Bowing to pressure from health advocates, who increasingly blame fast food for America's expanding waistline, McDonalds says it will begin providing information about the nutritional content of its food.
McDonalds CEO Jim Skinner says that starting next year, the company will begin placing easy-to-read charts on food wrappers and packaging, listing calories, fat, carbohydrates and sodium. Michael F. Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, called it "a useful step" but said McDonalds could do more.
"I wish that McDonalds would distinguish saturated and trans fat from total fat -- an important distinction that would help Americans reduce their risk of heart disease. As it happens, McDonalds fried foods are high in saturated and trans fat, since their potatoes, chicken, and fish are fried in a partially hydrogenated oil blend," Jacobson said. "One reason not to praise an announcement like todays too loudly is that McDonalds infamously retreated from its promise to reduce and ultimately eliminate the trans fat in its cooking oils. We hope that they eventually make good on thatm," he said.If they dont already know, McDonalds customers will find out that their Quarter-pounder with cheese has 730 calories and that the Sausage & Egg Biscuit contains nearly half an adults recommended fat for the day.
You can already find that information in McDonalds restaurants, listed in brochures. It is also available on the companys Website.
McDonalds is not the first fast-food restaurant to prominently list the nutrition data for its food. Subway Restaurants have a chart listing the nutrition data of their sandwiches at the counter, where consumers place their orders. However, Subway sees that information as a marketing tool, since its food tends to be significantly lower in calories and fat than the typical fast-food fare.
CSPI favors the Subway approach, saying its more effective to place the information on menus or menu boards, so consumers can read it before ordering. Legislation sponsored by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) would require chain restaurants with more than 20 outlets to list calories, fat and sodium in that manner.
"A far better step would be to provide calorie counts right on the menu board, so consumers would have that one critical piece of information before they placed their order," Jacobson said.
