Mc's New Wrap

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FEBRUARY 17, 2006

NEWS ANALYSIS

By Pallavi Gogoi

Mc's New Wrap

The fast-food chain is rolling out packaging that lets you know the

nutritional value of that Big Mac. Will consumers bite?

It may not be the most scintillating restaurant reading, but pretty

soon, when you visit a Mc's (MCD ), you'll be able to count

the calories, fat, and salt in those large fries just by reading the

wrapper.

Mc'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, Mc'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 A. Skinner, chief executive of Mc's.

Still, the fact remains that Mc'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 Glass see the new tell-

all packaging as a " calculated risk " on the part of Mc'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, Mc's has also expanded its menu

with salads. Yet the big question remains: How do you take the

family to Mc's and stay healthy?

Mc's bases its nutritional percentages on an average 2,000-

calorie-per-day diet. But the Mc'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. Mc'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 Mc'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 Mc'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 Mc'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 Mc'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 Mc'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 Mc'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: Mc'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 Mc'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 Mc'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 Mc'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 Mc'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.