Unbound 2005: Breakfast Is Served

EDITOR'S NOTE: This article was originally published on May 26, 2005 in The Daily Journal, a Gannett paper based in Vineland, NJ.

Few things can truly be called enormous.

A humpback whale? Check. The Great Wall of China? Sure.

But can you apply this adjective to a breakfast sandwich?

Well, maybe.

Earlier this year, Burger King® introduced its Enormous Omelet Sandwich®. A quick check of the ingredients shows the new entry into the fast-food breakfast market lives up to its name. It's made with two sausage patty halves, two eggs, three strips of bacon and two slices of American cheese, all packed onto a large bun. These ingredients total 740 calories, 46 grams of fat, 330 milligrams of cholesterol, 45 grams of carbohydrates, and 1,950 milligrams of sodium.

"It's good," said Vineland, NJ resident Trina Davis, 26, when she stopped at the Burger King on North Delsea Drive in Vineland last week. "It's very good. I can't believe that something this good that's not homemade comes from Burger King."

A lot of customers agree. Since introducing the sandwich, Burger King has seen breakfast sales increase by 20 percent. Burger King's Chief Executive Officer Greg Brenneman told Newsweek that the philosophy of the fast food restaurant is to give people what they want. (Remember the old slogan, "Have it your way"?)

For a culture that keeps "The South Beach Diet" on The New York Times bestsellers list, it would seem most people would steer clear of the Enormous Omelet Sandwich.

But you can't argue with taste. "When we first offered [the Enormous Omelet Sandwich], some people said it had too many calories," said Victor Salvatore, manager of the Burger King in front of the Cumberland Mall. "But people started ordering it, and now, a lot of people order it. We've definitely noticed an increase in business since we first offered it."

And that's not the only heavy hitter on Burger King's menu. The Double Croissan'wich® has about as many calories as the new omelet meal. "The basic difference is that the Enormous Omelet Sandwich is long, and the Double Croissan'wich is round," said Salvatore. Indeed, a Double Croissan'wich with double sausage has 770 calories, even more than the Enormous Omelet Sandwich.

But Burger King isn't alone. The Sausage Egg and Cheese McGriddle® from McDonalds® is far smaller than the new Burger King sandwich, but chock full of fat and calories. The 7-ounce McGriddle has 560 calories, 32 grams of fat, 260 milligrams of cholesterol, 48 grams of carbohydrates, and 1,290 milligrams of sodium.

Maria Basche, a clinical nutrition manager at South Jersey Healthcare and a registered dietician, agreed the sandwich might be tasty, but the risk it poses for someone who eats it regularly should be crystal clear.

"For a person trying to cut down on their cholesterol intake, we usually recommend 300 milligrams of cholesterol a day, and with this sandwich, you've exceeded that intake in one meal," Basche said. The sodium content of the sandwich also exceeds the recommended low sodium diet of 2000 milligrams a day.

The calories aren't too big a problem according to Basche, since 760 calories is about a third of a normal 2000 to 2200 calorie diet. However, she usually doesn't recommend food with more than a third of the calories coming from fat.

Basche said that a person could recreate the sandwich at home using healthier alternatives. "An English muffin for a bun, low-fat American cheese, and low-fat bacon or turkey bacon would make a much healthier alternative sandwich," she said. "Would the Burger King sandwich taste better? Yes. Would the homemade sandwich be healthier? Yes."

Healthy or not, the sandwich's popularity shows no signs of waning. "I've only ordered the sandwich twice so far," said Trina Davis, "but I'm definitely going to order it more."

Ben Leach is a Journalism and Professional Writing major at The College of New Jersey with a Chemistry minor. This summer he wrote for The Daily Journal in Vineland, New Jersey. He is also involved with the Student Honors Society and is a staff writer for The Signal, TCNJ's student newspaper.