News

Starbucks to focus on low-fat offerings

January 5, 2010

Starbucks Corp. will keep its focus in 2010 on low-calorie beverage and other menu offerings. The company plans to launch a series of sandwiches with 400 calories or less, in addition to promoting its coffee beverages with less than 90 calories.

Starbucks isn't the only chain looking to highlight its healthier meno offerings.

An article intoday's Washington Postdiscusses how a number of brands -- such as Starbucks, KFC and Uno Chicago Grill -- are reformulating recipes to give customers with healthier choices in prepapration for the passage of national menu-labeling legislation.

From the article:

Restaurant chains across the country are reformulating fat- and calorie-laden items and introducing lighter, more healthful options in preparation for federal menu labeling requirements that are part of the health-care reform that President Obama hopes to soon sign into law. Washington's Silver Diner chain, for instance, cut the calories of its grilled flounder dinner by 34 percent, from 1,088 to 718. Bakery chain Le Pain Quotidien has introduced bite-size brownies with 77 percent fewer calories than their regular-size counterparts.

If enacted, the health-care reform law would mandate that chains with more than 20 outlets must post calories on the menu in a "clear and conspicuous" manner and provide complete nutritional information upon request. Public-health advocates hope the rules go into effect within two years.