Fat Is Back?

This is a partial transcript from "Your World with Neil Cavuto," January 26, 2005, that was edited for clarity.

NEIL CAVUTO, HOST: Nearly a full pound of Angus beef, four strips of bacon, three slices of cheese, more than 1,400 calories, 107 grams of fat. This ain't just a burger, my friends. It's a statement. And for Hardee's, a daring dietary thumb of the nose to modern food day police who are trying to bust big buns.

With us now is Andrew Puzder, the very thin president and CEO of Hardee's parent company, CKE Restaurants.

ANDREW PUZDER, CEO, CKE RESTAURANTS (CKR): Hi, Neil.

CAVUTO: You just know this is a heart attack on a plate, right?

PUZDER: Well, Neil, they're selling like hotcakes. If you have a health problem, you shouldn't eat this burger. But if you want a big, juicy, delicious, decadent burger, we've got it for you.

CAVUTO: The food Nazis are all over you on this one.

PUZDER: Aren't they, though? But that's OK. It really seems the more they complain, the more burgers we seem to sell.

CAVUTO: This has really been selling very well?

PUZDER: Very well. We have products you can eat if you want healthy.

CAVUTO: Who buys it? Who buys it?

PUZDER: Young hungry guys, 18-to 34-year-old males.

CAVUTO: Not dainty, like, 110-pound woman going in there?

PUZDER: Well, we do get a few of those. And I've actually had a few myself, and I'm not in the category.

CAVUTO: And like you said, there is other stuff there at the store.

PUZDER: Absolutely.

CAVUTO: But now, you notice McDonald's might be facing this suit from these two kids who got fat eating all that stuff? What do you think of that?

PUZDER: Well, No. 1, they market to kids and we don't. We market to young male. And secondly, I think they really didn't have healthy alternatives. We've got a four grams of fat chicken sandwich and five carbs, low carb burger, and have had them for a long time.

CAVUTO: Yes, but your critics say you -- right up there, you should tell people the calories, the grams of fat, all that. Would you do that?

PUZDER: We're glad to do it. When we put this burger out, we had a press release: 1,420 calories, 107 grams of fat. We're not hiding it.

CAVUTO: What do you think of these people who are lecturing us on what we should eat?

PUZDER: Well, I think, you know, they may have people's best interests at heart. But I think people like to eat what they want to eat. And nobody is going to tell us we can't eat steaks, we can't eat pork chops; we can't eat a delicious burger when we want to.

CAVUTO: Just in moderation. You wouldn't recommend this every day?

PUZDER: No. I certainly don't eat it every day, and I wouldn't recommend people do. But I think if you work out and have a healthy diet, you can treat yourself to a great burger once in awhile, and if you want to do that, we've got it for you.

CAVUTO: All right. Andrew Puzder, thank you very much. He's the CEO of CKE Restaurants. He doesn't look like he eats the food, but I guess he does.

PUZDER: He does. He does.

CAVUTO: I guess you do.

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