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The Battalion Page 3A • Thursday, November 13, 2003
The Great Chain of Health
Fast-food chains across the U.S. add healthy selections to their menus
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Many W-food chains across America are vying for attention from the health-conscious demographic.
Despite the failure of the "McLean Deluxe" sandwich in 1991, McDonald's (above) is among the chains
trying to create healthier menus for their consumers.
By Karen Uhlenhuth
KRT CAMPUS
The fast-food industry is making it
harder for overweight Americans to
blame the ubiquitous drive-through
food vendors for the national epidemic
of excess pounds.
In the last couple of months, several
of the major fast-food corporations
have introduced products that promise
less saturated fat and fewer calories
than the old standbys. They include:
Taco Bell’s “fresco-style,” an option
that serves up entrees with a fresh salsa
of tomatoes, onions and cilantro
instead of cheese and sauce.
For example, a traditional grilled
steak taco has 290 calories and 17
grams of fat. Ordered fresco style,
those counts tumble to 170 calories and
5 grams of fat.
Three “fire-grilled chicken
baguette” sandwiches are available at
Burger King restaurants.
They have fewer than 360 calories
and 5 grams of fat apiece. They’re
available in three flavors: the Santa Fe,
savory mustard and the smoky BBQ.
The “Fit 'N’ Delicious” pizza intro
duced by Pizza Hut. It has half the
cheese of the chain’s other pizzas and
an extra dollop of tomato sauce. Fit S N’
Delicious pizza, which comes on a thin
crust with a choice of chicken or ham
and a couple of vegetables, has 25 per
cent less fat than a standard thin-crust
pizza with the same toppings.
The calorie count is 155 versus 185 per
slice, and the fat grams are 4 versus 6.5.
The “Del Rio” salad is now being
tested at 150 McDonald’s restaurants in
Indiana. Depending on the outcome, it
could be served nationwide. Earlier
this year the company introduced three
“premium salads” nationwide. This
would be the fourth.
The Del Rio has 450 calories and 12
grams of fat if ordered with sour cream.
It comes with a bottle of water or medium fountain drink and, nat
urally, a pedometer.
A new Subway meal deal known as a Kids’ Pak that’s aimed at
getting the younger set to cut down on fat and calories.
The Pak contains a fresh deli-style sandwich, a Minute Maid
100 percent fruit juice and a General Mills Fruit Roll-Up snack.
The Kids’ Pak contains 370 calories and 1.5 grams of saturated
fat. Paks come with a toy that promotes physical activities like
football, Frisbee or golf.
The Kids’ Pak price range is $2.99 to $3.49. In addition, Jared
Fogle, their media spokesperson, will be featured on in-store
information cards titled “Jared’s Steps to Healthier Kids” and on
their Web site, www.subwaykids.com.
Nelda Mercer, a registered dietitian in Ann Arbor, Mich., who
speaks for the American Dietetic Association, suspects that
Americans may finally be heeding the oft-repeated advice to eat
less fat and fewer calories.
“With all this hype about obesity and diabetes in kids and it’s
good hype. I think people are starting to listen. It’s coming from
all directions. People are getting more conscious of portion size.
Supersizing is no longer the thing to do.”
The fast-food industry has been experimenting for decades
with healthier options, she said. Some, such as salads and grilled-
chicken sandwiches, have stuck. Others, most notably the 91 per
cent fat-free McLean Deluxe sandwich that McDonald’s intro
duced in 1991, flopped.
While some of the industry’s early attempts at healthful fare
fell short on taste, Mercer thinks fast-food makers are getting bet
ter at combining good flavor with lower fat and caloric content.
“I’m going by what other people tell me,” she said. “I don’t
stop at those places.”
Bonnie Liebman also calls the recent menu additions “clearly
a step in the right direction.” Liebman is the director of nutrition
at the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington
D.C., which often assesses the nation’s eating habits. Liebman
applauds the chains for bundling sandwiches or other entrees with
bottled water or a modestly sized soda, bypassing the french fries.
A supersized order of french fries at McDonald’s is way more
than a mere side dish, when evaluated on the basis of calories,
Liebman noted. A Big Mac weighs in at 600 calories, a supersized
serving of fries at 610.
She, too, applauds the fast food-makers for offering better taste
along with better nutrition. Burger King “has dressed up these
new sandwiches,” she said. “They’re interesting.”
Liebman hastily added that there’s still room for improvement
at most fast-food chains. Burger King’s new chicken sandwiches,
for example, “are quite high in sodium,” she said. “And you're
getting white bread. I’m not saying these are perfect. They’re just
better than what’s out there.”
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