New Flavors, Products Coming to Fast-Food Menus

QSRs are testing new food items to see which will stick or fail.

May 12, 2014

NEW YORK – QSRs aren’t falling short on introducing new menu items. Here’s a round up of recent fast-food finds:

Burger King is rolling out a "burgers for breakfast" menu in addition to its breakfast staples. USA Today reports that the menu includes Whoppers, Cheeseburgers, Big King sandwiches, the Original Chicken Sandwich, french  fries and apple pie.

McDonald’s is testing Shakin’ Flavor Fries, which allow diners to customize their order of French fries with one of three seasoning flavors: Garlic Parmesan, Spicy Buffalo or Zesty Ranch. McDonald’s is testing the concept at Sacramento, Stockton and Modesto, California, locations. Shakin’ Flavor Fries will also be available in the St. Louis region and for the past decade they have been a customer favorite in McDonald’s restaurants in Asia.

Taco Bell unveiled the Spicy Chicken Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Taco, featuring spicy shredded chicken inside of the Cool Ranch Doritos taco shell.

Dunkin’ Donuts introduced the Chicken Apple Sausage Breakfast Sandwich, a sandwich under 400 calories with egg, reduced-fat Cheddar Cheese, and a split chicken sausage seasoned with spices and apple, served on an oven-toasted English muffin.

Smashburger announced its new partnership with Udi’s Gluten Free, rolling out a gluten-free bun offering at all U.S. Smashburger locations. Smashburger is now one of Udi’s top foodservice accounts, including other retailers such as Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and Target.

Meanwhile, not everyone believes bacon belongs on everything. Folks flocked to the Panda Express Facebook page to express outrage about the fast-casual chain’s new Orange Chicken with Bacon. “This apparently proves that we've finally found the bacon tipping point,” writes Blogs.OCWeekly.com. “Bacon in a milkshake? Yum! But bacon in America's favorite fast-food faux-Chinese dish? Sacrilege!”

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