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In the past few weeks, a number of big fast food companies have launched new combo meal deals, such as Burger King’s “5 for $4” promotion, McDonald’s “McPick Two” menu or Pizza Hut's first-ever “$5 Flavor Menu.” The deals allow customers to try a combination of items for only a few bucks.
The idea of the combo deal isn't new. But why are deals proliferating right now?
“As soon as one guy does it, many of the other feel forced to follow,” said Bob Goldin with the food industry research firm Technomic.
But it's also the case that the fast food industry as a whole is coming off of a pretty lackluster year and is trying to get more people in the door.
“For 2015, you had traffic that was flat to maybe slightly positive,” said Morningstar restaurant analyst R.J. Hottovy.
Hottovy said part of the problem for fast food joints is that fast casual restaurants like Panera are stealing market share, as some customers trade up to food purveyors they perceive as higher in quality.
Restaurant consultant Aaron Allen said customers have also turned away from fast food restaurants because menus have grown overly complex. He said many restaurants now offer more than 100 items.
“So the more these menus become complex, the more it slows down the operation, confuses the consumer, and ultimately leads to a bad experience,” he said.
Allen said the combo deals make the choices simpler for consumers. That seems to be a goal behind Pizza Hut's new deal, which allows customers to get items like a one-topping, medium pizza or boneless chicken wings for $5, if they buy two or more items from the combo menu.
“It's really just a way to give them a really easy to understand, easy to use, easy to access menu option from us,” said Doug Terfehr, Senior Director of Public Relations at Pizza Hut.
Analysts said fast food companies can afford to discount their food so steeply with these combo meals right now because some of their costs, like commodities, are lower.
But restaurant industry analyst Bonnie Riggs at the NPD Group said she wonders how long that cushion will last, especially if labor costs spike.
“I do think that many restaurant operators are going to have to take price on other menu items to cover the costs of some other things that are happening in the marketplace,” she said.
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How well is the effort to improve fast food and offer more healthful alternatives to kids really working?
A new study by Yale University researchers is raising that question.
They say that while healthy options for kids are available, restaurant servers rarely mention them to parents.
Yale calls this new study the most comprehensive look yet at the nutritional content and marketing of fast food to kids. The results are jarring.
Some key findings include: restaurants don't guide people to healthier choices, children's exposure to fast food ads is increasing and companies actively target African American and Latino youth.
Of the more than 3,000 possible combinations of children's meals at eight different fast food restaurants, only 12 met nutrition criteria set by Yale for preschoolers and only 15 for older children.
"It's possible to get a healthy meal at a fast food restaurant but it's very difficult. You have to go in, you have to know exactly what you're looking for and you have to take the initiative to ask for it," said Marlene Schwartz, deputy director at Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity.
Researchers sent people into 250 fast food restaurants across the country and found that when customers asked for kids meals, servers offered them the choice of healthy sides like apples only 6 to 8 percent of the time at McDonald's Burger King and Wendy's.
Healthy drink alternatives like milk were offered by servers just 26 to 28 percent of the time at McDonald's and Burger King.
ABC News went to a McDonald's in New York City with a hidden camera and asked for a kids meal.
The cashier offered a choice of a healthier drink but did not offer the option of apples instead of fries.
In an ideal world, Schwartz hoped that parents would choose apples over fries when offered the choice.
A visit to four other McDonald's yielded similar results.
In a statement McDonald's told ABC News: "We are proud of our menu and remain committed to offering our customers a wide variety of quality food and beverage choices that meet their dietary needs and tastes."
The new study says the problems go well beyond the point of purchase.
Children today are being hit by a "relentless" marketing assault, according to the report, which found that preschoolers see almost three fast food ads a day and teens see almost five.
"If you think that this company is basically getting to your child three times every single day that's a lot of time that your child is being exposed to a message that you may not want them to have," said Schwartz.
As for the advertising, McDonald's says that 100 percent of its children's advertising in the U.S. features dietary choices that fit within the 2005 USDA dietary guidelines for Americans.
The National Restaurant Association says: "The restaurant industry has been committed to providing a growing array of nutritious offerings for children.... The increasing number of healthful options in kids' meals ... is the number one food trend in quick service restaurants."
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