New burger has fried chicken 'bun'

A new KFC monster burger that uses two slabs of fried chicken in place of bread buns has gone on sale in the US to the dismay of nutrition experts.

The "Double Down Chicken Sandwich" contains two slices of bacon, pepper jack cheese, swiss cheese and sauce, wrapped between two fillets of chicken.

Would you eat this burger? Have your say here.

A television advertising campaign bills the US$4.99 ($6.00) Double Down as "so much 100 percent premium chicken, we didn't have room for a bun".

A spokesman for the Australian arm of KFC did not rule out the burger being sold locally in the future.

Ninemsn contacted a KFC store in Omaha, Nebraska, where an employee said sales of the Double Down had exceeded expectations.

But the burger, which does not appear on KFC's official website, has raised the ire of health experts.

"The world does not need [these burgers]," top Australian nutritionist Dr Rosemary Stanton said.

"These sorts of burgers have become a rite of passage for kids and young men ... but pity about your arteries, your waistline and your chin."

Burgers such as the Double Down made a mockery of fast food chains' persistent claims to provide healthy and balanced menus, Dr Stanton said.

Online food forums have been flooded with both criticism and support for the burger.

"Wow, I couldn't believe that American fast food has sunk this low," wrote one person on foodgeekery.com.

But another wrote: "Oh … oh my God. That is the best thing ever."

"I don't know what 'Colonel's Sauce' is, but it is like a party in my mouth."

Another person said he recently received an invitation to complete an online survey on the Double Down in exchange for US$10 KFC voucher.

KFC in Australia today issued a statement saying "we don't have this product in our plans at present".