KFC unveils first Nutrition Progress Update

In a first for KFC, it has unveiled its Nutrition Progress Update, a scheme that tracks the progress it has made on nutrition across its menu and aims to increase transparency for consumers and wider industry.

According to KFC, its Nutrition Progress Update outlines various steps the company has taken as part of its “nutrition journey”. These include reformulating its fries and removing full sugar Pepsi from its menu in England. As well as this the fast food chain has been adding to its 500 kcal or less range and now includes options such as Riceboxes, Salads and Twister Wraps.

Back in 2023, KFC partnered with youth activist movement Bite Back, whose Food Systems Accelerator Programme sees young people partnered with industry to identify, develop and deliver solutions on how to make healthy food more desirable, accessible and affordable. As a result of this, the company has launched its set of behavioural intervention trials, designed to help understand what helps encourage customers towards healthier options, specifically at lunchtime in the UK and Ireland.

“We know it’s our great quality, finger lickin’ chicken that means people love KFC, but we also recognise that we have an important role to play in helping more people have access to nutritious food. We have made a start, but the fact of the matter is we’re not yet where we want to be on nutrition,” said Meg Farren, General Manager at KFC.

“That’s why we’ve decided to disclose our progress and plans through our new annual Nutrition Progress Updates. While we’ll never stop providing fried chicken across our menus, behind the scenes we’re continuing work on making sure that any trip to KFC offers great quality, fresh, nutritious options, at great value for customers. By being open and transparent about the action we are taking, we hope we can bring others on this journey with us”.

Hoping to be “open and honest” about its nutrition journey, KFC has said that it “has to play in helping more people have access to nutritious, good food”.

Looking to the future, the company has said that by 2025, it will be comparing its menu items against the UK Nutrient Profiling Model 2004/2005, something that is utilised by the UK Government to categorise nutritional value and define foods that are HFSS (high in fat, salt and sugar).

 “Making balanced, healthy choices around what we eat is something to which we all aspire. Intervention trials that measure the efficacy of different behavioural nudges are critical – they allow us to make data-driven decisions about which approaches work well, or not so well, in any given context,” said Professor Richard Crisp.

The American restaurants are coming: but who does this benefit?

“KFC understands this, and their science informed/data driven approach to this endeavour will help them fine-tune the way in which they present their healthier options through multiple channels, and in so doing, enable, enhance and empower their customers’ decision-making,” continued Crisp.

Through collaborating with partners, KFC UK&I has now identified four pillars that its claims will “have the most impact on the nutritional value of its offer to customers”. These include menu innovation, reformulation, partnerships, and nutritional information.

Now, the fast food chain has out various ambitions for 2025 in writing, including increasing the number of non-HFSS menu items to 70 percent of the total menu through a combination of product innovation and reformulation of current menu items.

KFC has said that it will be keeping consumers and industry up to date with its progress against its ambitions with an annual Nutrition Progress Update set to be issued each year.