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Less than two months after reorganizing its menu boards to spotlight items with 400 or fewer calories, McDonald’s Corp. announced that beginning next week it will include calorie information for all items on in-store and drive-thru menus. In doing so, it gets a jump on a requirement in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act [...]

Ever the contrarian, CKE Restaurants CEO Andy Puzder thumbed his nose at most burger-chain trends as he vowed to keep Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s selling indulgent burgers to “young, hungry guys.” Specialty coffees like McCafé offers or frappés like Burger King has added? Nah. Puzder said he’s not interested in the “more-variety approach.” Also not [...]

Burger King’s Australian affiliate, Hungry Jack’s, matched rival McDonald’s decision to add calorie information on menu boards and then raised the ante. By the end of October, Hungry Jack’s will offer a raw-veggie side-dish option. HJ’s Salad Stix cup will contain sliced broccoli, carrot, celery and bell pepper with the option of hummus dip alongside [...]

“Just because” is the tagline for advertising announcing the return of the Kiwi Burger to McDonald’s menu in New Zealand. The casual tone is apt because this burger—which isn’t made from the flightless bird but does top its beef patty with a slice of beet and a cooked egg—has been popping on and off the [...]

[7/27 Update: Watch this UK spot featuring giant Happy Meal boxes and a Dave Clark Five soundtrack.] McDonald’s Corp. today announced a new commitment to improving the healthfulness of its Happy Meals just weeks after declining to join Burger King and other chains in the National Restaurant Association’s similarly targeted Kids LiveWell program.  McDonald’s USA [...]

San Antonio-based Whataburger has divided its 10-state, 700-plus-unit marketing territory into three zones and is trying out various limited-time menu specials across these subsections. It’s good news for double-burger lovers, but not for those beginning the year by calorie counting. The southwestern zone—encompassing Arizona, New Mexico and western Texas—gets a new Green Chile Double burger, [...]

Where “everyone loves burgers” trend intersects with the “better-for-you foods” movement, a growing number of chains are appealing both to happiness and healthfulness. In this “ethical burgers” category, quality is defined by much more than whether beef is “fresh, never frozen.  Chef-owner Hilary Brown’s Local Burger in Lawrence, Kan., is among the burger joints arguing [...]

► Young people decide that the Mac Snack Wrap had them at hello in a commercial (at left) for the 330-calorie, half-a-Big-Mac-in-a-tortilla item that McDonald’s rolled out nationally last week, 10 months after it was first introduced in Canada. ► It’s nice to learn (courtesy of the always-informative A Hamburger Today) that Lady Gaga’s visit [...]