Jack in the Box's Bacon Shake: Not everyone is enthusiastic.

Rue 89, France

With Bacon Milk Shakes, Have the Americans Gone too Far?

"It's very strange, this national passion for bacon! I admit there is some very good-quality bacon out there. In any event, the Bacon Shake contains none of it. … Of course, great God no! - I am not suggesting that ALL Americans eat like this. (I’m anticipating the backlash.) But some do. Guaranteed, 100 percent chemical! ... But we French shouldn’t laugh too loud - if American fast-food chains have thrived in France, it's because there is a demand for this sort of thing."

By Hélène Crié-Wiesner

Translated By Jill Naeem

February 16, 2012

France - Rue 89 - Original Article (French)

Since the beginning of February when the menu of fast-food chain Jack in the Box began to include bacon-flavored milkshakes, it has been madness on the Web: Is its Bacon Shake a dessert? Is bacon-flavored syrup - with no real bacon - vegetarian and/or Kosher? Is it better than the Bacon Sundae already on the menu at Denny’s?

I’ll be honest, I haven’t tasted it. Not to be blunt, but a rule, I don’t like commercially-made shakes that use silica as a thickener, and I just can’t bring myself to try this one. Besides, the small 16 ounce size [0.47 liter] has 773 calories, and the larger more popular 24 ounce size [0.70 liter], has 1,081. So what do you have for a main course?

Jack in the Box has 2,200 outlets in 19 American states. Its menus are similar to all the other “McDonald-style” fast-food chains, with the same local or seasonal variations that make these global “restaurants” so charming. 

In this case, the Bacon Shake is part of Jack in the Box's new "Marry Bacon" product range, and is the subject of the following intensive advertising campaign.

“Love bacon? Marry it!”

Slice of Bacon

“Make a bacon baby,” shown here with a photo of Pierre Haski, our CEO. (marrybacon.com)

You can upload a photo of your baby to the site , and view your chubby cherub superimposed with the colors of a slice of golden-brown bacon.

You are also offered a T-shirt depicting a tuxedo adorned with a greasy red bacon bow tie - no doubt aesthetically pleasing to some.

Of course, great God no! - I am not suggesting that ALL Americans eat like this. (I’m anticipating the backlash.) But some do. Guaranteed, 100 percent chemical!

It's very strange, this national passion for bacon! I admit there is some very good-quality bacon out there. In any event, the Bacon Shake contains none of it.

The excellent little site Be Food Smart has dug up the nutritional data that isn't listed on the Jack in the Box site, so we know precisely what is in the mixture. Let’s start with the syrup and bacon:

“Pure cane sugar, water, natural and artificial flavors, salt, sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate.”   

Posted by WORLDMEETS.US

The environmental site Grist points out, “the ‘natural flavors’ are probably chemical compounds derived after analyzing the components of bacon apart.”

As the dessert - or, if preferred, the dish - contains 48 ingredients in total. I am going to list only those we usually think of when making a milk shake: vanilla ice cream and whipped cream for the topping. 

“Ice-cream blend: cream, sucrose, whey, stabilizer (sodium caseinate, cellulose gum, mono and diglycerides, disodium phosphate, skim milk powder, guar gum, sodium citrate, polysorbate 65, dextrose), artificial and natural vanilla, annatto extract.”

“Whipped cream topping: partially hydrogenated palm kernel oil, sugar, contains less than 1 percent sodium caseinate, polysorbate 60, mono and diglycerides, artificial flavor, sorbitan monostearate, disodium phosphate, hexaglyceryl distearate, carrageenan, beta carotene, (color), propellant (nitrous oxide).”

Coming soon: A Good French Bacon Ice Cream?

Why make it simple (cream and sugar), when you can make it complicated? Ah, let us not forget the decorative cherry - I’ll spare you the eleven atrocious ingredients.

But we French shouldn’t laugh too loud - if American fast-food chains have thrived in France, it's because there is a demand for this sort of thing. Coming soon: a French ice cream flavored with good, locally-produced bacon?

If you just can’t wait, Be Food Smart suggests you practice making it at home using the proper ingredients:

“Blend up premium REAL vanilla ice cream (the type that has less than five ingredients) and some uncured bacon (which is generally free from sodium nitrates, but always check the ingredient list for sodium nitrate, MSG, coloring, and sweeteners), preferably from a local farm. You can even top it off with real whipped cream (bonus points if it's raw cream).”

To those who are still hungry, I recommend this site as it suggests a lot of other good bacon desserts.