McDonald's Fruit & Walnut "Salad"
On the go, we find its easiest for us to pack our own meals, to ensure total knowledge of ingredients, especially with my daughter's food allergies. But packing isn't always do-able, especially on road trips. So we try to find the healthiest options outside of our home. Many restaurants have caught on the our desire to live healthy lifestyles & they try to sell themselves just as that: healthy. Sadly, it comes at the mis-guided, ill-informed consumer's cost.
While on a recent road trip, we were starving & there had been no food stops for miles, except for McDonald's. Always hopeful for good options, we thought we'd give it a try & ordered the least offensive looking menu item: the Fruit & Walnut "Salad".
We quickly tossed out the dairy yogurt, and dove into the fruits of grapes & apple slices. Immediately, my tongue was tingling. Probably not a good sign, right? The apples had a funny chemical aftertaste to them, but Sophia didn't notice, she was so hungry. I thought I'd give the walnuts a chance, but they were more fried-sugary tasting than a walnut ever should be.
Two initial thumbs down.
The nail in the coffin for me was about a week later, while cleaning out the car, I found one of those apple slices that I had given my 3 year old. Oddly enough, it hadn't browned, or gotten mushy, like a FRESH apple should. I checked their web site's Ingredient Listings & all it mentions is "calcium ascorbate (a blend of calcium and vitamin C added to maintain natural freshness".
It really bothers me that this restaurant tries to sell us on the thought that its healthy to eat there. But one quick glance at their Nutrition Facts is enough to keep me away from this place. With only a few menu item completely free of saturated fats (most of those items being their condiment packets), and the caloric count ranging from 20 calories (side salad without dressing) to a painful 1280 for their Deluxe Breakfast, or 1270 for their Chicken Selects Premium Breast Strips, I am begging you to just keep driving. Next time, we'll just grab an apple from the produce basket at the closest gas station.
McDonald's.. I'm NOT loving it!
4 comments:
At first when I started reading this I thought you were *recommending* the apples! I had heard about exactly what makes them so "fresh". Same thing with a lot of the pre-packaged apple slices they are selling at the store. It's healthier AND cheaper to just make your own at home!
I know how it is on the go, though, and long for the day that we have drive-thru healthy restaurants!
That's scary. We never stop at Mickey D's but if we had that probably would be something I would have ordered. yuck!
Actually, I'm impressed they used calcium ascorbate, because that isn't so bad. I take that as a dietary supplement for vitamin C, as it is more absorbable than the acidic version (ascorbic acid). But it is a synthetic form of a vitamin + mineral, so in that sense it isn't exactly pure & natural.
Eating an apple that was probably sliced in a plant in a centralized location, shipped to the individual store and finally sold some days to weeks later IS a scary thought.
I agree it would be better to find a grocery store or a corner store.
And their fries aren't just potatoes and oil, they have beef broth and flour in them too! Weird and sick!
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