­It ’s a tight pace world we live in . Thanks to the Internet , data is available in an instant , stockscan be traded in existent prison term with the click of a button and you may buy just about anything you may think of on the spot ( with overnight delivery).Digital camerasrender watch glass light photographs ready for viewing in a single second . mobile phone phonesput us in mite with anyone we need nearly instantly . Americans merely do n’t like to wait . The same can be said for how we consume . Since the firstfast - foodchain , White Castle , open in 1921 , Americans have grow accustomed to get thefoodwe want in short gild .

riotous - food has since fan out , with more than 30,000McDonald’srestaurants alone located around the world . McDonald ’s is the unchallenged Billie Jean King of degraded - food , serving 52 million people a day in more than 100 country [ source : McDonald ’s ] . That ’s a lot of Chicken McNuggets . In an clause in Rolling Stone magazine in 1998 , a survey of American schoolchildren revealed that 96 percent of them could identify Ronald McDonald – onlySanta Clausranked higher at the time . The same article claimed that McDonald ’s famous " Golden Arches " had become more widely recognize around the world than the Christian crown of thorns [ beginning : Schlosser ] .

Of course , all this dissipated - food has lead to a job – obesity . In 2004 , the National Center for Health publish a study on obesity in the United States . Between 1962 and 2000 , the pct of obese Americans swelled from 13 percent to 31 percent [ rootage : CDC ] . It ’s probably no co-occurrence that firm - food restaurants saw tremendous growth as well . The National Bureau for Economic Research published a report in November 2008 that say thatchildhood obesitycould be turn out by as much as 18 percent if fast - intellectual nourishment ads were banned [ reference : Reuter ’s ] .

rotund or not , people   love their fast - food favorites . That ’s why we ’re going to take   a look at   10 of the biggest selling fast - food for thought card items in America on the following pages .

10: Subway Sub Sandwich

It may palpate like a newerfranchise , but Subway actually started out in 1965 as a means f­or co - founder Fred DeLuca to help bear for college . Since then , DeLuca has been able to pay for a lot more than tuition fee . In 2006 , he was cite by Forbes Magazine as telephone number 242 on the list of richest Americans , with a net worth of about $ 1.5 billion [ source : Forbes ] . In 2008 , Subway observe being in business for 43 years . The sandwich Ernst Boris Chain has grown from a individual workshop to more than 30,000 franchise in 88 commonwealth around the world [ beginning : Subway ] .

Subway stand alone as the with child sandwich chain in the world and mesh more memory in the United States , Canada and Australia than McDonald ’s does . How does this kind of emergence translate into sub sales ? In the United States alone , Subway betray almost 2,800 sandwiches and salads every minute . The company ’s WWW site also touts another interesting fact – if all the sandwiches made by every Subway store in a year were placed close - to - end , they would wind around theEarthat least six times . No word on how many jillion of gallon of mayonnaise that means .

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9: Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich

­Chick - fil - A father Truett Cathy is likely best known for two things : He ’s credited with inventing the boneless chicken sandwich and his eating place chain is closed on Sunday . It ’s unthinkable today to imagine a sprightliness without the crybaby sandwich , but in 1946 it was all about the hamburger . It ’s also heavy to conceive that a corporation that has one-year sale of more than $ 2 billion each year would close down one day a week . Cathy ’s inscription to his Christian religion has kept the Sabbath astray open for his employees since day one .

in the first place a shopping - mall - only eating house , Chick - fil - A amplify to freestanding memory in 1986 and now go more than 1,300 franchises in 37 province . The menu has branched out somewhat over the years , adding salads , nuggets and wraps , but the restaurant’sbreadand butter ( literally ) is still the original chicken sandwich . Its stunner is in its simplicity – a press - electrocute chicken white meat with pickle slices on top , served between a buttered bun [ source : Chick - fil - A ] .

8: Pizza Hut Pizza

­Pizzamay be Italian in line , but it has become a truly Americanfoodbecause of how popular it is in the United States . In 2007 , the entire pizza sales in America closely hit $ 37 billion and as of July 2008 , there were more than 75,000 pizza stores sliding Proto-Indo European into the oven . severally control pizzerias make up a slim bulk of these totality . The strand Pizza Hut stands as the large and most successful franchise with almost 14 percent of the total chain gross revenue at a total of $ 5.1 billion in 2007 [ reservoir : Pmq.com ] .

­The original Pizza Hut was open up on campus at Wichita State University in 1958 , but did n’t become a franchise until the following year . The company now operates almost 15,000 unit in the United States alone . The string is known for its all - you - can - run through pizza and salad buffet and for place some unusual spin on the classic pie – crust stuffed with cheeseflower that you ’re supposed to feed backward , " The Insider , " which is kind of like a pizza pie sandwich and another concoction called " The P’Zone . "   Pizza Hut   is the number one seller of pizzas in the United States .

7: Kentucky Fried Chicken

­Fried wimp is known as a staplefood of the Southern United States , but its solicitation is clear all over the world . In 1930 , in the throws of the Great Depression , amannamed Harland Sanders opened a fried wimp eating house in the front room of a gasolene station in Corbin , Ky. The Sanders ' Court & Café would maturate and expound as the Kentucky Fried Chicken ( KFC ) franchise and become the most pop chicken eatery on Earth .

­As of 2008 , KFC operate more than 11,000 restaurants in more than 80 country . Founder Colonel ( honorary ) Harlan Sanders first began sell his far-famed " Original Recipe " crybaby with its 11 herbs and spiciness in 1940 , and the iconic bucket came along about 17 years after . In 1969 , KFC became a publically traded caller , and in 2006 , the company sold more than one billion chicken dinners [ seed : KFC ] . Even though KFC was doing well on its own , it joined YUM ! Brands , Inc. , in 2002 to become part of the large restaurant group in the world . KFC ’s partner chains include Pizza Hut and Taco Bell , both number on this top 10 .

6: White Castle “Slyders”

If belittled , square hamburgers are your affair , then you ’re probably a fan of either Krystal or White Castle . Bothfast - foodchains are known for the little hamburgers that customers bolt down several at a clip . Since White Castle is the original , we ’ll give them the nod in this font . Walter Anderson and Billy Ingram partnered up in 1921 to create the first flying - food hamburger restaurant , sell their signature tune " Slyders " for five cents each . The eating house ’s name rival the facial expression – each White Castle eatery looks like a white castle .

In 1949 , White Castle made a variety that would end up being its legacy . It made five holes in each square patty and cooked the kernel on top of a bed of diced onions . The Warren E. Burger never make contact lens with the griddle and is falsify by the steaming onion . The hole allow for a faster , more even James Cook . The buns are place on top of the meat to soak up extra flavor as well . add up a slice of dill hole and you have an American mental institution – the Slyder .

Even though White Castle only has 382 store as of 2009 , it sells 500,000,000 Slyders a yr and has served 16 billion since 1949 . It was the first to reach one million beefburger sold and then the first to reach one billion [ reference : White Castle ] .

5: Wendy’s Frosty

­Not many fast - food eating place founders have been as seeable as Wendy ’s Dave Thomas was . In a sheer marketing move , Thomas became the face of the enfranchisement onTVcommercials in 1989 , and continued doing so until he passed aside in 2002 . The first Wendy ’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers restaurant was opened by Thomas and Colorado - founding father John Schuessler in 1969 in Columbus , Ohio . It was significant for Dave from the beginning that Wendy ’s be a cut above its competitors in terms of food quality . If you wait closely at the famed logotype , you ’ll see the words " Quality is our Recipe " above the cerise - hirsute pigtail the troupe ’s mascot " Wendy " wear .

You wo n’t detect a heat lamp with a rack of Burger sitting beneath it at a Wendy ’s . Each " single " beefburger is made - to - order . The definitive Warren Burger is a 4 - ou­nce , solid patty serve on a roll with your pick of topping – lucre , tomato , muddle , onion and whatever condiment you fancy . Wendy ’s order third on the burger chain list behind Burger King and McDonald ’s , with more than 6,500 location worldwide . In 2006 , Wendy ’s had full revenues of almost $ 2.5 billion and employed 57,000 mass [ source : Wendy ’s ] .

The chain is also famous for itschocolateversion of the shake , the Frosty . It was one of the original five carte du jour items and stay on a top vender . Dave Thomas require to make a shake so duncical you had to wipe out it with a spoon and he was passably successful – Wendy ’s sells about 300 million each twelvemonth [ source : Hentges ] .

4: Arby’s Roast Beef Sandwich

­Each class offast - foodchain restaurant has its " good in show . " There can be only one skillful selling sub sandwich , one best Warren E. Burger , one good wetback . In the middle of the hamburger frenzy in 1964 , Arby ’s retrieve its recess in the solid ground of joint beef . The Raffel brothers opened the first Arby ’s Roast Beef Restaurants in Boardman , Ohio . Beef was a big collision with the Warren Burger chain , so the Raffels decide that instead of crunch it up , they ’d slow up roast it and slice it thin . The name Arby ’s comes from spell out the initials R.B. – for Raffel comrade , not " roast beef . "

Arby ’s operates more than 3,500 restaurants in the United States and Canada , and the chain ’s most popular sandwich is still the signature knock beef sandwich . The beef is sliced fresh for each sandwich and customers can top it themselves with the celebrated Arby ’s and Horsey sauces . In 2008 , Arby ’s purchased Wendy ’s for $ 2.34 billion , forming the third largest fast - food company in the world .

3: Taco Bell Tacos

­Just like Arby ’s at bay the roast beef market , Taco Bell has carved out a spot as the figure one Mexican fast - food eating house chain . If you ’ve ever stopped and wondered just what the heck a " taco bell " is , you ’ll be glad to know that a man named Glen Bell initiate the dealership and named it after himself . He started the chain in 1962 in California at a fourth dimension when Mexican food was pretty out of the ordinary in America . The first franchis­e open in 1964 and now , the company boasts more than 5,800 restaurants in the United States , Canada , Guam , Aruba , Dominican Republic , Chile , Costa Rica , Guatemala , Puerto Rico , Ecuador , Asia , Europe and the Philippines [ source : Taco Bell ] .

­The democratic chain serve about 2 billion customers a class and perhaps not coincidentally , also sells roughly   2 billion of its key signature tacos . The dealership plows through 3.8 billion tortilla , 62 million pound sign of pinto dome , 106 million pounds ofcheeseand 295 million dog pound of ground beef a year [ source : Taco Bell ] .   It made revenues of $ 6.8 billion in 2005 , part of that coming from the million burritos   it sells each class . Add in quesadillas , nachos and some signature spins on Mexican classic , like treble - Thomas Decker greaser ( a soft flour tortilla wrapped around a hard shell corn tortilla taco ) and uneven token like the " Crunchwrap Supreme " and you ’ve got a gut pleasing tardy - night push back - thru name and address .

2: Burger King Whopper

­Burger King is n’t quite the king – that distinction resides with McDonald ’s . But BK has a solid grip on the bit two spot , with 11,200franchises . you’re able to discover Burger King franchise in the United States and 69 other countries around the macrocosm . Burger loving entrepreneur James McLamore and David Edgerton started BK in Miami , Fla. , in 1954 . The Whopper became their signature tune Warren Earl Burger in 1957 . One thing that distinguishes Burger King from its competitors is the fact that the Warren Burger are flaming bake alternatively of cooked on a griddle . The idea was to give the marrow that home - grilled gustation .

­The Whopper is a one - quarter lbf. gripe patty between a sesame seed bun with mayonnaise , bread , tomato , pickles , catsup and sliced onion plant . Of course , it is Burger King , so you’re able to always " have it your mode . " This is the ad slogan from 1974 that the chain is still most well - bang for . The BK connection site claims that there are in reality 221,184 possible way you may have it your fashion . Even though it ’s a aloof second place to McDonald ’s , entire gross sales of all the Burger king are still massive ; BK restaurants in 2007 surmount the $ 13 billion mark [ source : Burger King ] .

1: McDonald’s Big Mac

­There can be only one . One top dog , one that stand head and shoulder above the rest . One that transcends the mundaneness of a simple fast - food strand to become something else altogether – the s­ymbol of a rural area , the face of an industry : McDonald ’s . If you ’re American , the name itself arouse up an embarrassingly mellow identification number of conversant images and memories .

TheMcDonaldbrothers get the franchise as ahot dogstand in 1937 and change things up in 1948 by making the switch to Burger andfriesmade using a speedy and effective assembly line system . thing took a causeless crook when the McDonald brothers met a milkshake motorcar salesman name Ray Kroc . Kroc was impressed with the performance and asked to be include as a dealership agent , split net income with the pal for growing the chain . Kroc opened the first franchise in 1955 in Des Plaines , Ill. , and the eternal rest is fast - food history . He buy the brothers out for $ 2.7 million in 1961 , and the dealership has arise to engage more than 31,000 stores in over 100 land [ source : McDonald ’s ] .

The Big Mac is the most pop fast - food for thought item on Earth . The famous jingle from the 1975 idiot box commercial taught Americans the ingredients for the Big Mac – two all - beef patties , extra sauce , scratch , high mallow , pickles , Allium cepa on a sesame seed roll . In 2004 , Mickey D ’s celebrated the 40th natal day of the iconic Warren Burger . The companionship betray an astonishing 560 million openhanded Macs each class , even though they ’re only uncommitted in 13,700 of the enfranchisement [ generator : Friedman ] . People love the Big Mac , some so much that it ’s become almost an fixation . A man in Fond Du Lac , Wis. , exact he eat up two bountiful Macs a day , every day since 1972 . That makes 21,292 Big Macs as of August 2004 . And , how many trips to the cardiologist ?

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