LOUISVILLE, KY. - KFC’s fried chicken buckets soon will be stamped with a health message along with the famous likeness of its founder, Colonel Harland Sanders. The banner proclaims that its chicken has zero grams of trans fat per serving.
The Louisville-based chain announced Monday that all 5,500 of its U.S. restaurants have stopped frying chicken in artery-clogging trans fat. The company had said in October that it was switching to a new soybean oil believed to be less likely to cause heart disease.
“This idea is a positive one for consumers, and we do expect it’s going to really appeal to people and bring them into our stores,” said James O’Reilly, KFC’s chief marketing officer.
Sister brand Taco Bell also said Monday that its U.S. restaurants have completely switched to an oil with zero grams of trans fat. All 4,200 single-brand Taco Bells were converted to a canola oil, and all 1,400 multibrand locations switched to a soybean oil.The two chains are subsidiaries of Louisville-based Yum Brands Inc., whose brands also include Pizza Hut, Long John Silver’s and A&W All-American Food Restaurants.
The announcements come amid a national push to rid diets of trans fat. Doctors say trans fat — listed on food labels as partially hydrogenated vegetable oil — can raise bad cholesterol and lower healthy cholesterol.
