Bacon: it makes the recession taste better. That’s our theory, anyway, after reading an article on Burgerbusiness.com with original research showing that menu items containing bacon at all restaurants are up 26.5% since 2005.

The biggest increase in bacon-laden menu items has come at full-service restaurants, not fast-food outlets.

Certainly burgers have contributed to the bacon tsunami. Mintel finds that the number of bacon-topped burgers at all 580 restaurants in its Menu Insights database soared from 424 in 2005 to 576 in 2009, a 35.8% increase. At QSRs, the increase has been a Whoppering 32.9%, although that’s a bit less than for all restaurants.

If the biggest increase is not at QSRs, where is the bacon bulge coming from? Look at some recent menu revisions by full-service chains and the numbers are understandable. Yes, the Sassy Pepper Jack Burger added by the Perkins Restaurant & Bakery chain has bacon, but so too do its new Chicken & Spinach and Honey Mustard Chicken Crunch salads as well as its Smoked Bacon & Ham Omelette. O’Charley’s Prime Rib Pasta would seem to have proteins covered, but there’s bacon added. Applebee’s new BBQ Chicken Salad and Ruby Tuesday’s Club House Salad have bacon, as do Chili’s new Classic Chicken Tacos Texas Cheese Fries. Bacon’s everywhere.

Is there such a thing as too much bacon…or maybe just too much sodium?

Data Confirm Sharp Increase in Bacon on Burgers and More [Burger Business]

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