THERE are plenty of political debates rolling around the news desk on any given day and so we thought we would attempt something a little more leisurely for our entertainment on Friday afternoon.

Fast food lovers are currently deciding whether the infamous McDonalds Big Mac can retain said status if bacon is added. Of course, customers can also find this popular burger in ‘grand’ or regular size.

Perhaps, the real debate should be whether something that already has the word ‘big’ in the title, also needed ‘grand’ – but I digress.

Our eight-strong team sampled the burger with and without bacon, hoping to find an answer to this seemingly controversial question.

I entered with scepticism, not expecting to notice any difference and playing down the importance of this minor addition. I am not going to sell out and tell you that it completely changed the burger – for better or worse – but it did make a small difference.

This is the first time the iconic meal has been changed in the UK since the burger’s creation in 1968 and opinion is divided on the addition.

Purists are questioning if the burger should even be classed as a Big Mac at all, while others are welcoming the new with open arms.

Among our team of reporters, we agreed that the sanctity of the Big Mac had not reached such heights that such a trivial tweak was worth losing sleep over.

After all, self-service machines allow customers to order with freedom nowadays, making small changes to the way their meal is put together and this includes adding things like extra salads, removing sauces and – if you are me – not letting gherkins anywhere near the meal in the first place.

But that is a debate for another day and there were plenty of people in the office who were happy to take them off my hands.

The Grand Big Mac Bacon is available in restaurants nationwide for a limited time only until March 19.