Some Burger Love burgers have entire day's calories, says professor

University of Prince Edward Island kinesiology professor Jamie Burr would like to see moderation warnings and reduced portion sizes in the P.E.I. Burger Love campaign.

He says he was spurred to write a blog post called Burger Loss after this year's Guinness World Record attempt, where more than 9,000 burgers were consumed on the Island in a single day.

"I have nothing against the Burger Love campaign," said Burr. "But some of the promotions, maybe I look at them in a different light, like the Guinness record where we were promoting what was, in my mind, excessive burger loving." 

Fresh Media, the Charlottetown marketing group that created the Burger Love campaign five years ago, says this year's campaign was a runaway success, with almost 60 per cent more burgers sold than last year. More than 145,000 burgers were consumed at 60 Island restaurants over the month of April, which works out to one burger for every Islander.

I think we all know somebody who wears it as a badge how many burgers they're able to accomplish, and I think that may be the mistake.-UPEI professor Jamie Burr

Burr understands this means success for restaurants and the Island economy, but he wants to make sure Islanders are making informed choices about what they're eating.

Using the Dieticians of Canada online tracker, he calculated the calories in some of the burgers and found they range from 1,500 up to 2,500 calories.

'Moderation is the key'

Burr's research showed it would take an average 30-year-old man seven hours of walking, five hours of jogging or three hours of cycling to burn off one 2,500 calorie burger. 

"Moderation is the key. I think we all know somebody who wears it as a badge how many burgers they're able to accomplish, and I think that may be the mistake," said Burr.

He said smaller versions of burgers might be an idea.

But Fresh Media co-owner Robbie Dover doesn't think the burgers need to be downsized or moderation warnings put in place.

"There's always those who go out as a man-versus-food kind of thing, and we always joke and say burger responsibly," said Dover, describing a Twitter hashtag Fresh Media uses in the campaign.

"You know, are we going to be at the grocery store and tell people they can only have two bags of chips on storm chip day?" said Dover. 

"Islanders are smarter than that. They do not go and eat a burger with the thoughts of gluttony in mind, they go with thoughts of love and economy  and community and support."

Dover said the campaign does not reward mass consumption.

"There are some people out there that might have had 10 burgers over the month or more. They're proud of it, you know, it's like a badge of honour because they've supported local in such a way," he said.

Dover said he doesn't plan any changes to next year's campaign, except to try to make P.E.I. Burger Love even more popular with more burgers and more sales.