Fat, 40 and fried: not the typical desirable description one seeks upon reaching the big four-decade milestone.
But it suits the Big Mac.
Last week, the fast food icon turned 40 and the Big Mac shows no signs of mid-life crisis. According to McDonald’s website sources, there are more than 1,400 restaurants in Canada serving the Big Mac and 31,000 worldwide in about 100 countries.
The venerable burger has about 540 calories and 29 grams of fat packed into its bun, cheese, special sauce and beef. Canadian Big Macs feature 100 percent Canadian beef, according to McDonald’s.
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That latter fact is a relief, since I can remember rumours in years past about the use of Australian beef in the Canadian Big Mac. It was enough to discourage any Albertan from visiting Mickey D’s, although at that time the nearest Golden Arches were more than 150 miles away so my boycott probably wasn’t that noticeable to the franchise.
It was love at first bite for me and the Big Mac. Last week, to mark the 40th, I asked some colleagues about their relationship with the famous burger.
“I never understood the Big Mac,” said Winnipeg reporter Ed White in an e-mail. “Why is it not the Big Mc? Obviously no copy editors in the McDonald’s marketing department.”
White was among several who questioned the extra layer of bread inside. “Why put two thin burgers and another layer of bread into the sandwich when, to me, the only point of the bread is to provide a grease-free handhold for meat delivery?”
Here, here, fellow beef lover. Research provided one explanation: the mid-burger bun gives improved structural stability to the sandwich. It is not, as some opined, an extra sop for grease.
For Saskatoon reporter Sean Pratt, thoughts of early experiences with Big Macs are family related. Alive in his memory is a visit to the McDonald’s drive through with Grandma at the wheel. Before he could bite into his Big Mac, Grandma and her orange Gremlin became stuck on an over-fed McDonald’s speed bump.
Canadian figures weren’t available at press time, but in the United States, it is estimated that there are 17 Big Macs sold per second. That’s a lot of beef. But how much?
Assuming the two all-beef patties amount to about a quarter-pound of meat, it would require at least 268,056 beef animals per year (estimating 500 lb. of hamburger available per animal, just for easy figuring) to supply a year’s worth of American Big Macs.
And those are only one brand name among the fast food burger repertoire.
Big Mac is big in more ways than one.
