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Burger King's New Offering in Thailand Has No Meat and 20 Slices of Cheese (cnn.com) 93

Posted by msmash from the how-about-that dept.
Burger King is causing a stir in Thailand with its new offering: a burger with no meat and a jaw-dropping amount of cheese. From a report: This week, the Thai operator of the fast food chain introduced what it calls the "real cheeseburger," a bun filled with as many as 20 slices of American cheese. The item launched on Thai menus Sunday, at a reduced price of 109 Thai baht ($3.1), compared with the usual price of 380 baht ($10.9). It quickly went viral on social media in Thailand, with many users on TikTok posting videos of them trying the new sandwich.

"This is no joke. This is for real," Burger King said in a Sunday social media post. At one Burger King branch in Bangkok on Tuesday, a shift manager was overheard saying the outlet had to stop taking delivery orders so they could have enough stock left for walk-in diners.
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Burger King's New Offering in Thailand Has No Meat and 20 Slices of Cheese More

Burger King's New Offering in Thailand Has No Meat and 20 Slices of Cheese

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  • Burger King invents the grilled cheese? (Score:3)

    by Mspangler ( 770054 ) on Tuesday July 11, 2023 @12:44PM (#63677365)

    But with American cheese? At least use sharp cheddar.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Arethan ( 223197 )

      The bun:cheese ratio is way off for it to be a grilled cheese, and the bun doesn't look toasted.
      It looks more like a cheese sandwich that I'd expect Carl's Jr. to manifest -- ie, looks both artery clogging and gross.
      Someone tell Burger King they missing April 1st by several weeks.

    • Yeah... other than Homer Simpson, is there anyone who could consume that amount of cheese (processed or otherwise) and be unfazed?

      I would be stopped up for days after consuming half that thing.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by hjf ( 703092 )

        Yes, any argentinian basically

        Look up "pizzeria guerrin" and look at the amount of cheese in their pizzas.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by skam240 ( 789197 )

        While I would never eat this particular sandwich as it looks disgusting I have easily eaten the amount of cheese on this sandwich in one sitting many times in my life without any digestive problems. Homemade mac and cheese comes to mind, there's also a killer pizza place near me that does a two layer Chicago style deep dish that has like an inch of cheese in-between the top and bottom slice and then a light amount of cheese on top. I dont eat like that all the time as I like to keep a healthy weight but eve

    • But with American cheese? At least use sharp cheddar.

      Remember we're talking about Burger King here.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by jonadab ( 583620 )
      Yellow American is alright if you're cooking for young children (like, preschool age). They typically don't like strong flavors and tend to prefer milder ones.

      It's not so great for adults, granted. Though it could be worse. I know somebody who makes grilled "cheese" sandwiches with Velveeta instead of cheese. Also I know somebody else who prefers them with Kraft singles. I know both these people IRL. So yeah. It can always be worse.

    • Yo dawg. We heard you like to spike your body's cholesterol with an ungodly amount of saturated fat, so we put 20 slices of cheese in your cheeseburger.

      (Does it come with free Statins?)

      • Yo dawg. We hear that you still believe in the U.S. Government's wildly corrupt nutrition standards from the 1970s, which utterly falsely claimed that dietary cholesterol is a cause of high blood cholesterol.

      • Likely no worse than a couple beef patties in the bun
      • Yeah, looks like [fastfoodnutrition.org] 60g of saturated fat. That's 300% of your USDA recommended allowance.

        Although, there's no meat or anything else on the burger so it's not all that crazy compared to some American options [fastfoodnutrition.org].
    • I don't have so much problem with all of the cheese, but please consider adding onions and possibly potatoes, while upgrading the bread to something like ciabatta. Also, let's talk about what kind of cheese to work with here.

    • The best grilled cheese is made with government American cheese. You may be too young to have had one.

    • processed American cheese is the best cheese for melting on a sandwich and people who suggest otherwise have a very rudimentary understanding of food science. I will fight each and every one of you on this.

      • >> processed American cheese is the best cheese...
        Wrong.
        That is a chemical with nutritional properties. Not cheese.

        • It is literally just Cheddar and Colby cheeses mixed with an emulsifying salt. Keep torturing yourself with your gritty, fickle Mornay sauces if it gives you a feeling of smug superiority. Personally, I'd much rather reap the benefits of modern food science.

    • But with American cheese? At least use sharp cheddar.

      No, with Thai cheese most likely.

    • Frankly, if the French chose to do this (possibly as a parody), they'd do it with 20 different types of cheese.

      A different 20 types for each county (département) of the country.

    • a bun filled with as many as 20 slices of American cheese

      Thailand has pretty sharp lÃse-majesté laws, they better pray that King Vajiralongkorn never eats one of these things.

  • So? (Score:3)

    by bjoast ( 1310293 ) on Tuesday July 11, 2023 @12:52PM (#63677397)
    I am momentarily going to ignore that this irrelevant shit was actually given a post on Slashdot, but apart from the fact that fast food cheese is disgusting, what is strange about bread with cheese?

    • I just came here to watch the discussion about the bizarre currency conversion.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by skam240 ( 789197 )

      Well when you exclude the fact that "fast food cheese is disgusting" then nothing. The gross part is that it's a full pack of processed cheese slices on one sandwich but yeah, if you exclude that then everything is normal with this sandwich.

    • Liquid meat is still meat.

  • I'm waiting for Sam The Cooking Guy to show me how to make one at home... but better! (Hint: one slice of Havarti in the middle.)

  • That’s famine food (Score:5, Informative)

    by hdyoung ( 5182939 ) on Tuesday July 11, 2023 @12:53PM (#63677407)
    20 slices of American cheese is roughly 2000 calories ie. an entire days worth. That’s starvation food - the sort of thing you dont eat for taste, but cause you havent gotten enough calories in the past few days and need to catch up, and you’re not sure when youll get your next meal.

    I didn’t think Thailand was all that poor anymore.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by jonadab ( 583620 )
      > I didnâ€(TM)t think Thailand was all that poor anymore.

      I think it might depend where in Thailand you go? I mean, they've made a lot of progress, but I don't think they're at first-world level quite yet, as far as I know. (The big differences between first-world and third-world, are concentrated in the rural areas. If you only go to major cities, the difference can be a lot less apparent. Just one example: in the first world, vehicle ownership per capita is higher in the rural ar

    • Not even unusual amount of calories though. Look at the largest burger BK and Carls make. 1500 to 2500 calories, easily. (How can they sell it? Because people buy it. Quite disgusting though.)

    • the sort of thing you dont eat for taste

      American cheese or Burger King in general has never been eaten for taste. This isn't about starvation or poor, this is about TikTok, memes, and marketing, and it worked. We're talking about it here after all.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dfm3 ( 830843 )
      Pretty sure that nobody buying this is doing so because they actually want to eat one, they are buying it for the lolz and to post about it on social media, or perhaps on a dare from a friend. Same way that most people are only buying that Grimace shake because of the viral TikTok videos.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Despite what they claim, it's definitely a joke.

    • "I didn’t think Thailand was all that poor anymore."
      At $10 a sandwich, they soon will be.

    • Thatâ(TM)s starvation food - the sort of thing you dont eat for taste,

      Am I the only one that eats cheese as snack food? American cheese slices are pretty thin, I pretty sure I could eat two of these 20 slice sandwiches easily - and enjoy it the whole time... I'm relatively thin and have never found cheese to cause substantial weight gain.

    • It is not.
      But Thai people are food curious.
      And in a sense simple minded.

      I had a GF here whose biggest wish was to eat original American fried chicken in a KFC. Mind you: she was like 45 at that time, not a school girl.

      We were wrong time there: aka no beer to service (Thailand has strict serving hour rules for beer) so I only took a mineral water and a coffee, while she ordered some "fried bullshit in a skin of some awful wheat product".

      She asked me: "and: what do you eat?" And I told her: "I'm not in Thaila

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by stooo ( 2202012 )

      >> That’s starvation food
      Nope.
      If you really starve, and eat that much, it will kill you.

  • In other words (Score:4, Funny)

    by gosso920 ( 6330142 ) on Tuesday July 11, 2023 @12:53PM (#63677409)
    Somebody at Burger King Thailand ordered waaaay too much cheese, and needs to sell it before it spoils.

    • Re:In other words (Score:5, Insightful)

      by 93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 ) on Tuesday July 11, 2023 @12:57PM (#63677421)

      Somebody at Burger King Thailand ordered waaaay too much cheese, and needs to sell it before it spoils.

      It's American cheese - spoilage isn't going to be an issue.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by thomst ( 1640045 )

      gosso920 theorized:

      Somebody at Burger King Thailand ordered waaaay too much cheese, and needs to sell it before it spoils.

      It's American cheese. It won't even have spoiled by the time the Sun becomes a red giant ...

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by taustin ( 171655 )

      They'd have been better off sponsoring a Cheese Racing [cheeseracing.com] tournament. (Not, not cheese rolling. That's different.)

      • Thank you for this. Sometimes we get so caught up in petty partisan politics and finger-pointing we lose sight of the important, stupid things that make our species so fun. I for one am looking forward to the remainder of my summer being spent with burned fingertips, the aroma of burnt cheese, and trash-talking my siblings at BBQs.

  • Not sure how much dairy product American Cheese actually has, but Thais are notoriously lactose intolerant; cheese isn't exactly something in their diet. Very strange Burger King thought this was a good idea. #whitepeoplefood?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by HBI ( 10338492 )

      It is possible to get american cheese that is relatively low in lactose. I seriously doubt Burger King is using that kind, but who knows.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by jonadab ( 583620 )
      > Thais are notoriously lactose intolerant

      Asians in general are notoriously lactose intolerant; but it's at least partly environmental (i.e., because nobody eats dairy products, their digestive systems aren't accustomed to it), and this has been slowly changing as more and more Western foods are introduced (starting with pizza, which became popular after WWII, initially in a couple of the countries that were developing close ties with America around that time, and then it spread from there). The younger
    • Cheese is by nature quite low in lactose, so much so that lactose intolerant people can eat some amounts och cheese without any problems. Depends ofc a bit on how the cheese is produced so who knows since it's cheap ass "American Cheese" (and from BK at that). Perhaps there isn't even any cheese in it at all :)
    • Cheese might be different, but being somewhat lactose intolerant myself, can you guess what my favorite ice cream is? A cone from Burger King or McD. I'm not claiming it is lactose free, but it works better for me than most ice cream.

  • You guys are being disgusting again.

  • CHEEEEEEESE

  • Why are American fast food chains (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Rosco P. Coltrane ( 209368 ) on Tuesday July 11, 2023 @01:20PM (#63677475)

    hell-bent on exporting American obesity to countries that didn't have a problem to begin with?

    Considering the devastation wrought by processed food and junk food the world over, my firm opinion is that most countries should ban those American "restaurants" as part of their public health policy.

    • Well, or just have reasonable portion sizes as opposed to what they offer here in the US. a "small" soda is about 16-20 OZ, depending on the chain. the "child size" is the more reasonable 10ish OZ.

      • Well, or just have reasonable portion sizes as opposed to what they offer here in the US. a "small" soda is about 16-20 OZ, depending on the chain. the "child size" is the more reasonable 10ish OZ.

        Or you could just order diet soda, because it takes a lot of beverage to wash down all the salt in the average fast food meal. Of course, the diet soda doesn’t cancel out the unhealthiness of the rest of the meal items, so you’re probably still blowing your calorie budget for the day either way.

        • Artificial sweeteners are not great either. The solution to "too much sugar" is not "too much fake sugar". It's things that use less sweeteners as a whole, artificial or not.

        • Or you could just order diet soda

          Or if your health was in any way a concern you wouldn't be in a fast food chain in the first place.

        • Diet Sodas contain artificial sweeteners which cause more health problems then just drinking normal one.

          You must have been living under a rock recent 30 - 50 years.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Tablizer ( 95088 )

      It's the Opiate Wars all over again:

      1) Get them addicted via free/subsidized samples
      2) Sell them the substance they are addicted to
      3) Profit!
      4) Act appalled when they fight back

    • "The chain is owned in Thailand by Minor International, a local hospitality group that is one of Asia’s largest restaurant owners."

      It's not an American company doing this

    • hell-bent on exporting American obesity to countries that didn't have a problem to begin with?

      It's not a case of Americans exporting obesity. It's a case of capitalism providing the means for it to occur. The change in obesity rate can be tracked with the general availability of cheap fastfood, REGARDLESS FROM WHERE IT IS SOURCED. There are countries with very little American influence that have high obesity rates for all the same reasons.

      This cheeseburger isn't a cause, it's a symptom. Burger King Thailand is not "American". It's "Thai". These companies exist in a local context offering largely loc

      • These companies exist in a local context offering largely local options to suit the local style of cuisine.
        Wrong. The Menu is the same as in America, or all over the world. With Additions. This new Cheese Burger is probably an addition that only sells in TLoS.

        Burger King Thailand is not "American".
        Of course it is American.

        Just like Mac Donalds and Starbucks and all the others.

        You have some mental problems?

    • Really? And would you blame Italy for Americans pigging out on too much pizza? Because that would be ridiculous.

      Thailand is making its own choices, in this case a bad one, similar as Americans have done, and for the same basic reasons.

      "Blame America" is one of those articles of current conventional wisdom that passes without scrutiny online, and it's dumb.

      • "Blame America" is one of those articles of current conventional wisdom that passes without scrutiny online, and it's dumb.
        It is most certainly not dumb.
        Considering the lack of progress our civilisation is making: it is all US of Awesomness fault.

        Global warming? Could have been solved 50 - 30 - 20 years ago, pic your number.

        Unhealthy food companies expanding into every country? Seriously, if I was the Zar of Europe, the people behind it would work in working camps.

        So would basically everyone who has an anti

        • 50 years ago, scientists were yawping about "global cooling" and that we were in the midst of a mini-Ice Age. 40 years ago, we were warned of the danger of a "Nuclear Winter" when mushroom clouds from atomic bombs would blot out the sun."Global Warming" transforms to "Climate Change" when Summer turns into Autumn and Winter.
    • Or you could just let people decide what they want to eat. Burger King is delicious.
    • Consider to think of these corporate entities like single celled organisms. In a resource rich environment, they'll grow like an ameba until internal poisons force them to divide. A little bleach to stop them from spreading really can't hurt.

    • "... that are owned by a foreign company ..."

      How much about the idea of "Americans", is actual American typical behavior and how much is them doing what they wouldn't away from home, and getting caught? Versus the label applied externally by people who know nothing about the original spot, or what they typically do?

      I think it's a healthy combo of both. But the "wish we could hide that" by Americans, is also a mixture of "I was doing what I was ordered" and "do you know who I am?" With the wrong person ge

    • Unfortunately, the only financial incentives for US companies are to keep us unhealthy. There's billions of dollars to be made treating diet-induced illnesses, while there is relatively little opportunity to gouge healthy people (with the possible exception of my overpriced gravel bike). They look at the rest of the world and see an untapped customer base.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by somsip ( 2881563 )
      I've lived in Thailand for just under 20 years. The size and weight of the average person in the street has increased noticeably in that time. It's much more common to see very young kids who really do look like they're heading towards a lifetime of weight-related issues. There's definitely been an increase in the number and accessibility of American fast food restaurants, and sugar is much more predominant in food and drinks than it used to be.

  • As Americans, we get a lot of shit from the rest of the world (and often rightly so) for some of the stuff we eat, but not even we could come up with this monstrosity.

    • As Americans, we get a lot of shit from the rest of the world (and often rightly so) for some of the stuff we eat, but not even we could come up with this monstrosity.

      I dunno, that time KFC used two fried chicken breasts as a “bun” is gonna be tough to top.

  • A "real cheeseburger" wouldn't have American "cheese" on it.

  • That's just a really bad grilled "cheese" sandwich. Yes, I looked at the picture. It is somehow even worse in a picture than it is in concept.

  • That is not even #whitepeoplefood, it is an abomination.

  • its just a matter of time
  • I'm food comaing just thinking about all that cheese, although the lack of dead mammal is a bit of a turn-off.
  • Imagine what they could have achieved if they had partnered with Hormel.
    I can almost here a theme song already.
    Spam, spam, spam, cheese and spam!
  • Next on Burger Kings menu will likely be bottled pork fat. After all they're on a "Safe the Planet" mission.
  • As a former vegetarian that does not eat red meat and loves cheese, I have to say that that is worse than a hamburger with the same amount of meat as that "cheeseburger" has of cheese. By the way, isn't there any regulated definition of cheeseburger? In my country Burger King does not use the word "milk" in their "shakes" because there's no milk in them.
  • What do they mean by "real cheeseburger"? They do realize the "burger" in "cheeseburger" refers to the patty , don't they? Without it, it's not a burger, it's a cheese sandwich / grilled cheese.
  • The real story here is that a Burger King cheeseburger COSTS $10 IN THAILAND.

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