All But the Biscuits: KFC will greatly reduce trans-fats
The anti-trans-fats ball keeps rolling. On Monday KFC joined Wendy's and other chains by announcing it would significantly reduce trans fats in its foods
As the AP reports, just an hour before New York City held a public hearing to discuss banning trans fats there, KFC dropped a bombshell. After two years of secret R&D and taste-tests, the company announced all 5,500 U.S. KFC restaurants will switch to low-linolenic soybean oil, a zero trans-fat cooking oil, by April 2007.
Apparently a handful of restaurants have already switched oils, in a test to see whether customers would complain or notice a difference. It didn't happen, KFC says.
This transition affects the chain's most popular items—Original Recipe and Extra Crispy fried chicken—in addition to fried menu selections such as Crispy Strips, Wings, Boneless Wings, Buffalo and Crispy Snacker Sandwiches, Popcorn Chicken, Twisters, and Potato Wedges.
But, biscuits will still contain some trans-fats. KFC says it couldn't change those oils without affecting taste or texture.
My take? This move, and the way it was announced, took a lot of nerve—the good kind. See, the national and state restaurant associations insist that switching to healthier oils is too much of a burden on restaurant operators. And those groups are like 800-pound gorillas in the restaurant industry. They're education and certification sources, lobbyists, megaphones.
The NY Restaurant Association was prepared to protest vehemently against the trans-fat ban at the
public hearing. KFC totally stole their thunder with its trans-fat announcement. And the "no compromise" comment? That was a dagger.
KFC, Wendy's, Pat & Oscar's, and other chains that are testing trans-fat-free oils (Cheesecake Factory is rumored) are showing that, indeed, huge organizations can change for the better, to be closer to what consumers and parents want. It can be done—and we parents will appreciate it.
You'll probably agree that fried foods are something we all should consider an indulgence, even when they're trans-fat-free. Kids might love chicken nuggets, but they just don't need them very often. (Baby A gets them about one-tenth of the times she asks for them.) But when you're going to have a treat, or when you and your kids simply need to eat right now, it's good to know fried things are getting a smidge less bad-for-you.
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Don't miss the latter part of that AP story, where the reporter goes into the agricultural effects of these corporate moves and the increased demand for low-linolenic soybean oil. Of course, we're talking "agri-business" more than agriculture. One example:
Monsanto spokesman Chris Horner said he expected the farmland devoted to the company's new seed to triple next year to 1.5 million acres, up from 500,000 acres this year and 100,000 in 2005.
Good stuff. Stay tuned for more—I'm sure more quick-serve companies are racing to keep pace with these changes.
About the biscuits? As a Southern woman, I can tell you biscuits have to be made with solid fats. If it's not lard, then it's Crisco. And they're gooooooooood.