KFC Nutrition Facts
In the United States, the problem of obesity and connected diabetes has become epidemic. As a popular fast food restaurant, KFC nutrition facts includes information about menu items, meal choices and potential ingredients that may trigger allergic and food sensitivity reactions. Beginning January 1, 2010, restaurants, including fast food restaurants, are required to provide nutritional information to guests regarding their menu items.
Why Post Nutritional Information?
Recent studies have found that people tend to make better food choices when they are informed of the nutritional information of the food they are eating. Often, people do not realize the caloric measures of the items they are eating, nor do they realize the fat, sodium and other factors that can contribute to health problems unless they are provided that information. For people who are watching their diets or who have health concerns, having nutritional information not only helps them make healthy choices, it provides them with a means of making conscious choices about their diet. The intent of Congress in requiring restaurants to provide nutritional information was to help in this process.
Nutritional Posting Requirements
The requirement that restaurants post nutritional information includes specific guidelines about the information that must be made available. This includes information about the number of calories in each menu item, the amount of fat, sodium and carbohydrates. Nutritional information must be posted in an open visible places in the restaurant and also be available in written form if asked for by a patron. Many restaurants also make this information available on their website in order to make it easier for customers to review. Restaurants also often post nutritional information on menus, along with each menu item.
KFC Nutrition Facts
On the KFC website, KFC nutrition facts can be found in PDF format. They include information about each menu item, an ingredient statement and information about food allergies and sensitivities (information about common food allergy ingredients is included, along with information about foods that are prepared on common equipment). Other information on their website includes exchange rates the coincide with diabetic food guidelines provided by the National Dietetic Association. In addition, a fact sheet on eating a balanced diet can also be found on their website.
Specifically, for comparison, the KFC website lists each menu item and the nutritional information for the items. For example, a fried chicken breasts is 164 grams, has 320 calories (130 calories from fat), has 15 grams of total fat and has 3.5 grams of saturated fat. This same chicken breast has 710 milligrams of sodium and 110 milligrams of cholesterol, 4 grams of carbohydrates and 42 grams of protein. All of this information can be found for each menu item. Also of note, zero transfats are used in preparing all of KFC’s menu items. This is noted on the nutritional information.
Nutrition - KFC.com
Photo Credit: 陳炬燵
