It actually happens pretty frequently. We take our food pretty seriously.”
The $20 burger has 299 grams of total fat, 199 grams of saturated fat, 10,887 milligrams of sodium, 354 grams of total carbs and 744 milligrams of cholesterol. If a patron can finish the burger in one sitting, they’ll receive a commemorative tee-shirt.