Amid growing public pressure, the fast-food eatery announces that it's switching to a no-trans-fat frying oil.
Colonel Sanders is putting America on a diet.
KFC, a unit of Yum! Brands (YUM, news, msgs), announced today that it will switch to a cooking oil with no trans fat in all its U.S. fried-chicken restaurants by April 2007.
KFC joins hamburger chain Wendy's International (WEN, news, msgs) in a move to cut its use of the artery-clogging oil at a time when fast-food restaurants have come under criticism that their food contributes to obesity.
The Cheesecake Factory (CAKE, news, msgs) chain also made news this summer when it announced that it was testing a trans fat-free menu in its Los Angeles stores.
Fast-food chains are scrambling to avoid a legal and popular backlash against the cooking fat.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest sued KFC earlier this year, claiming the food chain’s use of cooking oil containing trans fat is unhealthy. (CSPI said today that it applauded the KFC move.)
McDonald's (MCD, news, msgs) paid $8.5 million last year to settle a lawsuit over artery-clogging trans fat in its cooking oils, agreeing to donate $7 million to the American Heart Association and spend an additional $1.5 million to inform the public of its trans-fat plans.
This is a healthy thing for America i think.
