Uno is First National Casual Dining Chain to Offer Fries with Zero Grams Trans Fat

11/10/06 Uno Chicago Grill is rolling out trans fat-free French fries in its more than 200 locations, becoming the first national casual dining chain to eliminate the chemically modified fats from its French fries. Trans fats are widely considered to increase the risk of heart disease.

"We are committed to eliminating trans fats across the board on our menu," said Frank Guidara, chief executive officer of Uno Chicago Grill. "When we launched our new menu a year ago, we stopped cooking with any oils that contained trans fat and eliminated trans fats from all of our salad dressings. Now, we're taking the next step and offering trans fat-free French fries in all of our restaurants."

It has been a challenge to develop a trans fat-free French fry that meets Uno's high standards for taste and texture. "We had to find a trans fat-free product that was indistinguishable from the terrific French fries that we have always served in our restaurants," said Guidara. "It took us a full year, but we finally succeeded."

The new trans fat-free French fries will be available in all Uno Chicago Grill restaurants by the end of October.

Guidara serves on the Harvard School of Public Health Nutrition Roundtable, where elimination of trans fats has become a key topic of discussion. As one of only two casual dining chains represented on the Roundtable, Uno Chicago Grill is a leader in the industry in addressing this important health issue.

"Our goal is to offer guests a full range of nutritious and delicious menu items, along with the information they need to make choices," said Guidara. Last year, Uno introduced Nutrition Information Centers in its restaurants and on Unos.com, allowing guests to look up complete nutrition information on all Uno menu items. Uno also offers a menu of gluten-free items, to accommodate guests with food allergies.

Based in Boston, Uno Restaurant Holdings Corp. currently has a system of more than 200 company-owned and franchised full-service units. Uno Chicago Grill restaurants are located in 30 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates. The company also operates a consumer foods division which supplies airlines, movie theaters, hotel restaurants and supermarkets with both frozen and refrigerated private-label foods and branded Uno products.