While the hot trend in fast food has been to add a variety of "healthy choices" to the menus in recent years, Burger King has focused just as much on satisfying the junk-food addicts among us. And it makes no apologies for that. The No. 2 burger joint in the world wanted their best customers -- men aged 18 to 34 -- to, as their slogan goes, "have it your way." That meant 1,000-calorie hamburgers and $1 breakfast items -- and news in April of a very healthy US$34-million third-quarter profit.

Burger King hasn't, however, been as successful as its competitors at getting trans fats(something of a four-letter word in the food business these days)out of the kitchen. So, in an effort to hurry the company into finding a trans-fat-free cooking oil, the Center for Science in the Public Interest sued Burger King last week. Although such suits rarely get far in the courts, the publicity generated in the meantime can prove quite damaging in the court of public opinion. So it's no wonder Burger King's taste-testers have been forced into working overtime. In fact, just a few hours after news of the lawsuit broke, Burger King announced they'd likely be using a trans-fat-free oil in all 7,600 North American restaurants by the end of this year, much earlier than first indicated.

As indicated by the steady traffic in North American drive-throughs, the force driving this switch from artery-clogging trans fatty oils to a less-harmful cooking product isn't consumer driven. It has much more to do with legislation(New York and Philadelphia have recently banned trans fats in restaurants)and the threat of litigation, brought on by the food police. John Banzhaf, a Washington-based lawyer, says that there have been eight successful "fat lawsuits" against the fast-food business in recent years(all have been settled out of court). And he anticipates many more. "This lawsuit has already produced a significant victory," says Banzhaf, who was heavily involved in the court battles with the tobacco companies in the 1970s. "And assuming Burger King doesn't back out, a final victory."

Print Article    Send to a Friend    Write a letter to the editor

Digg this Stumble It!   Post to del.icio.us Seed Newsvine   Share on Facebook Technorati links