Cheeseburgers, America’s fast food staple, are now available in an even faster form.

A breaded, deep-fried finger food that tastes like a cheeseburger but looks like a french fry was unveiled in August.

Cheeseburger fries are the beef industry’s answer to chicken strips, a way to turn “what’s for dinner” into an appetizer.

“They’re really a unique concept,” said Michelle Baumhover, Iowa Beef Industry Council director of consumer promotion. “They’re like a mozzarella stick, except instead of being all cheese, they’re mainly ground beef with cheese mixed in.”

The cheeseburger fries are distributed in Iowa by SYSCO Food Services of Iowa, Inc. in Ankeny. Ames restaurants and bars have not added cheeseburger fries to their appetizer menus yet, Baumhover said.

Developed by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, an organization funded in part by Iowa beef producers, cheeseburger fries were meant to be not only an adult appetizer, but also a children’s food, Baumhover said.

The cheeseburger fries will be reformulated to fit school cafeteria specifications, she said.

Marty Severson, dining systems coordinator, said Iowa State hasn’t made any plans to serve cheeseburger fries in its dining centers. With a menu committee meeting this week to develop next spring’s menu, the soonest cheeseburger fries could possibly show up on student’s plates would be next fall, she said.

Jen Amuzie, sophomore in political science, said she wouldn’t want to try cheeseburger fries.

“Let me eat beef, deep fried. That’s extremely healthy,” she said. “I think it sounds really nasty.”

Dustin Gentry, freshman in liberal arts and sciences, agreed.

“Some foods are really good but shouldn’t be crossed with other food,” he said. “Don’t mess with a good thing.”

Alyssa Emanuelson, junior in exercise and sport science, said she’d have to try a cheeseburger fry before she decided.

This type of thinking is what prompted the Cattlemen’s Beef Quarters, a beef restaurant at the Iowa State Fair, to give out samples to people waiting to get in. People who tried the cheeseburger fries liked them, Baumhover said.

Story County beef producers and the ISU Collegiate Beef Team were among the groups that staffed the restaurant at the state fair.

The restaurant sold about 2,500 servings of cheeseburger fries at the fair, Baumhover said.

In the fair food tradition, cheeseburger fries are not health food.

People should know the nutrition content of the food they eat and make smart decisions about portion size, said Ruth Litchfield, assistant professor of food science and human nutrition.

One individual fry has four grams of fat and 75 calories, which would require a three-quarter-mile walk to burn. A 150-pound person burns 100 calories per mile, Litchfield said.

The school version of the fries will be ovenbaked and have fewer calories. Bacon cheeseburger fries are also under development, and jalapeno cheeseburger fries are already available.

“There’s probably a lot of potential for [cheeseburger fries],” said Mary Gregoir, professor and chair of apparel, educational studies and hospitality management.

Places that sell mozzarella sticks and chicken nuggets could add cheeseburger fries to their menus, she said.

“[Finger foods] have become very popular,” Gregoir said. “As a country, we’re eating more foods that can be picked up and eaten.”