In The News: October Surprise

Some very surprising -- and encouraging -- news to share today.

"Yum Brands, parent company to Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut, [A&W, and Long John Silver's, has] announced plans to begin posting product calorie information on the indoor menu boards nationwide at company-owned restaurants."

Wow!

You read correctly -- these chains are doing so completely unprompted. This is not the fast-food industry sighing, rolling its eyes, and begrudgingly "doing what it's told".

The end result of this ground-breaking announcement is that 20,000 of these chain restaurants throughout the United States will post calorie information on their menus by January of 2011.

Meanwhile, McDonald's, Wendy's, and Burger King have announced they have no intention of posting calorie information where they are not legally required to do so.

"G" -- It Was About Time!

Earlier this year, Kentucky Fried Chicken launched a new grilled (well, technically roasted) chicken menu option in six cities -- Indianapolis, Colorado Springs, San Diego, Oklahoma City, Jacksonville, and Austin.

I was taken aback the initial resistance expressed by many KFC customers in the blogosphere. Several scoffed, others already declared it a flop.

Ridiculous accusations of "food policing" came up, specifically paranoid delusions that people no longer had the freedom to eat friend chicken if they pleased.

Me? I think it's a great idea. All I can say is, "what took so long?"

Besides, no one is taking away a fried option, so the outcry over a grilled variety has no validity in my mind.

Rumors have circulated that KFC executives are crossing their fingers harder than ever with this new initiative since previous attemps to offer non-fried alternatives didn't fare so well.

An article in The Huffington Post earlier this year mentioned that "in the early 1990s, the chain introduced a rotisserie-style chicken, but it was doomed after a couple of years by equipment problems and long cook times. A tender roast product followed, but it lasted only a couple of years."

This explains the obnoxious reassurance by KFC that they are still going to be launching new fried chicken products as well. Oh, well, let me sigh in relief then.

As much as KFC talks about taking nutrition and health seriously, I don't appreciate their almost apologetic stance to their consumer base.

Anyhow, in comparison with the traditional fried product, a grilled 5.7 ounce KFC chicken breast contains half the sodium (although a still hefty 600 milligrams), half the calories (180, rather than 360), and 60% less fat (9 grams, as opposed to 21).

KGC is supposed to be available nationwide next year.

There better be the same multimillion dollar advertising campaign for this as there has recently been for the "extra crispy" (read: extra breaded, extra fried, and extra caloric) chipotle chicken.

After all, sales of grilled chicken in Colorado Springs took a tumble when television commercials were pulled.

Any readers in any of the six "test" cities tried KFC's grilled chicken? If so, what did you think?