Taco Bell Latest to Bare All on Product Nutrition Data : Fast food: Under pressure from customers and regulators, chains are posting health information in their restaurants.

Slowly but surely, fast-food restaurants are finding that making nutritional information more easily available to customers is good business.

The latest convert is Taco Bell, which announced Monday that it will put up posters at its 3,300 restaurants that tout lower-fat, lower-calorie products like the basic bean burrito. Nutritional information for the entire menu, including some of the chain’s less healthy selections, is listed at the bottom of the poster.

“It’s something we’ve been working on for quite some time,” said Elliot Bloom, spokesman for the Irvine-based subsidiary of Pepsico Inc. “We’ve been offering nutritional information on a request basis. We felt we should actually provide it in the restaurant.”

By making nutrition information readily available to customers, Taco Bell is following the lead of industry giants McDonald’s and Burger King. Besides posters in its restaurants, McDonald’s also provides customers with wallet-size cards listing nutritional data for its Quarter Pounders, salads and other fare.

The industry is under pressure from customers, government agencies and consumer groups to offer healthier food and more nutritional information. Burger King, for instance, started putting nutritional information on tray liners this summer at its New York City restaurants after the city’s consumer affairs commissioner proposed legislation to require such information.

But Bloom said Taco Bell’s nutrition posters are a voluntary step aimed at highlighting lower-calorie, lower-fat offerings. Other fast-food chains have adopted different approaches to create an image of healthy eating.

El Pollo Loco, the Mexican-style charbroiled chicken chain, places little hearts next to certain items on its menu boards to denote healthier items.

Carl’s Jr. used to do the same thing under a program sponsored by the American Heart Assn. The program ended when some heart association chapters discontinued their “Dine to Your Heart’s Content” program, which rated the nutritional content of foods. Heart association officials said it was difficult to administer because they had to reassess menus every time a major restaurant switched chefs.

Most of the major chains provide brochures with nutritional information to customers who request them. One exception is Del Taco, where the menu has been changing so often that Executive Vice President Paul Hitzelberger says a brochure would become obsolete too quickly to be worth printing.

The Jack in the Box chain is getting so many requests for nutrition brochures--143,000 a year--that the company is working on a poster.

“It’s easier to put it on the wall than to keep printing the brochures,” said Jan McLane Rieger, spokeswoman for Foodmaker Inc., Jack In The Box’s parent firm in San Diego.

Fast, But Healthy?

Fast-food restaurant chains are increasingly competing with each other on the basis of which offers the healthiest menu. For most, their offerings are a mixed bag for both light and heavy eaters. Listed below is the nutritional information for selected fast-food items.

Fat (grams) Calories TACO BELL Nachos Bell Grande 35 649 Bean Burrito 14 357 Taco Salad 61 905 MCDONALD’S Big Mac 26 500 McLean Deluxe 10 320 French fries (medium) 17 320 BURGER KING Whopper 36 614 BK Broiler chicken sand. 8 267 Onion Rings 19 339 DEL TACO Chicken Fajita Taco 7 210 Beans and Cheese 11 340 Turkey Deli Burrito 9 230 KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN Original Recipe Breast 14 260 Kentucky Nuggets (6 pc.) 18 284 EL POLLO LOCO Chicken breast 9 188 Rice 1 12 Chicken Burrito 12 480 CARL’S JR. Famous Star burger 38 610 BBQ chicken sandwich 6 310 Crisscut fries 22 330

Source: The companies