Fast Food Chains bunless burgers

[Guest guest]

Making Low-Carb Concessions

By Amy Joyce

Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a

.. . . plastic bowl?

Asked about Mc's new low-carb offering, Leesburg customer Jon s

yesterday didn't exactly break into the fast-food giant's jingle " I'm Lovin'

It. " As he sat down with two double cheeseburgers, s scoffed at the

idea of a bunless burger: " I just don't think about it. "

His daughter, 15-year-old Nichelle, piped in: " The bun's the best part of

it! "

Mc's plan to begin offering bunless sandwiches next month was

directed at dieters who watch their carbohydrate intake. The company said

that many customers already ask for bunless burgers, which will become a

bona fide offering at the chain's 13,000 restaurants. The meat will be

served with knife and fork on a piece of lettuce in a plastic bowl normally

used for salad. A bunless sandwich will cost the same as one with a bun.

Low-carb dishes are showing up on fast-food menus across the nation as

restaurants seek to tap into the surge of protein-loving consumers. Hardee's

offers a low-carb breakfast bowl. Burger King has a bunless Whopper. Subway

serves " Atkins-Friendly Wraps. " Blimpie has come up with a " Carb-Counter

Menu. " Chili's menu lists options for low-carb dieters.

The popular Atkins and South Beach diets preach low consumption of

carbohydrates, which means limiting intake of such things as bread, pasta

and fruits. The diets have been known to help produce relatively quick

weight loss but also have been criticized for favoring meat and other

high-protein foods over more balanced fare.

Although low-carb diets have caught the fancy of an increasingly obese

America, Mc's isn't pushing the bunless burger very hard. There will

be no Hold-the-Buns advertising, and the new offering will not appear as a

separate option on its menus. Mc's said the bunless burger will be

listed in a brochure in the restaurants.

Bunless items are not huge sellers, said S. Goldin, executive vice

president at Technomic Inc., a food industry research company. He called

bunless sandwiches " not conducive to eating. "

Burger King, he added, has not promoted its bunless Whoppers much.

Goldin suggested that the low-carb craze will fade. " There's certainly a

carb awareness among consumers that is high, " he said. " I think saner heads

will prevail. "

For now, however, restaurants are rushing to answer the fad. Those that

ignore the low-carb constituency do so " at their own peril, " said C.

, president and chief executive of the National Restaurant

Association in Washington. After the surgeon general's 2001 report indicated

that Americans were gaining weight at an unreasonable pace, restaurants

expanded their menus to accommodate a more weight-conscious nation. " These

are hugely historic times in the restaurant industry, " said.

But to some nutritionists, the abandonment of carbohydrates has gone

" overboard, " said Barbara J. Rolls, professor of nutrition at Penn State

University. " The hope with all of us in this field is that it's just another

one of those things. "

The healthier approach at places like Mc's and Burger King would be

to put sandwiches on multi-grain buns providing a mix of nutrients, she

said.

At the Mc's in Leesburg yesterday, Roxanne wasn't enticed by

the prospect of a bunless burger. " It's Mc's. They've already got

salad, " she said. " When I eat a burger, I want the full taste. "