Paula Deen, white courtesy phone - "IHOP offers cheescake-filled pancakes"

[Amerigo Vespucci]

IHOP offers cheescake-filled pancakes
Pancake Stackers combo meal runs 1,250 calories

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36828069/ns/business-consumer_news/



IHOP's Pancake Stackers consists of cheesecake filling surrounded by two buttermilk pancakes and topped with a strawberry, blueberry or cinnamon apple compote and whipped topping.

Weeks after KFC made headlines — not entirely celebratory — by stacking two pieces of chicken around bacon and cheese, IHOP is introducing a limited-time dessert featuring two pancakes sandwiching a layer of cheesecake.

IHOP's Pancake Stackers consist of a crustless cheesecake filling surrounded by two buttermilk pancakes and topped with a strawberry, blueberry or cinnamon apple compote and whipped topping. Pancake Stackers are available a la carte or with a combo meal, which adds eggs, hash browns and a choice of bacon, pork sausage links and ham to the tally.

And yes, the meal can be a diet buster.

The Glendale, Calif.-based company did not provide nutritional information for Pancake Stackers by themselves. But the company said the regular combo meal — which includes Pancake Stackers with strawberries, two eggs, bacon and hash browns — runs 1,250 calories.

That meal is more than double KFC's Double Down chicken sandwich — which weighs in at 540 calories — and at least half the total calories many adults should eat all day. It also packs 2,750 milligrams of sodium. The Institute of Medicine recommends that adults not exceed 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day.

"It's yet again another dietary disaster brought to you by fast food," said Susan Levin, a dietitian for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which also has been critical of the Double Down.

The Double Down and Pancake Stackers come at a time when many chain restaurants are adding — and even bragging about — lower-calorie and lower-sodium menu options.

IHOP officials said their latest offering is just one of many choices on a menu that also includes lower-calorie items.

"It's an opportunity to give our guests another reason to come into IHOP," said Carolyn O'Keefe, IHOP's senior vice president of marketing.

Stackers are available at participating IHOP restaurants nationwide through June 20. Individual restaurants will set prices.