In these days of financial gloom and tightening of belts it's good to know you can always just slip out for a little snack when you get hungry.

It is no wonder America has some of the highest obesity rates in the world. Caterers at a sportsground have unveiled an artery-busting burger that packs in 4,800 calories - more than twice the recommended daily amount.

The "snack" contains five beef patties, five slices of cheese, fries, chilli, salsa, sour cream and a bun made from a pound of dough. But heath concerns haven't been completely ignored - the monster meal is topped off with a few leaves of lettuce and a couple of tomato slices.

The Fifth Third baseball park in Michigan, home to the West Michigan Whitecaps, is daring fans to attempt to finish the burger, promising a free t-shirt to anyone who succeeds.

"Besides being unique and large and bizarre, it tastes good," Scott Lane, Whitecaps president, told the Grand Rapids News.

"I'm sure there are going to be crazies that come down and try to eat the entire thing."

The Fifth Third Burger, named after the park, contains nearly 300 grams of fat, 744 milligrams of cholesterol and more than 10,000 milligrams of sodium, the paper said.

But Mr Lane shrugged off the health implications inherent in taking on the Fifth Third.

"At home, people eat healthy. When they come to a game, they might eat a hot dog."

I think they've gone a bit over the top on the lettuce.

I'll bet it costs more than $5.50, as well.

Was that with fries ?

Do they do a gallon of Coke meal deal?

There is a place in Pattaya that holds (held?) the record for largest commercially available burger on their normal menu?

Did the guy order a diet coke - just to balance it out?

Does that place in Pattaya still offer those monster burgers? I'd forgotten all about him.

Of course it has to be washed down with at least a gallon of coke and it has to be the Diet variety. Watching the waistline you know.

And I don't suppose they are making the free tee shirts in small, medium or large. They'll be XXXXL upwards and with your name, religion, next of kin and funeral option printed on the back.

hehe... Would you like to go large with that order?

No thanks. I need to leave some room for the hot fudge sundae dessert...

I'll only have 10 pints of beer with that, thanks.

I think you'd need ten pints before placing that order.

No sane, sober person could even contemplate ordering one of those even with all the free tee shirts in China....................................would they?

A bit like doner kebabs.

I went to a steak restaurant a few times up in New York state where they basically only had two choices of meals.

24oz steak with vegetables and pickles.

or, if you were particularly peckish, the.....

48oz double special!

I tried to explain that, to many people in the UK, 3 pounds of beef is called a Sunday roast and does a family of four with leftovers for Monday.

I'll bet it costs more than $5.50, as well.

It was featured on CNN yesterday, and they reported it costs $20.

This makes me think of food eating contests and that little Japanese guy who can eat over a hundred hotdogs in like 30 minutes. Can't help but thinking about hurling when watching that stuff.