Hamburger, hamburger, hamburger

No wonder people get fat.

Everything gets bigger and bigger, I find, in the world of fast food.

News has been buzzing for a while about Burger King’s Enormous Omelet Sandwich, a breakfast item which consists of one large sausage patty, two eggs, two slices of American cheese, and three strips of bacon. It weighs in with 730 calories and 47 grams of fat.

To put that in perspective, the average American female aged 19-50 requires 1800 to 2400 calories each day, while men in the same range need 2200 to 3000 (Department of Agriculture and Department of Health and Human Services).

Critics hate it, but it’s defended by Denny Post, chief product officer at Burger King: “It’s designed for people who like to start the day with a hearty breakfast.”

But wait! If you think that’s bad, you should see the first sandwich that bucked the “eating fast food is good for you” trend: Hardee’s Monster Thick Burger.

This ridiculous piece of food has no less than two 1/3 pound slabs of beef, four strips of bacon, and three slices of American cheese. It costs $5.49 and has 1420 calories and 107 grams of fat.

And if that doesn’t send your heart into cardiac arrest just by looking at it, then feast your eyes on this:

Yes, this is what happens when burger restaurants fight. For years, two restaurants, Denny’s Beer Barrel Pub (Clearfield, Pennsylvania) and the Clinton Station Diner (Clinton, New Jersey) have been fighting it out over who serves the biggest hamburger. Denny’s held the title for a long time, offering the 96er, which was, according to their website, 96 ounces (6 pounds), of beef, two whole tomatoes, a half head of lettuce, 12 slices of American cheese, a full cup of peppers, two entire onions, and a river of mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard. It cost $23.95.

The Diner fought back with the 12.5-pound Zeus, but held the largest burger title for only a few months, when Denny’s upped the size again with the above hamburger – the 15 pound Beer Barrel Belly Buster.

The ingredients: 10.5 pounds of ground beef, 25 slices of cheese, a head of lettuce, three tomatoes, two onions, a cup-and-a-half each of mayonnaise, relish, ketchup, mustard and banana peppers. On a bun.

Eat up, indeed.