McDonald’s Redeems Itself

Remember my post about McDonald’s “Real” Fruit Smoothies?

When McDonald’s makes something seemingly healthy, it has to be questioned. When I started seeing the commercials for McDonald’s new Fruit & Maple Oatmeal, I had to hop on over to their website to investigate.

According to Mickey D, the restaurants have two options for oatmeal: with or without brown sugar. Which is great because it gives you the choice to omit all that unnecessary sugar! Therefore eliminating 14 extra grams of sugar.

You also have the choice of adding the following toppings: cranberry raisin blend, diced apples, and light cream. Personally, I would not add the cranberry raisin blend because dried cranberries are always sweetened with extra sugar. They are just too tart for most people if they don’t sweeten them. I also wouldn’t add the light cream because I’m not a fan of pasteurized dairy.

Take a look at the nutritional information for yourself:

All in all, its a great breakfast when your on the road. It has a good amount of protein and carbs to get you through the morning. I’m glad McDonald’s has started selling this because I am going to be on the road this weekend. It also has a great price, $1.99. Also, they serve the oatmeal all day at most stores!

Some other great fast food places that serve oatmeal include:

e990b02ab5664e799da64f4e31a002c9 — Starbucks Perfect Oatmeal-Served with optional nuts, dried fruit, brown sugar, and milk of choice. $2.95

Jamba Juice Oatmeal pic — Jamba Juice Steel Cute Oatmeal-Slowly cooked in Soymilk, and served in a variety of flavors including apple cinnamon, berry cherry, blueberry & blackberry, fresh banana, or brown sugar. $3.45

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

Have any of you tried McDonald’s new oatmeal? I haven’t tried it yet, but I expect it to be an instant oatmeal like Starbuck’s. I’ve never tried Jamba Juice’s either. Have any of you tried it?

How do you eat breakfast on the road? I usually bring a bag of snacks with me wherever I go, nuts, fruit, bars, and I like eating the oatmeal from Starbucks.

Are McDonald’s Real Fruit Smoothies really made out of real fruit?

The Short answer: Yes

The Long and more complicated answer:

Even though fruit is in the ingredient list-sugar is, too. The smoothies are made by adding ice and low fat yogurt to a fruit blend. McDonald’s sells two different kinds of smoothies: Wild Berry and Strawberry Banana. Here’s the ingredient list for each fruit blend:

Strawberry Banana Fruit Blend
Strawberry puree, banana puree, water, sugar, concentrated apple juice, contains less than 1% of the following: Cellulose powder, natural (botanical source) and artificial flavors, xanthan gum, citric acid, colored with fruit and vegetable juice, pectin.

–

Wild Berry Fruit Blend
Strawberry puree, water, sugar, blackberry puree, blueberry puree, concentrated pineapple juice, concentrated apple juice, contains less than 1% of the following: Cellulose powder, xanthan gum, colored with fruit and vegetable juice, natural (botanical source) and artificial flavors, pectin, citric acid.

Low Fat Yogurt (Added to both smoothies)
Cultured Grade A reduced fat milk, sugar, whey protein concentrate, fructose, corn starch, kosher gelatin. Contains active yogurt cultures.

The FDA requires the ingredient list to be written from greatest to least. This means that Strawberry Puree is the most added of the ingredients, and citric acid is the least (for the wild berry smoothie). With this rule in mind, Sugar is the 3rd ingredient on the Wild Berry Smoothie’s list. That means that a large portion of the smoothie is made of plain ol’ sugar.

Also, McDonald’s adds concentrated apple and pineapple juice to the smoothies. Juice concentrate is made by taking away the water from the juice, leaving the flavor and a lot of sugar left. On top of this, the low fat yogurt uses 2 more sugar ingredients: sugar and fructose. The sugar, concentrated juice, and fructose makes the smoothie one sugar-high drink. Look at the stats for proof:

Strawberry Banana-Small (12 oz.)

Calories: 210, Fat: .5 g, Sodium: 35 mg, Carbohydrates: 49 g, Sugar: 44 g, Fiber: 2 g, Protein: 2 g

Wild Berry-Small (12 0z.)

Calories: 210, Fat: .5 g, Sodium: 30 mg, Carbohydrates: 48 g, Sugar: 44 g, Fiber: 3 g, Protein: 2 g

But, if you should choose to order the large smoothie, the sugar content jumps up to 70 grams!

These smoothies contain a lot of sugar in them! If you were to drink one of these, expect your blood sugar levels to spike! Compare this 12 oz. smoothie to 12 oz. of mountain dew: mountain dew tops the smoothies’ sugar levels by a mere 2 grams! (46g grams in 12 oz. mountain dew)

In conclusion, why buy a small smoothie at McDonald’s for $2.29 when you can just as easily make one at home for cheaper? At home, you can also control what you put into the smoothie, making it healthier and yummier!

Smoothie Ideas:

~I love making smoothies all the time! They are quick and easy to bring. Just throw the ingredients in a blender, and take it to go in a cup! I make mine by putting frozen fruit (or fresh) in the blender, fill it with juice, water, milk substitute, and add other miscellaneous items like spices, extracts, or protein powder

PiNa Colada: coconut milk, pineapple, banana
Chocolate-Dipped Strawberry
Strawberry Mango
Chocolate Peanut Butter: cocoa powder (or chocolate protein powder), milk, peanut butter, banana
All the fruit in your pantry smoothie: and add milk and juice!
Peachy: peaches, papaya, mango, orange juice
Orange julius: orange juice, ice, milk
Chai smoothie: banana, milk, cinnamon, chilled chai tea

The possibilities are endless!