McDonald’s UK is the latest multinational chain to display the calorific content of items on its UK menus. Australian Food News can reveal that McDonald’s Australia plans to follow suit by displaying the kilojoule content of items on its restaurant menus across Australia later this year. McDonald’s UK is supporting a UK government initiative to tackle obesity by introducing calorific content information to its UK restaurant menus. Others supporting the UK initiative include KFC, Pizza Hut and... ...Read more »

Two of Australia’s largest fast food chains, McDonald’s and Hungry Jack’s, will not be following KFC’s lead by removing toys from their children’s meals. Both told Australian Food News that they will continue to provide toys with their children’s meals. McDonald’s Australia’s Skye Oxenham said, “We don’t have any plans to remove our toys. McDonalds Australia has already done a lot in terms of introducing healtheir options to Happy Meals.... ...Read more »

Australia’s biggest public float in the past few months, Collins Foods, fell 8 percent on its first day of trading. Collins Foods is a KFC franchisee that operates all 117 KFC outlets in Queensland and 85 Sizzler restaurants worldwide. The company’s owner Pacific Equity Partners, a private equity firm, sold its 52 percent stake, and the company successfully raised $202 million in an initial public offering at $2.50 a share last month. However, the stock opened at $2.48 yesterday before finishing... ...Read more »

British Medical Journal website reports a new study has found one in six fast food customers in New York City have used calorie information and, on average, bought food with lower calories since the 2008 introduction of a new labelling system. Labelling requirements for chain restaurants In response to the growing problem of obesity, New York had implemented a law in 2008 to apply to all chain restaurants with 15 or more branches nationally. The law stipulated that such chain restaurants must provide... ...Read more »

A new survey by the Good Food & Wine Show has revealed some interesting truths about Australian eaters: our most influential culinary icon is Margaret Fulton, but we wish we were Nigella or Jamie; we’re nostalgic for dishes like Beef Stroganoff and prawn cocktail; more than half of us eat take-away more than once a week (with Thai food the most popular); we claim not to like KFC or McDonalds when eating out; we eat chocolate and mashed potato for comfort food; and Cab Sav and Sav Blanc... ...Read more »

New South Wales Premier Kristina Kenneally yesterday announced that menus for fast-food outlets across NSW will be required to display kilojoule information on their printed and menu boards, as of February 1st 2011. Businesses such as major fast food, bakery, coffee and doughnut chains will now be required to ‘clearly and legibly’ display the kilojoule content on their menu board, as well as prominently featuring the average adult daily energy intake of 8700 kilojoules. The kilojoule... ...Read more »

Yum! Brands announced today the launch of World Hunger Relief featuring global spokesperson and new World Food Programme (WFP) Ambassador Aganst Hunger, Christina Aguilera. According to the United Nations, there are approximately 1 billion people around the world who are hungry today. World Hunger Relief is the world’s largest private sector hunger relief effort, spanning 110 countries, 37,000 KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Long John Silver’s and A&W All-American Food restaurants and... ...Read more »

KFC has added a new medium to the advertising for its controversial Double Down burger, with an announcement that the company will recruit female university students to wear sweatpants with advertising printed on the rump. The KFC Double Down burger, not available in Australia, is a burger without the bun, featuring bacon, cheese and special sauce between two chicken fillets. The creation, introduced in April this year, has triggered something of a love-hate sensation in the US, with health advocates... ...Read more »

To celebrate seven savory decades of KFC’s Original Recipe, the brand is serving up a world record-setting attempt highlighting the flavor of Colonel Sanders’ famed 11 herbs and spices. KFC will cook up more than 2,000 pounds of fried chicken and unveil it with a giant version of its iconic bucket as it attempts to set the world record for the largest ever serving of fried chicken – dishing up literally a ton of fried chicken. Free samples will be available for hungry KFC fans eager... ...Read more »

Australia’s largest manufacturing sector – food and grocery – has forged a landmark new alliance with the Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) industry to work together to address important health, nutrition and chronic disease issues in Australia. Officially announced during the NSW Food Forum in Sydney today, the formal partnership between the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) and the QSR industry involves the establishment of a QSR Forum of AFGC. One of the main aims of the... ...Read more »