News
Yum! Brands Teams Up with Renowned Basketball Coach John Calipari to Educate Consumers About the Importance of Physical Activity in a Balanced Lifestyle
Yum! Brands has announced a partnership with University of Kentucky's men's basketball Coach John Calipari to promote the Company's "Keep It Balanced" effort. As part of the initiative, Coach Calipari is helping to educate consumers about the importance of fitness in a balanced lifestyle and promoting physical activity by participating in a public service announcement, plus monthly online exercise tips.
To read more about Yum! Brands' partnership with Coach Calipari, click here.
Yum! Brands, KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell Launch Free, Global On-Line Personal Fitness Training Program and Partner with Renowned Basketball Coach Rick Pitino to Educate Consumers About the Importance of Physical Activity in a Balanced Lifestyle
As part of the Yum Brands overall Health and Wellness "Keep It Balanced" effort, Yum! and its brands are offering consumers around the world a free, month-long trial membership to a leading online wellness and fitness training tool called eFit4Me on their websites. eFit4Me is an interactive and easy to use complete lifestyle management system that features customized fitness programs, identifies eating patterns, recommends nutritional habits and includes motivational and goal tracking tools that constantly evolve as members update their progress.
To learn more about Yum! Brands' partnership with Coach Rick Pitino, click here.
Menu Board Labeling in the United States
In September, 2008, Yum! Brands became the first company to announce it will begin voluntarily placing product calorie information on menu boards in company-owned restaurants in the United States. Franchisees are encouraged to provide the same information on their menu boards.
All calorie information will be based on individual serving sizes and will be phased onto menu boards beginning in 2008 with completion by January 1, 2011. In addition, Yum! Brands has called for federal legislation using the recently enacted legislation in California as a model to establish uniform guidelines for menu board labeling with calorie information.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and the Department of Nutrition at Harvard University's School of Public Health praised Yum! Brands for adding calorie counts to its menu boards.
"Yum! Brands' groundbreaking announcement that it will add calorie counts to its menu boards at KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell is fabulous news for health conscious consumers. Yum! is leaping ahead of all its competitors by providing the one piece of nutrition information that consumers most want. We applaud this move and encourage other major chains to follow this bold example. Yum! has gone an important step further voicing its support for legislation that would require restaurants to list calories on menus and menu boards."
"This announcement that calories will be displayed on menu boards deserves loud applause. Yum! Brands call for national legislation to create uniform menu board guidelines on nutrition is greatly appreciated. It is exactly the kind of industry leadership we need."
To read more about Yum! Brands announcement to place calories on all U.S. company restaurant menu boards, click here.
The Transition to Zero Grams Trans Fat Per Serving Cooking Oil at KFC, Taco Bell, Long John Silver's and
Wing Street Restaurants
It took KFC nearly two years and extensive testing, which included evaluating over 25 zero grams trans fat oils, before finding one that maintained taste and appearance and is available in the quantities needed to meet demand. By April 2007 every KFC restaurant in the United States began using zero grams trans fat soybean cooking oil. Pizza Hut's WingStreet brand used the KFC research to introduce the same zero grams trans fat oil in their restaurants in April 2007.
"I congratulate KFC on its decision to switch to a zero trans fat cooking oil. Trans fat has been shown to increase the risk of heart disease. The good news is that people can reduce their threat for heart disease through good food choices and physical activity. I'm pleased that KFC is making significant changes to help Americans make healthier choices by providing menu options with zero grams of trans fat, and I encourage other companies to follow its lead."
"The American Heart Association believes that trans fat contributes to heart disease risk and recommends that Americans reduce trans fat in their diets. That's why we're pleased to know that KFC is making the switch to zero trans fat, giving Americans even more choice for great tasting food with zero trans fat. We hope other restaurant and food companies follow this important lead."
To read more about KFC's move to zero grams trans fat cooking oil, click here.
Every Taco Bell restaurant is using zero grams trans fat per serving canola oil and reformulated ingredients to remove 16 million pounds of trans fat per year. Long John Silver's will also be introducing zero gram trans fat cooking oil to its system in the near future.
To read more about Taco Bell's move to zero grams trans fat cooking oil, click here and visit Our Company, Latest News.
KFC and Pizza Hut Announce No Smoking Policy
In 1994, Taco Bell restaurants in the U.S. went "smoke-free." In 2005, KFC, Pizza Hut, Long John Silver's and A&W Restaurants in the U.S. became smoke-free as well. Our restaurants also are smoke-free in many of the international markets in which we operate.
"We applaud the decision made today by Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut to put the health of their associates and customers first and institute smoke-free policies in all their restaurants nationwide. Smoke knows no bounds and secondhand smoke is a known health hazard. The vast majority of Americans support smoke-free policies. This decision mirrors those feelings, and will most certainly save lives."
To read more about KFC and Pizza Hut's no smoking policy announcement, click here.
