Burger King concocts lower-cal 'Satisfries'


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In a move destined to shake up the fast-food industry, Burger King Tuesday will unveil a simple but startling french fry innovation: french fries with 30% less fat and 20% fewer calories than BK's current fries. (And 40% less fat and 30% fewer calories than McDonald's fries.)

They've dubbed the new product Satisfries ? not to replace BK's classic fries, but to be sold in addition to them. And they will be crinkle-cut, like old-fashioned fries.

The move comes at a time consumers are increasingly demanding healthier options ? even in so-called junk food. The low-cal, low-fat fries will cost 20 cents to 30 cents more per serving (except in Kids Meals, where there will be no price difference). All Burger Kings in North America will begin selling them Tuesday.

But here's the key: They essentially have the identical ingredients to BK's conventional fries. Same potatoes. Same oil. Same process. The only change is a re-configuring in the amount of a few ingredients ? Burger King won't say what they are ? so that less oil is absorbed by the thinner batter.

It could be Burger King's biggest innovation in years. Or it could be yet another BK french fry fiasco. Consumers will decide that at the cash register.

"Small changes create a big impact," says Alex Macedo, president of Burger King North America. "This will grow, just like diet soda grew over time."

The impact could be substantive since one of two Burger King guests orders fries, he says. That's roughly 56 million orders of fries every month.

A small serving of BK's Satisfries weighs in at 270 calories and 11 grams of fat vs. 340 calories and 15 grams of fat for a small serving of its classic fries.

"It's not realistic to ask people to replace french fries with carrots or celery sticks," says Keri Gans, a registered dietitian hired by Burger King. "This is like meeting people halfway."

But another registered dietitian, who is not being paid by Burger King, says consumers may get the wrong message from lower-cal fries. "You don't want people to fool themselves and actually increase the serving size because they think it's healthier," says Mitzi Dulan, author of the upcoming book The Pinterest Diet: How to Pin Your Way Thin. "French fries are an easy way to get a lot of calories and a lot of fat."

But one of Burger King's largest franchisees says he's sold on them. "I don't know of anything that can rival the innovative impact this product has," says Dan Fitzpatrick, who owns more than 160 Burger Kings.

Despite innovations in burgers and salads at Burger King in recent years, "The one area that hasn't seen a breakthrough is french fries," says Eric Hirschhorn, chief marketing officer. That is, he says, until now.

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It's disappointing that this is just an option and not being done as standard. Burger King really needs to do something to differentiate it from McDonald's.

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n a move destined to shake up the fast-food industry, Burger King Tuesday will unveil a simple but startling french fry innovation: french fries with 30% less fat and 20% fewer calories than BK's current fries. (And 40% less fat and 30% fewer calories than McDonald's fries.)

 

It would be interesting to see how they have done that using the same ingredients.

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I bet they won't taste as good though. Nothing that's made with being better for you in mind ends up actually tasting good.

 

 

send em to the fat farms, let me eat my real fries. lite tastes like absolute shiate.

They are. Did you skip over the part about them being offered as an "option"?

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I may have to give them a try. :)

 

I was pretty surprised, they are thicker, feel more like a home made crinkle fry. They had more taste to them. I got them and the regular fries together just to see if there was a difference in taste, and it sure tasted like it.

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yea, i do not see this addition as something that will make me or my family want to eat at Burgerking (or anyone in my area really) several times over the past few years the 2 Burger King locations in my county have closed and then re-opened under new management and then closed again. they are not very popular out here.

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I was pretty surprised, they are thicker, feel more like a home made crinkle fry. They had more taste to them. I got them and the regular fries together just to see if there was a difference in taste, and it sure tasted like it.

 

ok, now you've done it, i have to stop on the way home to try some....   and i don't even care for french fries!

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