Burger King to Launch Low-Calorie French Fries

Burger King plans to launch low-calorie french fries to help people feel less guilty about gobbling the snack, according to Las Vegas Sun.

The world's No. 2 hamburger chain is launching a new crinkle-cut french fry on Tuesday that it says has 20 percent fewer calories than its regular fries. The chain says a small order of "Satisfries" clocks in at 270 calories because of a new batter that doesn't absorb as much oil. By comparison, a small order of its regular fries, sans the crinkles, has 350 calories.

The concept of taking an indulgent food and trying to remove some of the guilt isn't new. Supermarket shelves are filled with baked Lay's potato chips, 100-calorie packs of Oreos and other less fattening versions of popular treats. But the trick is to cut calories, not flavor. Burger King executives say people won't be able to tell that Satisfries are lower in calories. It says they use the same ingredients as its regular fries - potatoes, oil and batter. To keep kitchen operations simple, they're even made in the same fryers and cooked for the same amount of time as regular fries.

The difference is that the proportions of the batter's ingredients are adjusted so that it blocks out more oil, Burger King says. The crinkle-cut shape is in part so workers will be able to easily distinguish them from the regular fries when they're deep frying them together.

"You need to make things as simple as possible," says Eric Hirschhorn, Burger King's chief marketing officer. Alex Macedo, head of North American operations at Burger King, said the chain worked with one of its potato suppliers, McCain Foods, to develop the lower-calorie fries. He said McCain can't sell the fries to other fast-food clients and that different suppliers might have a tough time imitating them.