Dunkin' Donuts believes it offers healthier food

Looking to entice those hungry for a healthier option, Dunkin' Donuts will begin offering a new slate of better-for-you offerings in August.

Photo: Dunkin' Donuts believes it offers healthier food

The menu, which will debut in stores Aug. 6, will feature two new flatbread sandwiches made with egg whites. Customers will be able to choose either a turkey sausage egg-white sandwich or a vegetable one. Both will be under 300 calories with 9 grams of fat or less, the company said.

"We just felt it was important to provide some choice in our menu," said Will Kussell, president and chief brand officer.

The new menu will be called DDSmart and will include all current and new items that either have 25 percent fewer calories, sugar, fat or sodium than comparable products or contain ingredients that are "nutritionally beneficial," the company said.

Current products that will join the new sandwiches on the menu include a multigrain bagel and a reduced-fat blueberry muffin.

Kussell said Dunkin' will continue to add products to the menu and is currently developing several new offerings, but would not disclose any details.

Kussell said Canton, Massachusetts-based Dunkin' Brands Inc. will spend several million dollars marketing the new menu.

A number of restaurants have added better-for-you options to their menus in the past few years to take advantage of a trend toward healthier eating.

"We're staying very true to our brand and very true to our heritage," said the company's executive chef Stan Frankenphaler. "We're just growing and evolving."