McD's defers food labelling program

[Stunt]

Link

So McDonald's will be posting nutritional information on their products much like the standardized labels on all products bought in the grocery store. Unfortunately they cannot find a large enough source of trans-fat free oil to make the change this year.

McDonald's will not label its products until the healthier versions are available.

I like what they have been doing; healthy choices menu and nutritional data...it's just taking them far too long. And all this from a little documentary called "Super Size Me"; not bad.

 

[Jadow]

Super Size me is such bull though.

You CAN eat 3 square a day at MCd's and not get fat.

2 egg mcmuffins and coffee for breakfast ~ 600 calories
Extra value meal with diet soda for lunch ~1200 calories
2 mcchickens and diet soda for dinner ~900 calories
--------
2700 calories. A 200lb guy will LOSE weight if he only eats 2700 calories.

Sperlock went out his way to eat astronomically fatty stuff on his documentary.

There is a guy who eats big macs every day who is stick thin who has a website, but I can't remember it.

 

[Stunt]

Similarly you can go home and make 3 burgers, tons of fries and drink a 2L bottle of pop.
It's all about choices, and McDonald's is not to blame for people's eating habits.

But as you have pointed out, the nutritional information should be made available; they shouldn't wait to get their cheap trans-fat free oil.

 

[Rainsford]

Originally posted by: Jadow
Super Size me is such bull though.

You CAN eat 3 square a day at MCd's and not get fat.

2 egg mcmuffins and coffee for breakfast ~ 600 calories
Extra value meal with diet soda for lunch ~1200 calories
2 mcchickens and diet soda for dinner ~900 calories
--------
2700 calories. A 200lb guy will LOSE weight if he only eats 2700 calories.

Sperlock went out his way to eat astronomically fatty stuff on his documentary.

There is a guy who eats big macs every day who is stick thin who has a website, but I can't remember it.

Yeah, except that guy gets a LOT of exercise, if I'm thinking of the same guy. That's the big problem, most Americans don't get near enough exercise to justify needing 2700 calories per day.

 

[Polish3d]

Originally posted by: Jadow
Super Size me is such bull though.

You CAN eat 3 square a day at MCd's and not get fat.

2 egg mcmuffins and coffee for breakfast ~ 600 calories
Extra value meal with diet soda for lunch ~1200 calories
2 mcchickens and diet soda for dinner ~900 calories
--------
2700 calories. A 200lb guy will LOSE weight if he only eats 2700 calories.

Sperlock went out his way to eat astronomically fatty stuff on his documentary.

There is a guy who eats big macs every day who is stick thin who has a website, but I can't remember it.

That's not anywhere near true. A great deal depends both upon the individual as well as the makeup of the food. Eat high glycemic sugars and saturated fats for 2500 cals a day and you'll see a fatter 200 lber almost without question.

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: Jadow
Super Size me is such bull though.

You CAN eat 3 square a day at MCd's and not get fat.

2 egg mcmuffins and coffee for breakfast ~ 600 calories
Extra value meal with diet soda for lunch ~1200 calories
2 mcchickens and diet soda for dinner ~900 calories
--------
2700 calories. A 200lb guy will LOSE weight if he only eats 2700 calories.

Sperlock went out his way to eat astronomically fatty stuff on his documentary.

There is a guy who eats big macs every day who is stick thin who has a website, but I can't remember it.

There's more to eating well than Caloric intake. Anyone living on your list would be malnourished.

 

[3chordcharlie]

Also, a 200lb normally active person will quite simply gain wait at 2700 calories.

 

[Tom]

"Super Size Me" has nothing to do with this.

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

Originally posted by: Tom
"Super Size Me" has nothing to do with this.

You don't understand McDonalds. It's as much a PR firm as it is the fast food juggernaut. Anybody that's eaten there can tell you the food isn't that good. You go to Mickie Ds for the experience and they hook you while you're young.

As others have noted, there's almost nothing healthy about a McD diet, although their salads (sans dressing) do give you a fighting chance. Even at a moderate-high daily calorie count (2700) the levels of saturated fat, trans fat, simple carbs, and cholesterol would exceed healthy allowances. On the flipside, a McDs diet would be horribly deficient in most micronutrients as well as fiber.

Although Spurlock did over-dramatize aspects of his 30day adventure, his film brought needed attention to an issue that our country still struggles with . . . poor diet and sedentary behaviors are killing adults and making kids fat and unhealthy.

 

[Chiller2]

I hate all of this crap about making the food at fast food places healthier. Fast food is junk food if you don't want junk food don't eat there. If people REALLY wanted healthier fast food someone would have made a chain by now and be making millions on it. Fact of the matter is 95% of people who eat at McD's could give a s**t about nutritional info. Maybe I want my food cooked in oil high in trans fat if you don't don't eat it. We are becoming a freaking nanny nation.

 

[imported_dna]

Nanny nation, or not -- it seems as if most people get their "education" about nutrition from TV ads, e.g. "Cherios lowers cholesterol", with, of course, the obligatory comment "part of a balanced diet".

Heck, even McD can be part of a balanced diet, if you go there once a month

 

[ayabe]

Originally posted by: Jadow
Super Size me is such bull though.

You CAN eat 3 square a day at MCd's and not get fat.

2 egg mcmuffins and coffee for breakfast ~ 600 calories
Extra value meal with diet soda for lunch ~1200 calories
2 mcchickens and diet soda for dinner ~900 calories
--------
2700 calories. A 200lb guy will LOSE weight if he only eats 2700 calories.

Sperlock went out his way to eat astronomically fatty stuff on his documentary.

There is a guy who eats big macs every day who is stick thin who has a website, but I can't remember it.

It's not all about calorie intake and I thought that guy ended up having serious organ problems at the end of his experiment.

It's like Adkins, you will lose weight but aren't the least bit healthy.

 

[imported_dna]

But at least you're happy :laugh:

Seriously, you are right -- people would get drawn into a fad just to look better; they prefer someone giving them a plan, instead of having to use their own brain, reading about nutrition, and observing their own body in response to changes in their diet.

 

[Tom]

Originally posted by: BaliBabyDoc

Originally posted by: Tom
"Super Size Me" has nothing to do with this.

You don't understand McDonalds. It's as much a PR firm as it is the fast food juggernaut. Anybody that's eaten there can tell you the food isn't that good. You go to Mickie Ds for the experience and they hook you while you're young.

As others have noted, there's almost nothing healthy about a McD diet, although their salads (sans dressing) do give you a fighting chance. Even at a moderate-high daily calorie count (2700) the levels of saturated fat, trans fat, simple carbs, and cholesterol would exceed healthy allowances. On the flipside, a McDs diet would be horribly deficient in most micronutrients as well as fiber.

Although Spurlock did over-dramatize aspects of his 30day adventure, his film brought needed attention to an issue that our country still struggles with . . . poor diet and sedentary behaviors are killing adults and making kids fat and unhealthy.

I'm saying is "Super Size Me" didn't have anything to do with the demand for better nutrition labeling. That movie was just a stupid stunt.

It's like saying the move "Jackass" is why people don't go off cliffs in shopping carts.

And it's not correct to say a "McD's diet" couldn't be a healthy one. It depends on what items and quantities a person chooses.

A person can be just as an unhealthy eating at home, if they eat too much of the wrong things.

 

[techs]

Originally posted by: Jadow
Super Size me is such bull though.

You CAN eat 3 square a day at MCd's and not get fat.

2 egg mcmuffins and coffee for breakfast ~ 600 calories
Extra value meal with diet soda for lunch ~1200 calories
2 mcchickens and diet soda for dinner ~900 calories
--------
2700 calories. A 200lb guy will LOSE weight if he only eats 2700 calories.

Sperlock went out his way to eat astronomically fatty stuff on his documentary.

There is a guy who eats big macs every day who is stick thin who has a website, but I can't remember it.

A sedentary 200 pound male age 40-50 has a basal metabolism, on average, of 12x200 which equals 2400 calories to maintain his weight. So a 2700 calorie diet will increase his weight by a little over 2.5 pounds a month and a little over 31 pounds a year.
And the diet you mentioned would give him 4-5 times the recommended sodium and fat intake a day. Plus be serously deficient in vitamins.
So calling your diet 3 squares a day is not true.

McDonalds is NOT healthy food. That said there is no reason a healthy person can't eat McDonalds a few times a week. As long as they make up for the poor nutrition and high calories the rest of the week.

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

McDonald's was taking it on the chin in 2003 even before Spurlock's movie was released. But Super Size Me highlighted a variety of deficits that subsequently received even more attention by corporate.

Prior to Super Size Me . . . McDs policy for even displaying nutritional information was up to discretion of individual franchises. After SSM, policy REQUIRED the prominent display . . . including the use of tray sheets and packaging.

Prior to SSM, McDs made a killing off the Super Size promotion. It was huge and led others to copy it. After SSM, McDs began phasing out the program despite the direct economic benefits.

Prior to SSM, McDs had one of the worst menus in fast food with regards to healthy options. Although it started to prior to SSM, McDs dramatically revised their menu offerings including hiring Dean Ornish as a consultant. In 2005, McDs became the largest single purchaser of walnuts and lettuce in the world . . . at least that's what Ornish told me.

The simple fact is that if you tried to duplicate SSM in 2006 you would be looking at a dramatically different menu at McDs and likely a different outcome. On the otherhand, you might choose to try Hardee's.

Spurlock doesn't get all the credit but I bet his movie had more than a few viewings in Oak Brook.

 

[Tom]

Nutrition info has been easily available at McDonalds for years and years. I'm sure I got it as far back as the 1980s. SSM had nothing to do with the availability of this info, and any changes made after SSM are coincidental.

McD's has had what you would classify as healthy food on their menu for decades, going back at least as far the fitness craze of the late 20th century. Spurlock could have had a healthy diet from McDs when he made his movie, but he had an agenda.

And I don't know if McD's still calls upgrading their meals Super Sizing, but I do know they still offer some sort of increased size, so what are you talking about ?

SSM had less impact on the real world than the Star Wars Kid.

 

[halik]

Originally posted by: Jadow
Super Size me is such bull though.

You CAN eat 3 square a day at MCd's and not get fat.

2 egg mcmuffins and coffee for breakfast ~ 600 calories
Extra value meal with diet soda for lunch ~1200 calories
2 mcchickens and diet soda for dinner ~900 calories
--------
2700 calories. A 200lb guy will LOSE weight if he only eats 2700 calories.

Sperlock went out his way to eat astronomically fatty stuff on his documentary.

There is a guy who eats big macs every day who is stick thin who has a website, but I can't remember it.

i hope you're saving money for angioplasty. It's the cholesterol that will kill you anyway...

If I'm eating at McDs I go exclusively for the grilled chicken club w/o mayo. 400 calories, ~5g fat and 30G of protein

 

[techs]

Originally posted by: halik

Originally posted by: Jadow
Super Size me is such bull though.

You CAN eat 3 square a day at MCd's and not get fat.

2 egg mcmuffins and coffee for breakfast ~ 600 calories
Extra value meal with diet soda for lunch ~1200 calories
2 mcchickens and diet soda for dinner ~900 calories
--------
2700 calories. A 200lb guy will LOSE weight if he only eats 2700 calories.

Sperlock went out his way to eat astronomically fatty stuff on his documentary.

There is a guy who eats big macs every day who is stick thin who has a website, but I can't remember it.

i hope you're saving money for angioplasty. It's the cholesterol that will kill you anyway...

If I'm eating at McDs I go exclusively for the grilled chicken club w/o mayo. 400 calories, ~5g fat and 30G of protein

Even then you'd still be sucking down the sodium.

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

2004 end of supersize

The hamburger giant has started phasing out its trademark Supersize fries and drinks in its U.S. restaurants as part of an effort to simplify its menu and give customers choices that support a balanced lifestyle, a company spokesman said Tuesday.

By the end of 2004, Supersize will no longer be available at the nation's 13,000-plus McDonald's outlets except in certain promotions, McDonald's spokesman Walt Riker said.

Uh, what are YOU talking about?

McDonald's added entree salads last year and has been moving to provide more fruit, vegetable and yogurt options with its Happy Meals. But the Oak Brook, Illinois-based company remains a magnet for public concerns -- and legal actions -- when it comes to obesity.

Riker said the changes started going into effect in January.

McDs first entree salad was some Caesar concoction they promoted as a healthy alternative to burgers. Turns out it was even WORSE than their burgers. After more bad PR, they called Ornish.

Riker said the phasing out of super-sizing has "nothing to do with that (film) whatsoever."

Heehee

WaPo

Richard Adams, a former McDonald's franchising executive and now an independent consultant for franchisees, said health concerns no doubt factored into the decision.

What was that you said about all those 'healthy options?'

"When sales are declining, the corporation and the franchisees are terrified at the prospect of selling a few less 42-ounce drinks.

Oops

If you bother to research what McDs offered in 1998 and compare it to 2005 you will find they scarcely resemble each other . . . old reliables/iconic items Big Mac, Royale w/ cheese, and fries remain but much of the garbage they called food has been replaced with borderline (if not bona fide) healthy fare.

USAToday

McDonald's paid $12 million to settle a suit that charged it had failed to disclose that its french fries were cooked in beef fat.

Consumer affairs

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.

The next year that Skinner refers to is 2006!

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.

I wonder why McDonalds didn't do that earlier . . .

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.

Oh yeah . . . if people knew how bad the food was . . . they might stop eating there. Good thing they changed the offerings.

SSM was certainly not 'Unsafe at Any Speed' but its naive to believe corporate did not respond to it. In some cases it was accelerating initiatives already in the works but for others it was totally new concepts (at least new for them).

 

[Red Dawn]

Originally posted by: Chiller2
I hate all of this crap about making the food at fast food places healthier. Fast food is junk food if you don't want junk food don't eat there. If people REALLY wanted healthier fast food someone would have made a chain by now and be making millions on it. Fact of the matter is 95% of people who eat at McD's could give a s**t about nutritional info. Maybe I want my food cooked in oil high in trans fat if you don't don't eat it. We are becoming a freaking nanny nation.

Also a nation of Lard Asses

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

Originally posted by: halik

Originally posted by: Jadow
Super Size me is such bull though.

You CAN eat 3 square a day at MCd's and not get fat.

2 egg mcmuffins and coffee for breakfast ~ 600 calories
Extra value meal with diet soda for lunch ~1200 calories
2 mcchickens and diet soda for dinner ~900 calories
--------
2700 calories. A 200lb guy will LOSE weight if he only eats 2700 calories.

Sperlock went out his way to eat astronomically fatty stuff on his documentary.

There is a guy who eats big macs every day who is stick thin who has a website, but I can't remember it.

i hope you're saving money for angioplasty. It's the cholesterol that will kill you anyway...

If I'm eating at McDs I go exclusively for the grilled chicken club w/o mayo. 400 calories, ~5g fat and 30G of protein

Do you mean the Grilled Chicken Club w/o mayo, cheese, or bacon? 370kcal, 4.5g fat, 32g protein, and 1120mg sodium.

The hold the mayo only version is 550kcal, 17g fat, 45g protein, and 1570mg sodium . . . but I bet it tastes pretty good.

 

[Tom]

from the CNN article you linked-

"The company earlier issued a statement calling the documentary "a super-sized distortion of the quality, choice and variety available at McDonald's." It says the film is not about McDonald's but about Spurlock's decision to act irresponsibly by eating 5,000 calories a day -- "a gimmick to make a film.""

That pretty much sums up my opinion of SSM. It wasn't anything but a stunt. There was nothing in that movie that everyone didn't know already. Just like his shows about prison and minimum wage, he's pretty much useless. He got a lot of attention in the media, because his gimmicks are the kind of crap that can fill up time on talk shows and infotainment shows, not to mention internet forums where everytime someone mentions a fast food place, references are made to SSM as though nobody knew french fries were fattening until SSM.

Which is why I don't associate any positive changes in people's awareness of healthy diet choices with that film.

 

[LumbergTech]

Originally posted by: Jadow
Super Size me is such bull though.

You CAN eat 3 square a day at MCd's and not get fat.

2 egg mcmuffins and coffee for breakfast ~ 600 calories
Extra value meal with diet soda for lunch ~1200 calories
2 mcchickens and diet soda for dinner ~900 calories
--------
2700 calories. A 200lb guy will LOSE weight if he only eats 2700 calories.

Sperlock went out his way to eat astronomically fatty stuff on his documentary.

There is a guy who eats big macs every day who is stick thin who has a website, but I can't remember it.

yes but the average man is not tall enough or in shape enough to actually need to weigh 200 lbs

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

The Age

After many weeks of silence, McDonald's is fighting back. The fast-food company will this week embark on a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign to counter the documentary film Super Size Me.
---
This month Super Size Me grossed the highest opening weekend takings for a documentary in Australian history.
---
McDonald's Australia is the first McDonald's in the world to use advertising to publicly attack the movie. Until now the strategy has been to ignore it, but recent research from customers indicated that McDonald's silence might be taken as an admission of guilt.

Just in case you didn't remember, McDs hired Dean Ornish AFTER SSM and AFTER the PR failure of their first premium salad entree.

Again, no one gives SSM sole credit for McDs finding religion with regards to salads, low fat dressings, lower fat milk, less fat in the fries, less trans fat overall (everywhere except the US mind you), reduced sodium overall, and the addition of yogurt and fruit. But from the US to UK to Australia many of those changes coincide with the film and were accelerated afterwards. Further, McDs very own PR campaigns (after SSM) actually acknowledge that 'frequent' feedings at the Golden Arches isn't a good idea. Seems like that's a dramatic departure from Have You Had Your Break Today . . .

During the same year of that ad campaign . . .
1995 menu via corporate report

McDonald's restaurants offer a substantially uniform menu
consisting of hamburgers and cheeseburgers, including the Big Mac and
Quarter Pounder with Cheese sandwiches, the Filet-O-Fish, McGrilled
Chicken and McChicken sandwiches, french fries, Chicken McNuggets,
salads, shakes, sundaes and cones made with low fat frozen yogurt,
pies, cookies and a limited number of soft drinks and other beverages.
In addition, the restaurants sell a variety of products during limited
promotional time periods. McDonald's restaurants operating in the
United States are open during breakfast hours and offer a full
breakfast menu including the Egg McMuffin and the Sausage McMuffin
with Egg sandwiches, hotcakes and sausage; three varieties of biscuit
sandwiches; Apple-Bran muffins; and cereals.

Given the paucity of healthy offerings - and what typically made it into ad campaigns . . . McRib :disgust: - is there any doubt Ronald McDonald made his cheddar by pushing very unhealthy food?

I actually liked the frozen yogurt. The fruit and yogurt parfait has way too much sugar though.