Fast Food

According to a recent blog post on The Stir, many of the smoothies that fast-food chains are selling these days are anything but healthy.

"Even the new McDonald's Wild Berry Smoothie and comparable Jamba Juice Berry Yumberry Smoothie are just okay -- they are relatively low-cal (210 and 230 respectively) but still pack mega grams of sugar."

Head over to The Stir to see the five worst offenders and find out which smoothie comes in with a whopping 960 calories and 23 grams of fat.

Just when you thought breakfast couldn't possibly get any more fun, Burger King is rolling out breakfast kids meals.

The $3.38 meals will include an egg-and-cheese English muffin sandwich, apple "fries" and calcium-fortified Minute Maid apple juice, Bloomburg Businessweek reported. The meals will hit restaurants on Monday.

"Offering a kids meal for breakfast that meets our strict nutrition criteria empowers our guests to make menu choices that work best for their dietary needs and lifestyles," John Schaufelberger, senior vice president, global product marketing and innovation, Burger King Corp., said in a statement.

Burger King got served -- by independent regulator of sales promotions in the UK, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The agency ruled against the fast food company's Tendercrisp campaign, alleging the television advertisements may mislead customers to believe the chicken burgers are heftier than the reality of their drive-through counterparts. The commercial in question features a man shacked up in a motel with a substantially portioned and prettily composed Cheesy Bacon Tendercrisp.

The ASA stated that they "examined the size of the burgers in the hands of an average-sized man and considered they did not fill the hands to the same extent as the burger featured in the ad."

Consumers are often reeled in by the promise of juicy, chargrilled burgers and crisp, golden fries, which are often artful illusions created by food stylists (professional "make up artist for food," Jennifer Eustock proudly demonstrates some techniques here). A debate among food stylists as to whether "dirty tricks" should be employed when prepping food products exists in the blogosphere. One blog cleverly captured the disparity between these doctored food products and the soggy, foil-wrapped reality.

Two weeks ago, Chick-fil-A gave customers the chance to earn a free combo meal by coming in to their stores dressed in cow costumes. (In case you missed it, our editor donned spots to cash in on this deal.) Yesterday, KFC took a stab at this sort of publicity stunt (what, KFC, you haven't had enough press from the Double Down?) by offering the first ten people dressed in a competing chain's uniform a free Doublicious sandwich.

They even resurfaced a Colonel look-alike in a promotional video to encourage fast food employees to come get their sandwiches (in it, a McDonald's worker trades out his McD's hat for one bearing the KFC logo).

If that young man (or any competing uniform-wearers) lost his or her job on account of the free meal, KFC promised to welcome them into their arms of employment. Head over to Eater to see the promo video.

Cinnabon wants to be more to you than just, well, Cinnabons.

As Nation's Restaurant News reports, the company is in the process of trying to avoid becoming the restaurant equivalent of a one-hit wonder. It's expanding its menu offerings and unveiling a "more relevant look" for its stores, according to Cinnabon president Gary Bales, which apparently involves "more contemporary dark wood and less clutter" (read: more like Starbucks and less like grandma's kitchen).

"Market saturation" is, perhaps, not quite the right term to describe what Cinnabon has achieved in 25 years. "Permeation" seems a better word for it. When you stop to think about it, the wafting aroma of warm cinnamon rolls has somehow become synonymous with two seemingly disparate mainstays of our modern cultural experience: airport travel and mall shopping. You can usually smell a Cinnabon from Macy's.

Now the company is looking to expand its horizons.

Look out, Ronald McDonald. The Colonel has you in his sights.

Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, all owned by Pepsi spinoff Yum! Brands, are gaining ground on McDonalds in China, India and Russia, Bloomburg Businessweek reported. With 37,000 restaurants in 110 countries, Yum! is the world's largest restaurant chain in terms of outlets and its growing in popularity overseas, bringing in more money every year.

More after the jump...

This week, Wendy's launched four new salads, joining their Garden Sensations line which launched in 2002.

To be honest, we were surprised to see the rather high calorie and fat content in the Baja Salad, Apple Pecan Chicken, BLT Cobb and the Spicy Chicken Caesar Salad (more details about the salads after the jump), especially during the summer months when most people are trying to slim down. The original Garden Sensations line boasts much lighter options, notably the Mandarin Chicken Salad and Chicken Caesar.

While we weren't a fan of all of them, we can say that if were at an airport, stuck with limited options, we'd be happy to grab one of these.

Each salad reviewed after the jump...

UPDATE: To ensure continued supply and meet customers' needs due to overwhelming popularity, McDonald's USA announced today that it will not be executing the national in-restaurant sampling event of McCafé Real Fruit Smoothies on July 22-24.

Back in early June, we told you about a product-tasting event we attended where McDonald's unveiled its new McCafé Real Fruit Smoothies (in addition to other products) as an extension of their McCafé line. The smoothies, available in Strawberry Banana or Wild Berry (chosen as the favorites during rigorous consumer testing), launched nationwide on Tuesday.

Our initial reaction was that both flavors (Wild Berry contains blueberries, strawberries and blackberries) were quite fresh-tasting, thanks to their natural ingredients (fruit, fruit juice, low-fat yogurt and ice). Danielle Paris, the Director of Product Innovation and Development at McDonald's, told Slashfood that McDonald's "sources strawberries directly from strawberry farmers, and selects particular varieties that will offer a specific flavor profile" for the smoothies.

As promised, our official taste test is coming soon, but next week you can try out the flavors yourself, at no cost. From July 22 to July 24, McDonald's will be giving customers free samples of both smoothie flavors. This promotion is reminiscent of their offer from just over a year ago for a free sample of their McCafé Mocha, with the early rollout of their McCafé line.

If you taste the smoothies next week, let us know what you think, and stay tuned for our official taste test!

Is America getting burger fatigue? Betting that the market for choices beyond super-sized fries will continue to grow, two of the minds behind America's biggest fast-food chain are launching a healthy, "fast-casual" restaurant concept. Mike Roberts and Mike Donahue, former McDonald's executives, have plans to open a chain tentatively called "Stephanie's," and they're not thinking small: The initial goal is to open as many as 250 locations in five years' time, according to Advertising Age.

The duo (backed by entrepreneur Steve Sidwell) wants to skew healthy, with planned menu items like apple-cinnamon steel-cut oats and pita pockets for breakfast, and smoked-chicken sweet pea soup and pork-and-sweet potato kabobs for lunch and dinner. Prices would start around $8.

Not sure what "fast casual" means? It's become shorthand for spots that blend super-short service time with a casual dining atmostphere. Think Panera Bread, Cosi, and Corner Bakery Café – they don't offer full table service, but they're a step above the burger giants and fast-food sub shops.

It seems Carl's Jr. is about to escalate the fast-food sandwich wars (from KFC's Double Down to Friendly's Grilled Cheese BurgerMelt to Sonic's Footlong Quarter Pound Coney) to a whole new Freudian dimension. Call it a case of patty envy.

According to both the Orange County Register's Fast Food Maven and Eater.com, the chain is market testing a footlong cheeseburger at several locations in Southern California.

True, this is a chain whose flagship burger is called the Big Carl; they've got a reputation to live up to.