McDonalds is a global presence but each nation has some leeway in what products they put on the menu. Thus, the presence of teriyaki burgers and shrimp sandwiches at McDonalds Japan is no surprise. Their other offerings ARE surprising, however... even shocking - and I'm not talking about whale nuggets, either (though the allusion to great size is fitting).







No, it's the burgers. Multi-layered, hypercaloric extravaganzas that make the Whopper look like a whimper. Most of the super-sized sandwiches - marketed by McDonalds Japan under the "MEGA" moniker - are sold for a limited time only. Which is actually a good thing, as a steady diet of these monsters would severely limit your time on the planet.



Take the "Mega Terayaki", for instance... made ("built" is perhaps a better word) with two pork patties topped with teriyaki sauce and sweet lemon mayonnaise, the Mega Teriyaki weighs in at a whoppering 903 calories and packs 64.3 grams of fat!







There's a very good reason why McDonalds Japan continues to roll out new and ever more massive mega burgers - the Japanese love them! Over 3.32 million of the original Mega Macs were sold in their first weekend back in January of 2007, nearly twice what McDonalds Japan product planners anticipated.

The scheduled 3-week run was extended indefinitely as a result. For a mere 350 yen (about $3.50), the Mega Mac offers hungry (and you'd better be) customers four beef patties, cheese & dressing along with a trio of sesame seed buns. If you can eat the whole thing, you've just inflicted 754 calories from 45.9 grams of fat on your circulatory system. Now that's gotta heart!







Even breakfast has succumbed to the relentless push for mega-ness: as the new "Mega Muffin" so graphically demonstrates. Calorie & fat counts are not yet available but the numbers have got to be mega-scary. How can they not be, when each Mega Muffin is throwing 2 pork sausages, 1 egg, bacon, cheese, and ketchup your way? And you just know you're gonna hear "would you like fries with that?"... resist that siren song, if you can!



All of this burger bloating seems so out of character for Japan, land of artistically designed sushi eaten slowly and delicately with lacquered chopsticks. The only thing I can think of is that if Godzilla returns to finally finish off Tokyo, he'll stuff himself so full of Mega Teriyaki burgers that there'll be no room left to gobble the Ginza. (via A Rinkya Blog)