KFC, Taco Bell switch to oil with no trans fat

KFC’s fried chicken buckets soon will be stamped with a health message along with the likeness of its founder, Col. Harland Sanders.

The banner proclaims that its chicken has zero grams of trans fat per serving.

The chain will announce today that all 5,500 of its U.S. restaurants have stopped frying chicken in artery-clogging trans fat. The company had said in October that it was switching to a new soybean oil believed to be less likely to cause heart disease.

“This idea is a positive one for consumers, and we do expect it’s going to really appeal to people and bring them into our stores,” said James O’Reilly, KFC’s chief marketing officer.

Sister brand Taco Bell also will announce today that its U.S. restaurants have switched to an oil with zero grams of trans fat. All 4,200 single-brand Taco Bells have been converted to a canola oil, and all 1,400 multibrand locations switched to a soybean oil, the fast-food chain said.

There are 23 Taco Bell items that contain no trans fat. The company said it was working to remove trans fat from all of its ingredients.

The two chains are subsidiaries of Louisville-based Yum Brands Inc., whose brands also include Pizza Hut, Long John Silver’s and A&W; All-American Food Restaurants.

The announcements come amid a national push to rid diets of trans fat. Doctors say trans fat -- listed on food labels as partially hydrogenated vegetable oil -- can raise “bad” cholesterol and lower “good” cholesterol.

Other companies including Wendy’s International Inc., Starbucks Corp., McDonald’s Corp. and Burger King Holdings Inc. have also said they will phase out trans fat from their products.

Larry Miller, a restaurant analyst with RBC Capital Markets, said the biggest effect of the change in cooking oils would be a perception that “maybe KFC is a little bit more healthy than it otherwise would have been. But fried chicken is fried chicken. How healthy is it going to be in people’s minds?”