Arby's Takes Trans Fat Reduction to New Levels
It can be done. Arby's Restaurant Group, Inc. announced it has started serving French Fries with zero grams of trans fat as calculated under FDA nutrition labeling regulations.
The company is switching to a zero grams trans fat cooking oil, and has worked with its French Fry suppliers to eliminate the use of hydrogenated oil during the par-frying process at the supplier level. This makes Arby's the first national fast food chain in the U.S. to announce the elimination of trans fat oils in French Fries from supplier to restaurant.
The new French Fries and cooking oil are scheduled to be in all U.S. Arby's locations by May 1, 2007.
"We are committed to meeting our customers' needs through great tasting and innovative products," said Roland Smith, CEO, Arby's Restaurant Group, Inc. "In the case of trans fats, we are not only switching to a zero grams trans fat cooking oil in our restaurants, we have also removed trans fats from the French Fry par-frying process at our suppliers' processing plants. This is exceptional for us because we can do this while maintaining the great French Fry flavor our customers expect."
To accomplish this change, Arby's changed its frying oil from partially hydrogenated to non-hydrogenated corn oil.
"We were able to maintain the same great quality and exceptional taste that has set us apart for more than 40 years. Because we've always used a higher quality corn oil in our restaurants and our new oil is 100 percent corn oil and not a blend, this change has no impact on taste," said Smith.
Once implemented, Arby's famous Curly Fries (small and medium servings), will contain zero grams of trans fat. In addition, over 70 percent of Arby's required menu items will contain 0.5 grams or less of trans fatty acids (TFA).
Nutritional Information Overview
Menu Item Original TFAs New TFAs
3-Pack Chicken Tenders 2 0
5-Pack Chicken Tenders 3 0
Small Curly Fries 3 0
Medium Curly Fries 4 0
Large Curly Fries 6 1
Arby's has a history of firsts in the industry, including: being the first national fast food chain to offer nutritional information in 1981 and the first quick-serve restaurant (QSR) to implement a no smoking policy in all of its company restaurants in 1994.
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