Poor KFC Double Down Chicken Sandwich.

You’ve barely made the menu and already people are judging you on your two whole fried chicken patties, bacon, cheese and lack of bun and vegetables.

You’re all alone in your portable, breadless world, forced to join the ranks as other massive heart attack-inducing creations as McDonald’s Chicken Selects Premium Breast Strips (five pieces of chicken with ranch sauce, 830 calories and 55 grams of fat) and Wendy’s Baconator Triple (three hamburger patties, nine bacon slices, three cheese slices, mayo, 1,350 calories, 90 grams of fat).

In case you aren’t familiar with this gastronomical wonder, the KFC Double Down has prompted nationwide criticism, with health experts calling it irresponsible and unnecessary.
The Double Down, which comes nestled in a handy pouch so you don’t have to burn a calorie unwrapping paper, contains 32 grams of fat, 540 calories and 1,380 milligrams of sodium; the grilled version actually has more salt and it only slightly “better” for you.
Sam Sifton of “The Diner’s Journal” calls the sandwich “a new low: a greasy entree dish of chicken with bacon and cheese on it, slathered in sauce, that the company asks customers to eat with their hands. The chicken is watery within its soft casing of ‘crust,’ the cheese familiar to anyone who has eaten food prepared by the United States government … a disgusting meal, a must-to-avoid.”

Regardless of food critics opinions, I would bet money this gut bomb will be a hit.

Just like the gross KFC Famous Bowls (those piles of potatoes, cheese and fried chicken), people are waiting in anticipation for this new menu item.

Fast food restaurants make sandwiches like this because people will order it.

They could offer deep-fried bacon in a pouch and people would order it, and with the large supersize, please.

So the question posed by critics is: “Are restaurants like KFC irresponsible for offering menu options like the Double Down?”

Until KFC force-feeds consumers their products, absolutely not.

They provide nutritional information to the public, and if you don’t know that a double chicken patty sandwich with cheese and chicken is horrible for your health, than KFC altering its menu with more healthful options will do nothing.

Who goes there to order a grilled chicken salad, hold the dressing?

The public has a right to eat whatever they want; nutrition education should start at home and at school, not at KFC.

Katie Johnson is the managing editor of the Niles Daily Star, Cassopolis Vigilant and Edwardsburg Argus. She can be reached at (269) 683-7713 or at katie.johnson@leaderpub. com.