For years, America's fast-food empires have embodied what's wrong with our eating habits: Too fast, for one thing, and too fatty. And thanks to the trend that dominated fast food in 2011, you can add another downside: Way, way too flagrantly over-the-top.
Domino's Stuffed Cheesy Bread
Plain old stuffed crust? That's so last decade — at least according to Domino's Pizza. Earlier this year, the chain rolled out a line of “Stuffed Cheesy Bread” that's full of “cheese, cheese, and more cheese.” In fact, the breads — which come in spinach and feta, bacon and jalapeño, and plain cheese — contain as much cheese as an entire medium pizza.
KFC Chicken Bacon Bowl
A bowl can hardly contain “layers of your favorites” without including bacon. Or so was the logic at KFC, which added bacon as a limited-time topping to the chain's line of “Famous Bowls.” How did they do it? Well, they took a 680-calorie combo of mashed potatoes, corn, popcorn chicken, gravy and cheese — then added bacon.
Story: Small chain wins America's favorite fast-food burger
Starbucks' Trenta Drinks
Fast-food excess is hardly reserved for food alone. Take Starbucks' Trenta-sized cups, the veritable Big Gulps of coffee consumption, which each contain 31 ounces of caffeinated brew to pour down your gullet. And if caffeine-induced twitching isn't enough of a health risk, consumers should be advised to pace themselves: The cups are actually larger than the typical human stomach.
Denny's Maple Bacon Sundae
What's more horrifying than an ice cream sundae that features vanilla soft serve, maple syrup, and bacon bits? An entire menu of creations based on the same bacon-centric principle. Denny's, however, has gone there. The chain's “Baconalia!” menu included that cringe-worthy sundae, along with a triple-decker BLT, Bacon Meatloaf and Bacon Flapjacks.
Burger King Stuffed Steakhouse Burger
If fast food has taught us one thing, it is this: Any food item can be stuffed inside any other. Burger King's Stuffed Steakhouse Burger, introduced earlier this year, is a prime example. Not content to simply put cheese atop a burger patty, the chain stuffed bits of cheddar and jalapeño inside the beef, for “an experience you can see and taste in every bite.”
Are you a fan of any of these fast-food menu items? Are there others that are even more over-the-top? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
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