RETAIL/TOURISM : Carl’s Jr. Lightens Up on Menu By Serving Lower-Calorie Items

In health-conscious Orange County, a low-calorie menu would seem like a sure-fire winner.

To capitalize on the movement, Carl’s Jr. Restaurants launched its “lite menu” this week by promoting items already on its menu as healthy alternatives to the traditional burger, fries and milkshake.

Until recently, fast food almost always meant fattening food. Now, El Pollo Loco places little hearts on its menu board to designate items that meet American Heart Assn. standards, and even giant McDonald’s now offers salads.

Carl’s Jr. is taking the next step by advertising its barbecue chicken sandwich, charbroiled chicken salad, garden salads and plain baked potato as a “lite menu.”

While other restaurants have tried to portray their food as healthy, Carl’s could gain a measure of credibility by putting its calories where its mouth is.

But will anyone really eat a naked baked potato?

Patricia Parks, a Carl’s Jr. spokeswoman, said the plain potato is a tantalizing alternative for people on special diets. And a customer can always have a pat of margarine or some veggies thrown on it, although such indulgences will boost the calorie count past the posted 350 minimum.

And don’t expect to find a calorie count listed next to the bacon cheeseburger.

The larger issue is whether Carl’s can cash in on the health boom with its latest promotion. Carl’s already knows that some customers “are not willing to go for a drastically healthy product,” says Parks.

But she says the company, which was the first fast-food restaurant chain to introduce salad bars, believes there are plenty of customers who steer clear of hamburgers and prefer the convenience of healthy fast food. She said she hopes the new campaign will lure them in. The “lite menu” will be featured in television ads and glossy coupon inserts.

One UC Irvine professor suggests that people who want to lose weight ought to forget the calories and simply try to eat less of what they like most.

Asked about Carl’s lite menu, Dr. Grant Gwinup, a professor of endocrinology, said customers probably won’t be happy if their appetites are not satisfied. If people like Carl’s Jr. hamburgers, he says, they should keep eating them--but in moderation.