Forget spam fritters, now Burger King are selling spam burgers... for women

Last updated at 7:48 AM on 15th June 2011

Japanese targeted with ration-era staple
Novelty item also comes in lemon and basil salt sauce flavour

It was the ration-era staple which saw Britain through two World Wars.

But now Spam is being reinvented and sold to the Japanese - by Burger King.

The fast food chain will next week begin selling a small sandwich packed with the processed meat to its loyal customers.

Peckish? The BK Shot spam burgers set to go on sale in Japan

The ‘BK Shot’ costs the equivalent of £2.50 for a pair of snack-sized portions which are marketed at women under the strapline: ‘What women want, women get’.

For ladies who get bored with Spam, other flavours are available including Beef & Chicken, Beef & Chicken with Lemon and Basil Salt Sauce and the classic BLT.

The advent of the BK Shot is the latest in a long line of novelty items used by fast food companies to bring in customers.

But the use of Spam has raised eyebrows among the fast food cognoscenti, even if it has remained surprisingly popular in Japan.

Spam, which takes its name from its ingredients of shoulder pork and ham, used to be imported from America to Britain and in wartime was often the only meat available.

Sealed in a vacuum so tight that it remained edible for seven years it was a convenient, easily-digested source of protein which became a favourite with military cooks.

Yummy: Burger King have launched BK Bites, and introduced a spam burger especially with women in mind

Tuck in: The BK Bites will be offered exclusively in Japan at first, with the slogan, 'what women want, women get'

It remained indispensable until rationing ended in 1954, then in 1970 it gained a new lease of life and became a comic icon thanks to the Monty Python team's 'Spam Song'.

Burger King’s track record of fast food innovation includes the Meat Monster, a modified Whopper that includes a chicken breast and bacon and clocks in at a gut-busing 1160 calories.

The meal contains more salt than four bags of crisps and will take you two hours to jog it off.

Assuming you can fit your mouth around it, you’ll also ingest 24g of saturated fat, 13g of sugar and 1.5g of trans fat.

Then there was the ‘Pizza Burger’ which Burger King launched at its flagship store in New York.

The creation is made up of four Whopper burgers topped with pepperoni, mozzarella and Tuscan Pesto and marina sauce, all stacked on a nine-and-a-half inch sesame seed bun.

It is cut into six slices, so that it looks and feels like a pizza - and comes to a staggering 2,520 calories.