Cholesterol

KFC said the change in cooking oils will not change how its fried chicken tastes.

"We have safeguarded the recipe and the flavor profile," said Doug Hasselo, KFC's chief food innovation officer.

Hasselo said the new cooking oil costs more, but the chain will absorb the extra expense without passing it along to customers.

Not All Trans Fat Free The zero grams trans fat items at KFC also include its potato wedges.

Some of KFC's nonfried items still contain trans fat, including biscuits, pot pies, macaroni and cheese, and some desserts.

The company said it's working to remove trans fat from those items.

KFC was unveiling television advertising Monday to promote its switch to cooking oil without trans fat.

KFC stores will put up signs touting the conversion, and the chicken buckets will carry the health message within a week or two.

The company won praise from the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer group that pushed for KFC to switch to a healthier cooking oil.

"To get rid of this one major problem improves their customers' health automatically, without the consumers doing anything," said Michael Jacobson, the group's executive director.

Healthy Fried Chicken?

Customers at a KFC restaurant in the chain's hometown said they appreciated the change.

Steve Garber,...

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North America, which accounts for 45 per cent of global pharmaceutical sales, grew 8.3 per cent to $290.1 billion in 2006, up from 5.4 per cent in the previous year.

Generics constitute almost half of the volume sales and has a market in the US valued at $54 billion, according to IMS Health.

Legislative attempts to control drug expenditures, the increased influence of payers to drive more cost-effective healthcare, generics competition, and the introduction of new biosimilars will impact US prescription growth in five years.

In 2006, prescription volume of unbranded generics grew by 13 per cent and sales of unbranded generics grew by 22 per cent, especially due to generics entering the market for Zoloft and Zocor.

“Branded blockbusters such as Norvasc and Ambien are set to lose patent protection in 2007.

US pharmaceutical sales would growth at 6-9 per cent through 2010 as a result of the influence of lower-priced generics,” predicts IMS Health.

It is estimated that $80 billion worth of drugs are set to go off-patent progressively by 2010-15.

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