McDonald's New Wrap

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It may not be the most scintillating restaurant reading, but pretty soon, when you visit a McDonald's (MCD), you'll be able to count the calories, fat, and salt in those large fries just by reading the wrapper.



McDonald's introduced the food boxes and wrappers with nutritional information at the Winter Olympics in Turin on Feb. 8, making good on an earlier promise. The packaging will appear in the U.S. later this month.



The burger giant is responding to critics who blame fast-food chains and their outsize meals for the high rate of obesity in the U.S. One criticism: People don't really know how many calories or grams of fat the burgers and fries have.



FATTY REVELATION. In the past couple of years, McDonald's has fought back against detractors in several ways. It has scrapped Super Size meals, introduced salads and healthier snacks like apple slices, and attractively repackaged its milk [see BW Online, 7/25/05, "SpongeBob SquareMeal?"]. "Nutrition information is important in terms of how people pursue their balanced lifestyles," says James A. Skinner, chief executive of McDonald's.



Still, the fact remains that McDonald's regular fare doesn't really meet a nutritionist's definition of a healthy meal, which usually includes whole grains and dark-green leafy vegetables. And it certainly didn't help the company's healthy image when it acknowledged on Feb. 9 that its French fries have a third more trans fat than originally reported, because it fries them in artery-clogging hydrogenated oil [see BW Online, 12/13/04, "Cholesterol: The Bigger the Better"]. That admission was a reminder that the world's largest hamburger chain forgot about its 2002 promise to remove trans fat from its fries.



Restaurant industry analysts like CIBC's John Glass see the new tell-all packaging as a "calculated risk" on the part of McDonald's. Will people balk when they see the 460 calories on the double cheeseburger, with 210 calories coming from fat? What about the 570 calories of its large French fries? Or the revelation that that 10 Chicken McNuggets contain 420 calories, 220 of which are from fat?



NUTRITIONAL GUIDELINES. Such information won't make much difference to people who get a Big Mac attack. But just in case they want to opt for something healthier, McDonald's has also expanded its menu with salads. Yet the big question remains: How do you take the family to McDonald's and stay healthy?



McDonald's bases its nutritional percentages on an average 2,000-calorie-per-day diet. But the McDonald's diner isn't average. Patrons range from 2-year-olds, who could have a daily recommended intake of 1,000 calories, to a 24-year-old young man, whose recommended intake is 2,400 calories under the U.S. Agriculture Dept.'s revised nutritional food guidelines, MyPyramid, released last year. McDonald's didn't immediately respond to a question about why it based its nutritional information on an adult diet only.



So BusinessWeek Online looked into McDonald's offerings for different customers -- the toddler at age 3, kids under 10 who eat Happy Meals, teenagers who eat Mighty Kids meals, and 30-year-old adults -- and compared that to the government's nutrition guidelines. How did McDonald's fare? Actually, as long as a Mickey D's meal is not a three-times-a-day option, it's not bad. The menu didn't fare that well for the toddler set, but scored a thumbs-up for moms who choose the salads.



TODDLERS: It's no secret that McDonald's likes to start 'em young. Its jumbo playgrounds and brightly colored storefronts are geared to children. The government recommends that a 3-year-old's daily diet should total 1,000 calories. Those should come from 3 ounces of grains [of which 1.5 ounces should be whole grains], 1 cup vegetables, 1 cup fruit, 2 cups milk, and 2 ounces of meat and beans.



One McDonald's Happy Meal of four chicken McNuggets, small French fries, and low-fat chocolate milk totals 580 calories. This one meal is more than half of a child's daily recommended calorie intake. Yes, the milk and nuggets provide calcium and protein, but the meal doesn't contain any of the recommended whole grains. Although potatoes are a vegetable, by the time they're deep-fried and salted, they lose much of their nutritional value.



KIDS: A 6-year-old child needs about 1,400 calories a day, according to the food pyramid. The calories should come from 5 ounces of grains [of which half should be whole grains], 1.5 cups vegetables, 1.5 cups fruit, 2 cups milk, and 4 ounces meat and beans. If your 6-year-old prefers the hamburger Happy Meal with small French fries and 1% low-fat chocolate milk, that would total 680 calories, just under half of the government's recommendation for one day. Later in the day, this 6-year-old could still have a McDonald's Apple Dippers snack, made of sliced apples and a low-fat caramel dip totaling 150 calories. But she would still need a healthier second meal consisting of whole grain and vegetables.



TEENAGERS: Fast-growing 15-year-olds go to McDonald's to chow down after a game of soccer or basketball. To save money, they might buy meals from the dollar menu, which recently included a double cheeseburger [460 calories, 11 grams fat], medium fries [380 calories, 20 grams fat], and a hot fudge sundae [330 calories, 9 grams fat]. So for $3 a teenager can consume 1,170 calories and 40 grams of fat. For a girl, that's way over half her recommended 1,800-calorie daily limit. But if this teen is a boy, he's just a little over half of his 2,200-calorie daily allowance. If he were to have a similar meal again, not only would he be over the daily limit, but any snacking would definitely add to his waistline.



30-YEAR-OLD MOMS: McDonald's made a clear effort to attract young mothers with the introduction of premium salads two years ago. So, if a 30-year-old mom walks in with her toddler and orders a California Cobb salad with grilled chicken and Cobb dressing and a Diet Coke, how would she fare? The total would be just 400 calories, with 20 grams of fat. Of course, if she were to order the crispy chicken instead of the grilled, and opt for the creamy Caesar dressing, the calories rise to 550, with 36 grams of fat and 9 grams of saturated fat. That stacks up pretty well for our mom, whose recommended daily intake is 1,800 calories. She also gets her vegetables and protein intake. On her next break, she still has room for a snack of McDonald's new fruit and walnut salad with a low-fat yogurt dressing, totaling 310 calories.



30-YEAR-OLD GUYS: How about our young male, say 30 years old, that you often see grabbing lunch at McDonald's? If he orders a Big Mac Meal, with burger, medium French fries, and a medium Coke, that comes to 1,160 calories and 51 grams of fat. A 30-year-old man needs about 2,400 calories a day, with 8 ounces of grains, 3 cups vegetables, 2 cups fruit, 3 cups milk, and 6.5 ounces meat and beans. So, a McDonald's lunch isn't that much of a calorie buster. But to meet the nutritional guidelines, he'd need to eat a drastically different sort of meal for dinner and chew on carrots for snacks.



The bottom line? When you eat at McDonald's, consider that meal as half of your daily quota. And make sure that your other meals provide the MyPyramid elements you're missing. Just remember, the new nutritional information is only valuable if you use it.