Now, Donald Gorske, the owner of a Guinness World Record, can officially claim to be the person who has eaten the most Big Mac burgers in his lifetime. The 70-year-old ate an astonishing 34,128 Big Macs in total over the course of 2023, an additional 728 of which he swallowed.
Guinness World Records states that Mr. Gorske’s Big Mac adventure started on May 17, 1972, which is about 52 years ago. He declared, “I am probably going to eat these for the rest of my life,” after thinking back on his first Big Mac experience. He counted every burger from that day on, keeping the cartons in his car and starting the tally from the first.
Mr. Gorske, a retired jail guard from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, USA, saved receipts and containers dating back several decades. Even though his effort attracted a lot of attention, Mr. Gorske set his first world record in 1999. He used to eat nine hamburgers a day, but eventually he reduced his consumption to two, one for lunch and one for dinner.
The company in charge of confirming documents claims that Mr. Gorske used to visit McDonald’s every day to get fresh hamburgers. But since he retired, he buys them twice a week in quantity, eating one right away and saving the others for a later time.
Interestingly, Mr. Gorske’s eating habits are centered around his daily intake of Big Macs. He adds potato chips, fruit bars, or ice cream when he’s really hungry.
In 1984, he had a Burger King Whopper, but he still loves his Big Mac and says, “When I like something, I stick with it all the time.”
Remarkably, Mr. Gorske’s affection for Big Macs even contributed to his proposal of marriage to Mary, which took place in a parking lot. Thanking her for putting up with his eccentricities, Mr. Gorske said, “She hasn’t let my Big Mac thing get to her and has put up with a lot of obsessive-compulsive things I do.”
The most astounding thing is that Mr. Gorske claims he has never had health problems even though he has eaten over 34,000 hamburgers. He walks six miles a day and avoids French fries with his burgers in order to maintain his health.