Hardee's, the carnivores' den, tries salads

by Jonathan M. Forester, Posted Nov 25th 2006 @ 10:33AM

Hardee's has tried putting salads on their menu before, but then quickly yanked them since they didn't sell well. Salads just didn't fit their image as a meat heavy, burger joint. I don't like fast food much, but have to put Hardee's at the top of a very short list of decent, no, actually tasty, fast food. I have only tried their burgers a few times, but if there were any stores in my area I would have a tough time sticking to my philosophy of not eating fast food more than 2-3 times a year. Last year Hardee's introduced their Red Burrito Taco Salad which has been selling well enough that they decided to expand their salad options. Now they are adding Southwest Chicken Salad to what may develop into a line of salads. The new salad will be in a crispy tortilla bowl like their taco salad, then it will be "filled with shredded lettuce, crispy chicken breast strips, two fried onion rings, chopped white onions, chopped tomatoes, shredded cheddar cheese, and a tangy Santa Fe dressing" and the salads are made fresh to order.

I was a bit surprised to see that they are adding supposedly lighter options to their menu. This is from a company where Andrew Puzder, President and CEO of CKE (parent of Hardee's and Carl's Jr.), has said, "I think the health craze is happening mostly among journalists." CKE's philosophy is not to sell healthy food, but food that their customers will want to buy. Well, I guess they aren't really into selling healthy food after all, it's all image, no reality. Their taco salad has 860 calories, 55 grams of fat (490 fat calories), 60 grams carbs, 90 mg cholesterol, 1720 mg sodium, 38 grams protein. That's more than calories and about the same amount of fat their Thickburger has. The new Southwest chicken salad has an amazing 1100 calories, 83 grams of fat (750 fat calories), 90 mg cholesterol, 29 grams protein, 1910 mg sodium (USDA recommendation is 2400 mg a day). Which has more calories and fat than their 1/2 pound, six dollar burger. When I go to Hardee's I'm going to stick to a burger. At least I'll know I'm eating a tasty, high calorie, fat filled monster of a burger, not a salad that is masquerading as healthy food, but isn't.

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Filed Under: Fast Food, New Products
Tags: america, hardee's, salads, southwest chicken salad

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

11-25-2006 @12:24PM Hawk said... Quizno's has the same sort of salads... roast beef topped with cheese and tons of fattening dressing. And some lettuce.

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