Bio-technology food ingredient specialist Holista has announced an exclusive two year deal with Quick Service Restaurants Holdings (QSRH).
QSRH has over 6000 restaurants throughout Australia, including Red Rooster, Oporto and Chicken Treat, making it one of the biggest in the country.
Holista will be supplying proprietary ingredients exclusively to QSRH for joint research and development under the agreement.
The plan, which is aiming to offer healthier food to QSRH customers free from additives, will be funded by Holista, expected to be about $820 000.
The collaboration involves three patents and covers a potato chip which absorbs less fat during frying, a low sodium salt and a low GI bread for longer lasting energy.
Holista chief executive, Rajen Marnickavasagar, said the new agreement will pave the way for healthier fast food.
“This is a landmark event because it is the first time in the world a major quick service restaurant group has attempted to tackle the global epidemic of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease,” he said.
“The success of this roll out in Australia could have major implications for the global fast-food industry.”
The fast food industry needs all the help it can get at the moment, with everything from a fat tax to a ban on using cartoons to advertise the food products to children being suggested.
While the Australian Food and Grocery Council recommended to junk food companies that they avoid advertising directly to children, there has been no decrease in the number of ads for the products.
With recent figures showing one in four children is overweight or obese, making them more likely to be injured in a fall, parents groups are calling for changes to be made.
Hungry Jacks and McDonald’s copped criticism recently when it chose not to follow in the footsteps of KFC in banning toys in kids meals, while the AFGC was critical of some fats food restaurants unveiling their own menus with calorie information, saying they should wait until a national scheme is rolled out shortly.
In an attempt to make its meals healthier, Hungry Jack’s recently announced it would be offering vegetables as a side with burgers, but many criticised the move, saying the vegetables were overpriced and would not last.