The Greene King brand released the burger last month as part of a new menu along with the tag-line ‘So Wrong It’s Right’ and it includes two beef burgers with cheese, four bacon rashers and two grilled, glazed ring donuts.
But Mel Wakeman, senior lecturer in Applied Physiology at Birmingham City University slammed Hungry Horse as ‘irresponsible’.
She said: “I am no killjoy but why is this sort of food available? This burger is literally a heart attack on a plate.
“This so-called family friendly pub chain offers a huge range of highly processed food that is entirely unhealthy. Taking the children to an eatery like this will guarantee we continue to reinforce unhealthy eating habits, contribute to the obesity epidemic and increase the risk of developing high blood pressure, heart disease and type 2 diabetes at an earlier age.”
The nutritional information for the burger, which can be accessed online, reveals it has 53g of saturated fat – double the daily allowance for women and children – and 8.2g of salt.
Wakeman said it would take three hours of continuous running to burn off the calories of the burger, and she ‘wondered how many people would still opt for the item knowing this.’
The donut burger is part of a more American-style menu released by the chain, and which includes chicken New Yorker batons, a 20 onion horseshoe stacker, crispy battered jalapenos and cookie dough cheesecake.
Steve Jebson of Hungry Horse, said: “Our popular menu caters for a variety of tastes and appetites and includes everything from lower calorie options such as our hot chicken and bacon salad at 393 calories, through to the indulgent occasional treat such as our new Double Donut Burger.
"All the nutritional information for our menu is available on our website and in our pubs, so that our customers are able to make informed decisions about what they choose to eat.”