10 Things You Should Know Before Your Next Visit To Burger King

Just how unhealthy is fast food for you? There's one combo meal on the Burger King menu that gives you more calories than you're supposed to have in an entire day. But which one? One of the advantages Burger King has over many other burger restaurants is its budget friendly menu. But to maximize savings, customers should do some math before ordering. For example, if you order the 16 piece chicken Nuggets, which runs around $4.89, it's cheaper on a per nugget basis than getting the four piece meal for roughly $1.99. And watch out for combo deals, because they may not be deals at all. The chain's trick or heat bundle include a Whopper, chicken fries, a drink, regular fries, and a Hershey Sundae pie. It's a lot of food, and the price reflected it at a whopping $13. It's fair to assume most people do not go to Burger King to spend that kind of money, especially since they may not actually want everything it comes with. Instead of getting the combo meal, you can fill yourself up for less by getting 2 value menu chicken sandwiches. Burger King relies heavily on marketing to promote its menu items. Yet sometimes the difference between what's in the ad and what a customer receives can be a point of serious contention. Take the 2023 ad campaign featuring the Whopper with a bevy of fillings. These images LED unhappy customers to file a class action lawsuit claiming that these marketing images showed Burger King's Whopper Burger with up to 35% more volume than what was in the burger served to diners. The suit also claimed that the pictured burger showed double the meat or more than the real thing. And you looks yummy, doesn't it? You can see the meat is filling, spilling out. Yum Yum Yum Yum Yum. Burger King went on the defensive and tried to get the case dismissed, but the judge wasn't having it, so instead they tried to get the opposing lawyers sanctioned. Burger King also pointed out that some of the same lawyers had filed a similar lawsuit against McDonald's and Wendy's, which had been dismissed. So is Burger King telling Whoppers about the Whopper? Whatever the court's ultimate decision, your mouth is the final arbiter. Depending on how often something is ordered, Burger King's menu options are potentially left out under a heat lamp for a prolonged period. At least, that is reportedly the case for some of Burger King's less popular menu items. One Redditor who says that they used to work at a Burger King claimed that their chain would have some items sitting out not only all day, but in some cases for multiple days. The worst offender, according to the writer, was the chain's fish fillet sandwich. The fillets are not the only broadly unpopular menu items that can be left under heat lamps for hours on end. According to Reddit, the Whopper Junior chicken fries and chicken Nuggets often tend to find themselves in the same predicament, so going along with the crowd is the best way to ensure you're getting fresher food. A lot of people enjoy cheese on their burgers, but Burger King's Whopper does not necessarily have cheese included in the assortment of toppings typically offered with the burger. Instead, diners will have to specifically ask for a Whopper with cheese. Depending on your location, though, that slice of cheese might cost as much as a dollar. As of 2024, a Whopper without cheese is around $6.39. Depending on your location, With cheese, that sandwich can potentially reach $7.00 or more, and that's without added drinks or sides. From a business perspective, this cheese upcharge offers a way to make extra money from a relatively low cost ingredient, but it's a move and extra cost that customers may want to consider when ordering their next Burger King burger. When some people go out to eat, they're looking for a health conscious lunch or dinner option that is not packed with calories. This may come in the form of a salad, something that could be full of healthy vegetables and protein. Yet that is not necessarily the case when it comes to Burger King's Crispy Chicken garden salad, which can actually have more calories than Burger King's iconic Whopper. Registered dietitian Sue Hikinen told us that while a Whopper clocked in at 675 calories, the Crispy Chicken Garden Salad came in at a staggering estimated 870 calories and 71 grams of fat. Yes, the salad has a base of lettuce, but it's the crispy part of the garden salad that is the battered and fried chicken on top, which they also use in their chicken sandwiches that adds to the calories. If a person also uses dressing, then the salad will become even more calorie dense. Needless to say, calling something a salad does not necessarily mean it is a healthy option, so it's best to think about the ingredients that go into a Burger King salad before you order. Cooking breakfast in the morning is not an option for everyone, especially if they're running late. That's where Burger King breakfast comes into play, namely the Ultimate Breakfast Platter, which consists of pancakes, hash Browns, eggs, sausage, and a biscuit. It has everything that a person needs for a hearty breakfast on the go, and more. Much more. In fact, the ultimate breakfast platter clocks in at a massive 930 calories and 44 total grams of fat, and some customers say that it's unnecessary because the pancakes alone are enough to fill you up. Another good alternative option is one of Burger King's breakfast sandwiches, the egg and cheese croissant, which is only 340 calories and a potentially better way to start one's day unless you really want to bust your gut. I worry. What you just heard was give me a lot of bacon and eggs. What I said was give me all the bacon and eggs you have. When it comes to healthy eating, any menu item with the word double in the name can be seen right away as a dangerous choice, especially if said menu item is coming from a fast food chain. Burger, King's Double Sausage, Egg and Cheese, Croissant, Witch and biscuit are the particular issue here, as each breakfast sandwich is packed with a serious sodium punch. The croissant witch's sodium value is 2196g, and the biscuit comes with 2526 grams of sodium, which is more than the entire recommended daily value for an adult, according to the FDA. Now, much sodium on a regular basis can contribute to a slew of health issues, including high blood pressure, a loss of calcium, and an increased risk of stroke and developing serious heart disease. Even taking out the issue of sodium, these breakfast sandwiches are still not exactly on the healthy side. They clock in at 883 and 853 calories, respectively, putting them on the higher end of breakfast sandwich calorie counts. The American Institute of Cancer Research states that a more reasonable egg and cheese breakfast sandwich should be between 300 and 350 calories, which is what someone may have in mind when they order off the BK menu. Not all fast food burgers are created equal. In some cases, one burger might be more of a detriment to your health than others. On Burger King's menu, that health risk might sneak past in the form of the Bacon King. Consisting of two beef fatties, American cheese ketchup and mayonnaise, the Bacon King is also typically topped with a hearty portion of thick cut bacon. So what does that mean for your belly? Well, the Bacon King comes in at a whopping 1710 calories. In terms of nutrition, this might just be one of the worst fast food burgers on the market. Add in an order of French fries and a drink which you can get as part of the combo meal, and you are likely looking at over 600 added calories for those as well, for a total that is more than the recommended amount of calories an adult should have in an entire day. During an interview with She Finds, registered dietitian Sherri Burger explained that there are other risk factors associated with eating a Bacon King as well due to its saturated fat content, which currently comes in at about 48g per serving, and relatively high levels of salt. She stated that saturated fats and sodium are not great for one's heart health when eaten regularly, especially when the American Heart Association recommends only 13 grams of saturated fat per day, or less than 1/3 of the amount in this single burger. The Whopper is one of Burger King's most popular menu items, consisting of a four ounce beef Patty, lettuce, tomato, onion, ketchup, mayonnaise, and Pickles all piled together on a sesame bun. Now add 2 more beef patties and a slice of cheese and you will have the Triple Whopper. While adding more protein is not necessarily a bad thing, the Triple Whopper is more than just protein with some vegetables and condiments, it is a calorie bomb. This specific menu item is 1303 calories with 90 grams of fat on its own. That doesn't include a side of French fries and a drink. A less calorie dense option is a Whopper Junior without mayonnaise and cheese, this burger is typically only 260 calories compared to 330 calories with all of the fixings. While it is not nearly as large, the Whopper Junior is sure to settle that Burger King craving and leave customers satisfied with their quick meal option without quite so many extra calories. When it first came on the market, Impossible Meat was advertised as a plant based alternative to meat patties, but still with a distinct meat like flavor. Because of its plant based status, it may be easy to assume that the Impossible meat Patty is more healthy than a similarly sized beef Patty. Yet you may want to rethink that preconceived notion. Registered dietitian Sharon Zarabi, then the director of the bariatric program at Lenox Hill Hospital, pushed back against the idea during a 2019 interview with Healthline, the same year that Burger King introduced the Impossible Whopper. It's made of beef right? Here. You see that? That's beef. Mr. Robbie explained that the new Patty is not necessarily healthier than its beefy counterpart. In fact, the Whopper came in at 660 calories, with 40 grams of fat and 28 grams of protein. Well, the Impossible Whopper was 630 calories, 34 grams of fat and 25 grams of protein. The Impossible Whopper was significantly lower in cholesterol, 10 milligrams to the originals, 90 milligrams, but also had significantly higher amounts of sodium, clocking in at 1240 milligrams compared to 980 milligrams in the meat based WHOPPER.