Burger Survey 2025!

[Judge]

Maybe it's the spices? I know some spices like pepper make my acid reflux flare up but I'll be damned if I give up lemon pepper wings LOL

Sometimes yes, most times no. Not if it doesn't involve animal fat and grease.

I'm still amazed how I can eat various hot sauces with no incidents. Yet we have two Mexican restaurants of the same name and owner in two different cities. One closest to me provides the same menu, yet the food is perilously spicier for me with some very bad experiences. The other restaurant has rarely made me sick.

Though I know what it was that was the culprit: Shredded Beef. And I suspect it wasn't the spices per se, but rather the obvious. The fat content in shredded beef being far higher than in ground beef.

Unfortunately it leaves me with complicated decisions when eating out in any restaurant. I either roll the dice over a particular food or simply avoid it entirely. The latter being a smarter choice.

 

[Mary Terry]

The picture above is what I grew up with as bacon but in general Aussies started becoming a lot more health conscious from around the 80s. These days Short Cut bacon is popular and that's also the most common cut you'll find on our burgers, less fat.

View attachment 143971

The photo is of pork loin. American "bacon" comes from the belly fat or pork bellies. Canadian bacon also comes from the loin. I think the difference between American "streaky bacon" and Italian prosciutto is how it is cured. Italians dry-cure it. Americans tend to smoke-cure it so you get that smokey taste when you eat it.

Jeez, now I want some bacon.

 

[Mary Terry]

Here we made it law that the fast food places have to declare how many kilojoules of energy in each serving (average) on the menu. This helped make people more health conscious and it also started becoming a bit of a competition between different franchises. "Our food's healthier than theirs."

In having a look for an example for you I noticed that the big two US chains have just stopped doing that on their website, they'll get rapped over the knuckles for that soon enough. Their in store menus still tell you how much energy in each item.

This is Red Rooster's website, kilojoules displayed on each item in the menu. Rough conversion to calories - just divide by 4.

New - Red Rooster - Roast Chicken Takeaway and Delivery

The current US political administration just eliminated labeling requirements for many foods. America has long had mandatory food labeling requirements but apparently someone in Washington DC doesn't want us to know what we're eating. Some states, including my state of Mississippi, have starting enacting state laws to require labeling information about food served in this state. In fact, we recently got the results of a DNA sampling project on shrimp sold in my area. Unscrupulous sellers and restaurants falsely claim they're selling shrimp caught in the Gulf of Mexico when, in reality, it's who-knows-what kind of shrimp coming out of Asia. They do the same thing with fish. Thank goodness for DNA testing and publication of the names of those restaurants whose alleged "Gulf shrimp" are from somewhere in Asia. People will boycott those cheater restaurants.

 

[Jonn]

How do you like your burger?

 

[Jonn]

Add avocado, jalapenos and pastrami too. All good on a burger, IMO.

That is called a Subway in Sydney.

 

[Jonn]

Except tuna. Tuna is the best. I'll eat that.

Would you like a side of mercury with your tuna burger?

 

[Misery]

Would you like a side of mercury with your tuna burger?

I think this one went entirely over my head.

 

[Jonn]

I think this one went entirely over my head.

AI Overview

Yes, it is possible to experience mercury poisoning from eating too much tuna. Tuna, especially larger species, can contain significant levels of mercury, specifically methylmercury, which is toxic to humans. While most people consume tuna in moderation and don't experience issues, excessive consumption can lead to mercury poisoning

 

[Outdated]

In fact, we recently got the results of a DNA sampling project on shrimp sold in my area. Unscrupulous sellers and restaurants falsely claim they're selling shrimp caught in the Gulf of Mexico when, in reality, it's who-knows-what kind of shrimp coming out of Asia. They do the same thing with fish. Thank goodness for DNA testing and publication of the names of those restaurants whose alleged "Gulf shrimp" are from somewhere in Asia.

That's where US beef exporters fell foul of Australian import laws. We genetically test everything. Originally we banned US beef during the mad cow disease scare but around 2013 we allowed US imports provided that it was only US beef that they were selling. Immediately DNA samples showed beef from Canada and Mexico. Now we won't accept beef until they can prove provenance of their beef. We're not going to waste time testing every single batch every time for the rest of our lives, prove provenance or take your beef elsewhere.

 

[Mary Terry]

That's where US beef exporters fell foul of Australian import laws. We genetically test everything. Originally we banned US beef during the mad cow disease scare but around 2013 we allowed US imports provided that it was only US beef that they were selling. Immediately DNA samples showed beef from Canada and Mexico. Now we won't accept beef until they can prove provenance of their beef. We're not going to waste time testing every single batch every time for the rest of our lives, prove provenance or take your beef elsewhere.

The US imports Australian beef which is considered low quality due to its lack of fat. The Australian (and New Zealand) beef is ground up and added to the higher quality, fattier American grown beef to make the 80/20 blend of ground beef typically sold here. The current regime in Washington DC is threatening to stop importing Australian lower grade beef unless Australia agrees to import American beef. The US is considered to have a negligible risk of mad cow disease but Great Britian has had to slaughter all its cattle in the past to stop the disease from spreading further there. The governmental tariff squabbling continues.