Dairy Processor News

Newsline: Pizza Hut Holds Half the Cheese on "Healthier Pizza"

Following other fast food chains in developing healthier fare, Pizza Hut is introducing a lower-calorie pizza with half the cheese of the Dallas-based chain's Thin ‘N Crispy pizza. The new Fit ‘N Delicious pizza also has 25% less fat and 30 fewer calories per slic

The Fit ’N Delicious has half the cheese of the Thin ‘N Crispy.

DALLAS-Following other fast food chains in developing healthier fare, Pizza Hut is introducing a lower-calorie pizza with half the cheese of the Dallas-based chain's Thin ‘N Crispy pizza.

The new Fit ‘N Delicious pizza also has 25% less fat and 30 fewer calories per slice than a comparable Thin ‘N Crispy. A slice from a large Fit 'N Delicious pizza has 150 calories vs. up to 450 calories per slice from Pizza Hut's Stuffed Crust pizza.

The target market for the leaner Fit 'N Delicious pizza is women ages 29-54. More tomato sauce as well as leaner meats also contribute to the calorie reduction in the new pizza.

While all this may sound a bit scary for the cheesemaker, Pizza Hut puts a positive spin on it.

"Our focus groups tell us that this will people who thought pizza couldn't fit into there lifestyle are now reconsidering it because they have this lower fat option," said company spokesperson Julie Hildebrand. "So we think this will bring in new traffic to Pizza Hut, and could result in us using more cheese."

It took six months for the nation's top pizza chain to develop the leaner pizza, which rolled out nationwide at the end of October.