Analyst Q&A: Shanon Trueman

Fast food chains have been jumping on the healthy food bandwagon with varying success for some time now. Enhancing their menus with foods featuring lower fat, lower cholesterol, and lower sodium, the idea is to bolster sales and invite a new demographic into their restaurants. The anti-obesity drive is also affecting fast food restaurant menus. In 2002, a man sued McDonald’s and other fast food restaurants, claiming that he became obese eating a steady diet of their high-fat foods. The suit was dismissed, but the publicity around it was damaging, contributing to declines in fast food sales for a time.

Restaurants have attempted to add healthier items to their menus in the past, with some hits but a lot of misses, too. McDonald’s low-fat beef burger, the McLean, flopped. Pizza Hut’s addition of lower-fat pizza toppings failed. Then, things started to turn around. For example, Burger King’s grilled chicken sandwich, the BK Broiler (now called the Tendergrill), was more successful.