They're happy because they eat lard

I'm really hoping that Cheeseburger Fries do not come to Europe in any way shape, or form. Not out of any cultural or culinary imperative, but because I've got no willpower whatsoever and bringing those near me will pretty much be the equivalent of having someone walking behind me, regularly ambushing me with an intravenous injection of saturated fat.

The advert does highlight that food marketing boards (in this case, the US' National Beef Council) have the same problem worldwide - just how do you sell a basic product rather than a brand? They came up with 'Beef: It's what's for dinner', just in case, people were getting confused about what beef might actually be used for. That said, there was some kind of strange appeal to the slogan 'Ahh, The power of cheese.'

Back to the deep fried lard in breadcrumbs, sorry, 'Cheeseburger Fries' and I'm really hoping that there's a misprint somewhere in this paragraph:

Like most bar snacks, cheeseburger fries pack quite a dietary wallop. Each individual fry has about 75 calories and four grams of fat. The fries for schools have less beef per serving but still have about 60 calories and, in fact, more fat — a total of 6 grams — in each fry. And nobody eats just one.

Fat contains about nine calories per gram, so for the regular fries about half of the calories come from fat, which isn't too healthy, but isn't going to damage you too badly unless you live entirely on them. However, the 'fries for schools' if the information is right, are little more than the aforementioned deep fried lard in breadcrumbs. Six grams of fat mean that about 90% (54 out of 60 calories) of the total energy in these are coming from fat - and they want to give these to kids? That's why I'm really hoping there's a misprint somewhere. Still, the beef content must ensure there's some protein making up that other 6 calories so it's probably a good Atkins starter for kids who plan on dieting in later life.

(originally via Atrios, No More Mister Nice Blog and Technorati)