Nobody goes to McDonald’s with the intentions of eating healthy and saving themselves a few calories for lunch. People go to McDonald’s fully aware of the unhealthy ingredients that they add to their food. The public just cannot help to satisfy the unhealthy craving of sweet and fattening foods. This is a challenge that every American faces. While McDonald’s has tried to add “a selection of balanced choices,” according to New York Times’ Mark Bittman (Par 5), they have completely failed in their attempt to incorporate oatmeal into their breakfast menu. Bittman says that rather than just keeping oatmeal as it comes, McDonald’s compliments the normally healthy meal with sugar, sweetened dried fruits, cream, and brown sugar (Par 6). This just goes to show that McDonald’s cannot stay true to their word of creating a more nutritional option to their breakfast menu. Not only is the new food option that people can now choose unhealthily filled with artificial sweeteners and sugars, but according to Mark Bittman, in New York the meal costs $2.38 per serving in New York (Par 5)! This is more than the double cheeseburger that McDonald’s sells on the dollar menu! This is ridiculously outrageous compared to the healthy oatmeal that one can find at a local Wal-Mart for around 75 cents to a dollar!
The insanely modified oatmeal is shown to be unhealthy according to Bittman. He claims that the oatmeal has “more sugar than a Snickers bar and only 10 fewer calories than a McDonald’s cheeseburger or Egg McMuffin.” He goes on to say that this is even without the brown sugar added! (Par 10).
I cannot believe that McDonald’s would make such false claims to try to appeal to customers. A healthy choice is definitely not what they have created for people. They have only created another item for people to feed their addiction with and possible even obtain obesity. I believe that if McDonald’s truly wanted to create a healthy option for a meal, they would not add any artificial preservatives; rather they would just leave it alone and allow the meal to speak for itself. McDonald’s either needs to tell the public the truth in their advertising or begin to add items that are truly healthy to their menu.
Photograph: Oatmeal originally uploaded by theimpulsivebuy
Works Cited
Bittman, Mark. "How to Make Oatmeal . . . Wrong - NYTimes.com." Opinion - Opinionator - NYTimes.com. New York Times, 22 Feb. 2011. Web. 03 Mar. 2011. <http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/22/how-to-make-oatmeal-wrong/?src=me&ref=general>.
McDonald's Fruit & Maple Oatmeal Closeup. 2010. Photograph. Flikr.
Dear Writer,
ReplyDeleteI think this is an interesting topic to write about. I had "heard" about the new oatmeal at McDonald's but didn't know how unhealthy it actually was for you! This is a unique topic & I'm glad you wrote this post so I could read about it!
"more sugar than a Snickers bar and only 10 fewer calories than a McDonald’s cheeseburger or Egg McMuffin.” This quote actually grossed me out! So many people go to McDonald's & choose the oatmeal, because they think they are making a MUCH healthier decision than a McMuffin or McGriddle, but they are actually making an equally poor decison on their food choice! We think that oatmeal SHOULD be healthier choices than these other choices McDonald's offers, & it SHOULD be, but it's crazy that McDonald's has gone out of their way to sugar up the oatmeal & make it less healthy. I guess they think more people are likely to eat it if it's all suggared up & has sugary dried fruit in it as well.
"I cannot believe that McDonald’s would make such false claims to try to appeal to customers" This statement couldn't be any more true! As hard as it is to beleive that McDonald's actually does this, it's really not all THAT hard to beleive! This is just what McDonald's does...they false advertise new products to get people to try new things on their menu, to get new customers to give McDonald's another shot since they have "healthier" items on their menu now, even though all these things are FALSE! It's just simply what they do. I have begun to get used to it now. No matter how "healthy" they act like it is, you really don't know what's in something unless you make it yourself!
Thank you for writing on this topic & bringing to my attention the real unhealthiness of McDonald's oatmeal. You seem to be a good writer, & I enjoy the topics you have blogged about. Thanks again!
Dear Writer,
ReplyDeleteAfter doing my own research on the fast food industry, I couldn't agree with you more. There is no wonder why we love fast food so much, because of the sugars and fats that keep us coming back for more. It is amazing to think that McDonald's can't even offer a healthy alternative without ruining it with unhealthy additives. I think you picked a topic that Americans should be more interested it and realize how such a corporation can effect their health even when they think they are doing the opposite.
"He claims that the oatmeal has “more sugar than a Snickers bar and only 10 fewer calories than a McDonald’s cheeseburger or Egg McMuffin.”" This blew my mind. It really makes you wonder why they even try to sell healthy menu items if they are just packed with calories, too. I'm sure plastering posters of healthy items like the oatmeal brings in plenty of money and widens the range of consumers, but I doubt someone like McDonald's would do that do their customers! ;)
I completely agree with your statement "they have only created another item for people to feed their addiction with and possible even obtain obesity." McDonald's knows what people want. They know that while the majority of Americans are overweight, most are trying to make the turn around to a healthier lifestyle and eating habit.
Thanks for publishing this blog. I enjoyed reading it and I will definitely be coming back to read more about your interesting topics.
Sincerely,
Baltimore Oriole.
Dear Spencer,
ReplyDeleteI totally think you're spot on when you say that people know what they get when they go to Mcdonalds. I don't understand why people go there and complain that they have no unhealthy food choices.
Now, that picture is eye catching. First off, I don't really like oatmeal to begin with. I think it's gross. But, that's the most disgusting looking oatmeal i've ever seen. In the commercials they make it look so much better than that nasty looking thing. I'm disgusted.
When you said that if they truly wanted to have healthy options they'd let the meal speak for itself, i couldn't agree more. Why sit there and yell out "it only has 90 calories?!". If it's actually healthy then people will know that. Those 90 calories could be of pure fake preservatives.
I really enjoyed this blog and hope to come across more of your blogs soon.
Cardinal