Didn’t know there were more than 400 calories in that beef Chalupa Baja you just wolfed down at Taco Bell?
Well, there’s a much better chance you will, once Taco Bell and its sister restaurant chains post calorie counts on their menu boards.
In a move that bucks industry trends, Yum! Brands Inc., the parent of Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut, A&W Restaurants and Long John Silver’s, said last week that by 2011, all five of its chains will spell out the facts — or at least its roughly 4,000 company-owned stores will. Yum’s approximately 16,000 franchisee-owned restaurants will be “encouraged” to do the same.
The menu board is prime real estate, and restaurant chains have long fought attempts to mandate posting calorie counts on it. But the industry has incurred a couple of big setbacks this year. Last week, California became the first state to mandate calorie counts on menu boards at chain restaurants. A few cities, including New York, have passed similar laws.
“Maybe [Yum] saw the writing on the wall and wanted to get out in front of the parade and be a leader,” said Michael Jacobson, head of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a non-profit nutrition watchdog group that advocates menu calorie counts. Yum’s move challenges the industry’s contention that menu-board calorie counts would be expensive, and confusing, Jacobson said.
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So what about Oak Brook-based fast-food giant McDonald’s Corp.? It says it has no plans to follow Yum. McDonald’s says customers are happy with the way it currently provides calorie information, including on the Web, on the back of tray liners and on packaging for some items.
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What you eat–some calorie counts
630
Calories in a Taco Bell grilled stuffed steak burrito
460
One KFC extra-crispy chicken breast
400
One serving of KFC popcorn chicken
380
A slice of Pizza Hut Meat Lovers 12″ pan pizza
Source: Company Web sites