Every few months, the KFC chain introduces a new menu item loaded with calories and fat and sodium and there's great outrage that such an unhealthy item is available for purchase. Birthed not long ago in Korea (but coming our way) is the Zinger Double Down King sandwich: Two pieces of fried chicken (functioning as the "bread" of the sandwich) with a grilled hamburger patty, bacon, pepper jack cheese and an unidentified white sauce.
Google it and you'll find many people horrified that this concoction has 750 calories and 50 grams of fat and 3,000 mg of sodium. I don't get why they're so upset. At KFC, everything has 750 calories, 50 grams of fat and 3,000 mg of sodium.
For years now, you've been able to march into any of the 18,875 KFC outlets in 118 countries and order a drumstick and a breast (original recipe) plus a side of mashed potatoes and gravy plus a biscuit and that's 750 calories, 50 grams of fat and 3,000 mg of sodium. So are three pieces of their grilled (non-fried) chicken plus a side of (choke!) cole slaw and a biscuit. Hell, if you went into one of those places and ordered a small Diet Coke, it would probably have 750 calories, 50 grams of fat and 3,000 mg of sodium…
…or as they'd call it at Cheesecake Factory, a Skinnylicious® platter. The Cheesecake Factory menu has 166 items that are over 1,000 calories. An order of their Southern Fried Chicken Sliders has 1,320 calories and there are many entrees where one serving gives you the equivalent of around three Zinger Double Down Kings. One order of their Bruleed French Toast has 2,780 calories and 93 grams of fat — but only 2,230 mg of sodium so I guess that makes up for it.
I am not suggesting you eat any of these things; just that we stop acting like KFC is the only restaurant chain doing this. Applebee's serves a chocolate chip cookie sundae with 1,660 calories and 51 grams of saturated fat. IHOP has a Country Fried Steak and Eggs with 1,760 calories. If you go to a Chili's and order a full rack Baby Back Ribs with Homestyle Fries and Cinnamon Apples, you're ordering 2,330 calories. Compared to a lot of stuff out there, the Zinger Double Down King is health food.