You Deserve a Break Today: Learning About McDonald's Healthful Options

I intentionally chose an outdated McDonald's slogan as the title of this post, because my love for McDonald's goes way back to the You Deserve a Break days.  I ate Happy Meals in the Mac Tonight era, tried to learn the McDLT song in the late 80's (with the help of a record that came in my local newspaper), and dipped my fries in chocolate shakes after high school swim meets in the 90's Food, Folks, and Fun days.  Now in the 21st century I'm Lovin' It era, McDonald's is a weekly stop for Nathan and me because of its Happy Meals and its fun indoor play area.

So I was excited when the McDonald's Owners of Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana invited me to a Moms Nutrition Workshop at the famous Rock 'n Roll McDonald's in downtown Chicago.

After making the rainy trek downtown with my little fellow McDonald's lover, we were ushered into an upstairs lounge with tables and booths.  Naturally, I had to take note of the pretty floral centerpieces:

We were given a menu of McDonald's more nutritious items, and we were allowed to check off anything we wanted to have for lunch, for free.  Naturally, because it was free, I ordered two entrees.  The Honey Mustard Snack Wrap:

And the Southwest Chicken Salad, which I ate most of before remembering to take a picture:

Plus I got a Fruit 'n Yogurt Parfait for dessert:

Nathan got a Chicken McNuggets Happy Meal.

Once we were chomping away, the presentation got underway.  The speaker was Sylvia Melendez-Klinger, MS, RD, LDN, CPT--which is to say she was a nutrition expert.

Now, let me pause and say that this was a tough gig for McDonald's.  They know they have a bad reputation when it comes to nutrition and food safety practices, and mom bloggers are a notoriously skeptical bunch.  Not only are we typically educated and middle-class, but we tend to skew toward the liberal and the crunchy--exactly the kind of people who are wary of giant international conglomerates pushing cheap fast food at our children.  Additionally, I think we all feel a bit uneasy about the idea of becoming corporate shills in exchange for freebies, and we always have our eagle eyes and ears peeled to see through any corporate BS and pounce on it.  Even among those of us who agreed to go to this seminar--a self-selected group that naturally weeded out the most ardent McDonald's haters--there's a certain level of shame and guilt associated with taking our kids to McDonald's.  Admitting to eating under the Golden Arches isn't tantamount to child abuse, but it's certainly something we admit to with a little shrug of What are you gonna do?  I'm not perfect.  Admitting to eating at McDonald's falls somewhere along the lines of admitting to using TV as a babysitter or swearing in front of children.

So, I went in prepared to hear McDonald's out, but not exactly prepared to have my mind changed about the healthfulness of a visit to McDonald's.

But, these people hit it out of the park.  And I don't offer that kind of praise very often.

For one thing, I was surprised to find out about the many, many nutritional choices McDonald's offers.  I mean, yes, I had technically seen all those items on the menu, but I guess I still went in with the attitude that there was like one unappealing choice (salad) if you wanted to eat healthfully at McDonald's, and even that was just a CYA move on the part of McDonald's to get the critics and lawsuits off their backs.

But, it turns out there are a lot of healthful options at McDonald's, and, even more surprisingly, they actually taste good.
 
For breakfast, you could have:

• Egg McMuffin: 300 calories
• Fruit 'N Yogurt Parfait: 160 calories with granola/130 calories without granola (and really good!)
• Fruit 'N Maple Oatmeal: 290 calories with brown sugar/260 calories without brown sugar
• Fruit 'N Walnut Salad: 210 calories  

And THEN they brought out their newest breakfast delight, the Blueberry Banana Nut Oatmeal.  I knew McDonald's had oatmeal, but I was never all that jazzed to try it.  Let's face it, McDonald's does not have a reputation for doing anything fresh very well.  I think we all kind of imagine wilted, rotten produce being slapped on or shot through some kind of device, with the fresh and crispy produce being reserved for the products photographed in the McDonald's ads.  But we all got samples of the oatmeal, and I was pleasantly surprised by the plumpness and juiciness of the berries:

And, you guys, I am not at all exaggerating when I say that the Blueberry Banana Oatmeal (I didn't have the nuts because I don't like nuts) was the most delicious thing I ate at that whole event.  Now, I eat oatmeal for breakfast approximately 5 days a week, and oatmeal feels like an extremely boring chore.  This oatmeal, though?  Was so good.  The banana flavoring was delicious, and at 280 calories per serving (that's with the nuts--I don't have the data on nut-free), I might order it as my entree from here on out at McDonald's.  (As you probably know from the commercials, they serve the oatmeal all day.)  I am being completely honest when I say that I walked out of there craving another serving of the oatmeal, and even now, a day later, I'm still craving it.

Also, you can get the blueberries a la carte, in this cute packaging:

 They also have a Blueberry Yogurt Crunch, although I didn't try it. 

The healthful lunch and dinner options also go beyond just a salad:

• Premium Grilled Chicken Classic Sandwich: 350 calories
• Snack Wraps w/ grilled chicken: 250-270 calories (and I liked how they felt a little bit junky and fast-foodish)
• Cheeseburger: 300 calories
• Premium Salads w/grilled chicken: 190-290 calories (and the Southwest one has chips in it!)
• 6-piece Chicken McNuggets: 280 calories (and I like having a good warm option for those winter days when a salad just doesn't sound appealing)

So, as it turns out, the list of healthful options goes way beyond salads.  And choice is good.  I find it very annoying when I'm dieting and I feel like I'm stuck with only one option on the menu.

Also, McDonald's would like you to know that they want to make your food the way you want it, whether that be substituting sugar-free nuts for the sugar-coated nuts, or giving you food without added salt.  Here are some tips for less-sodium options and some tips on how to cut back on fat when you're eating at McDonald's.  The speakers at the event told us that McDonald's is committed to making your food specific to your liking (which, let's face it, has not been their reputation in the past), and that if an employee seems at all reluctant to customize your order, you should complain to higher-ups. 

Now, let's talk about the choices for kids.  I have to say, I have been truly impressed with the changes to the Happy Meal.  The fact that children are required to get a small package of apples (along with a tiny little container of fries) in the Happy Meal means that all parents, regardless of income, can treat their children to a more healthful meal out at an affordable price.  Because it's easy for us middle-class educated parents to find healthful options at fancier places, but in some areas McDonald's is the only place in town, and why shouldn't parents treat their kids to a meal out there once in awhile?  Also, even as a middle-class, educated parent, I appreciate that the apples are mandatory, making for one less battle I have to fight with my kid.

Nathan appreciated that he got two Happy Meal toys, declaring it "the best McDonald's ever" because our local establishments only give you one toy.  Of course, this had nothing to do with the fact that we were on a special VIP tour.

Speaking of the tour, after the presentation it was time for us to tour the McDonald's kitchen and food storage areas.  Our docent was Dean Przybyszewski, a McDonald's Field Service Consultant, which means he's the guy who goes around and checks the restaurants for compliance with food safety standards.

Here's Dean showing us the daily Food Safety Log that outlines the safety procedures:

Next we went down to the basement to see the storage and refrigerator/freezer areas.  Here's Nathan at the Bun Area:

This is Dean holding up a container of fresh, sliced tomatoes, to illustrate that McDonald's food actually does contain fresh produce:

Dean said that his main pet peeve in the criticism of McDonald's food is when people think McDonald's breakfast items are made from powdered eggs.  So he held up this egg to show us that the restaurant uses dozens and dozens of cartons of real eggs in their breakfasts:

Those are for the Egg McMuffin.  I did note that the scrambled egg sandwiches start like this:

Which is not to say that these scrambled eggs are bad, or unsafe, or gross.  I'm just saying that if you like to know that your food was a real grocery item fairly recently, you might want to stick with the McMuffin.  But, you know, McDonald's was very open about how the food is stored and prepared, so you can make informed choices about what you eat.  Nothing about this event was sneaky or an attempt to pull the wool over our eyes. 

Here's Nathan in the paper goods storage area:

And here's one giant refrigerator that contained, among other things, the Cinnamon Melts:

Another freezer contained boxes and boxes of frozen McNuggets.  Despite the fact that the nuggets are Nathan's favorite food at the restaurant, he is making a grumpy face here.  I guess because it was cold in there (26 degrees):

Dean and some McNuggets:

Eerie shot of the frostiness of the freezer:

(Also I learned that the freezer has a handle that allows it to be opened from the inside, so you can't get stuck in there, Three's Company-style.)  

Back upstairs, we visited the salad assembly area.  Dean noted that the salads are assembled throughout the day, so you aren't getting some old, wilted salad that was assembled hours earlier:

Here's Dean modeling the new salt shaker that ensures a uniform application of salt on your fries:

After the tour, we all got gift bags containing: a McDonald's beach towel, an apron that advertises the Blueberry Banana Nut Oatmeal, two free Happy Meal vouchers, a $5 gift card, a pedometer, a water bottle, and a stopwatch.  The bag itself was nice and had a zippered top.  We also got a lot of BOGO coupons for the healthful menu options.  (BTW email me if you want any, because I have more than I can use before they expire, even at the frequent rate with which I visit McDonald's.)

I left this event feeling truly positive about McDonald's.  I went in skeptical that my attitude might be changed regarding this huge conglomerate and its ability to provide healthful choices that anybody would actually want to eat.  But the McDonald's representatives truly impressed me.  As I said, I was a McDonald's customer before, but I always admitted to it with a hint of shame and guilt.  Now, when I say I take my family to McDonald's, and I will say it with pride.