Pizza Hut tests diet pizza in two cities

Diet pizza is the holy grail of fast food.

Has Pizza Hut found it?

The pie-in-the-sky notion is getting a nudge as Pizza Hut test markets Skinny Slice pizzas at 47 restaurants in West Palm Beach and Toledo, Ohio.

The lower-carb, lower-calorie pizzas have thinner crusts and smaller amounts of cheese and toppings, a Pizza Hut spokesman told the Associated Press.

In West Palm Beach, customers can choose from six Skinny Slice pies, with each slice less than 250 calories.

The pizza chain's website advertises Skinny Slice as “big on taste, not on calories.”

Toledo customers can create their own with up to five toppings with slices coming in under 300 calories.

“It may be attractive to a customer who might not be including pizza in their regular choice of meals,” says Doug Terfehr, a Pizza Hut spokesman.

A non-skinny slice at Pizza Hut ranges from 180 calories (for a 12″ medium Thin 'N Crispy Veggie Lover's) to 470 calories (14″ large pan Meat Lover's), according to Pizza Hut nutrition information.

Traditional fast-food chains are trying to tempt health-conscious Millennials, who have increasingly opted for fast-casual Panera and Chipotle (which they believe have higher quality food).

Lower calories doesn’t mean lower prices, however. Skinny Slice pizzas are prices the same as their regular pizzas – at $11 a pie.

And the calorie savings could easily be offset by a pop-up that appears on the site before checking out. It prompts buyers to add to their orders an Ultimate Hershey’s Chocolate Chip cookie, whose calorie count is, perhaps wisely, not included in the chain’s nutrition information.