Habits die hard: Americans may be healthier if 50 bn hamburgers are not eaten every year

Giving up burgers to save the Earth does seem too great a price to pay for the average American, climate change and the greenhouse effect of cattle emissions notwithstanding.

While eco-warriors may pontificate about mock meat — and even veggie burgers and vegan hot dogs — being tasty and healthy alternatives, there is no gainsaying that the classic hamburger is the bedrock of Americana, no matter how many shawarmas and tacos are consumed as well in these multicultural times.

First the attack was on the polystyrene packaging of the burger, then chargrilling was red-flagged as possibly carcinogenic and its sodium, cholesterol and uric acid content was pilloried.

The criticism of farmed meat also gained momentum so it was only a matter of time before the hamburger itself was labelled as patty-non-grata. But how many true-blue Americans would swap a burger for even, say, a grilled chicken salad with arugula and walnuts?

An estimated 50 billion burgers are wolfed down every year in the US, the economic impact of a forced or voluntary eschewing of this handy sandwich would be truly incalculable.

The New York Congresswoman leading the anti-burger charge thinks Americans should not be “eating a hamburger for breakfast, lunch and dinner”, and it seems a perfectly heartfriendly objective. But 119-year-old habits die hard indeed.