I have, of course, zero interest in trying KFC's new Double Down sandwich, which consists of two fried chicken fillets acting as the "bread," containing two slices of Monterey Jack and pepper jack cheese, two slices of bacon and a special sauce. In most fast food restaurants, "special sauce" means mayonnaisse mixed with something else they have lying around. One Double Down gives you 540 calories, 32 grams of fat and an eyeball-busting 1,380 milligrams of sodium. That's the version with the fried chicken fillets. They also have one with grilled chicken. That has 460 calories, 23 grams of fat and 1,430 milligrams of sodium. I guess the extra sodium is to make up for any possible artery blockage you lose when you drop out that much fat.
My disinterest flows not just from the nutritional numbers. Truth to tell, a lot of us probably eat things in restaurants all the time that sound healthier but really aren't. My disinterest is because it's been a good twenty years since I had anything from a KFC that tasted like anything other than stale, deep-fried batter…and that includes the one time I popped into one to get a bottle of Dasani water. Someone could probably open a very successful fast food franchise if they could just advertise (and deliver) fried chicken as good as the Colonel's was before PepsiCo bought the chain in 1986. The decline actually started in 1971 when the company that bought out Colonel Sanders sold the operation to Heublein and it got worse in '82 when the R.J. Reynolds company acquired it. But it didn't get really bad until PepsiCo moved in and cheapened things down to inedible. Which is great. Think how fat America would be if the food at KFC tasted good.
People are acting horrified that KFC would offer such an unhealthy sandwich. This is like being shocked that Larry Flynt is putting out something in bad taste. What else do you expect? It's KFC. If you went in to eat there and they didn't have this sandwich, you'd probably order two pieces of Original Recipe fried chicken (breast and drumstick), an order of potato wedges and a biscuit…for a total of 880 calories, 43 grams of fat and 2,320 milligrams of sodium. Compared to that, the Double Down qualifies as Health Food.