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Perhaps the biggest splash so far this year in the quick-service sector came in April when KFC’s Double Down, a breadless “sandwich” that features melted cheese, bacon, and sauce between two chicken filets, made its national debut.

The advent of a sandwich that bucked sliced bread—a seemingly indispensible ingredient to one of America’s beloved food items—in favor of chicken (fried or grilled) as the item’s carrier caught a lot of people’s attention. Before the end of last summer’s test run in Omaha, Nebraska, and Providence, Rhode Island, it had become a hot topic in the blogosphere.

“It became kind of this Internet legend,” says KFC spokesman Rick Maynard. “People started posting photos online, and people starting inquiring whether the sandwich was real, or whether it existed. The thing actually took on national and even international momentum while it was in test market.”

The momentum carried over into the Double Down’s first month on KFC’s national menu, during which 10 million customers showed up to give it a try. Despite the impressive consumer demand, the Double Down received plenty of groans from food critics for being greasy and alarmingly salty.

“The Double Down did go all the way down, though not an easy task, but it required lots of water,” wrote Gerrick D. Kennedy, an L.A. Times blogger. “Sadly, within 10 minutes the sandwich caused some physical distress.”

As the Double Down made headlines around the world, concerned health experts chimed in. The British Daily Mail quoted Kelly Brownell, director of Yale University's Rudd Centre for Food Policy and Obesity, describing the sandwich as a “salt bomb.” The fried Double Down has 1,380 milligrams of sodium, more than half of the Institute of Medicine’s daily recommended intake. Surprisingly, the grilled version has more sodium: 1,430 milligrams.Read more