
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 13, 1991                   TAG: 9103130203
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

MCDONALD'S LEAN SALES PROMPT LOW-FAT BURGER

In its latest move to counter sluggish sales and answer a growing chorus of criticism of its food, McDonald's plans to introduce a hamburger that is lower in fat.

The new hamburger, which the company might announce as early as Thursday, would be the first such product to be available nationwide at any fast-food chain.

The low-fat burger, which in test marketing has been called the McLean Deluxe, uses a new process that substitutes water for some of the fat.

The sandwich, offered in addition to McDonald's other burgers, would have about half the fat of the company's large hamburgers, like the Quarter Pounder. Other low-fat "burgers" that have been marketed were made of beef substitutes like soybeans; this is the first to use beef.

Hardee's and Wendy's, rival hamburger chains, have been marketing lean-beef burgers since last year, but they have only 10 percent to 15 percent less fat than regular hamburgers.

McDonald's declined to comment on the new burger, but some McDonald's franchisees said Tuesday that the restaurant chain, the world's largest, would start national advertising of the item on April 19 and would make the sandwich available in restaurants on April 26.

McDonald's has scheduled a news conference today at its headquarters' test kitchens in Oak Brook, Ill.

Of course, a hamburger will never be what some people consider health food, but the move is the latest attempt by the fast-food industry to answer consumer concerns about fat and cholesterol.

Last year, McDonald's, after criticism, switched the oil used to fry french fries from one heavily laden with beef fat to a mixture made up mostly of vegetable oil, which is lower in saturated fat.

Securities analysts doubted whether the new sandwich would give an immediate lift to McDonald's sales, because, they said, most fast-food customers are not overly concerned about nutritional issues.

Still, analysts said the unusually swift introduction of the sandwich - nine months from drawing board to restaurant - underscored McDonald's desire for a product that would stimulate the sluggish domestic market, where too many competitors with too many restaurants have dampened business for all the fast-food chains.

by CNB