McDonald's Premium Salads: Somewhat Low Carb but unhealthy!
 

Wasn't sure which exact forum to publish this in, but here goes.

I recently learned of McDonald's (and some other fast food chains) stepping up to the plate in offering deluxe salads. This was explained as their way of offering healthier food choices to consumers. And while indeed these salads generally are lower in carbs than wolfing down their milk shake and fries, taking a closer look shows a not-so-swell story.

For example, going to McDonald's website and examining the nutrition facts of these salads at the following link:

http://www.mcdonalds.com/countries/...ts/index.html#4

...reveals a witch's brew of the baddies which Atkins, et al warns us of that we would never consciously add to our home-made salads on any phase of a low-carb diet. I accordingly submitted the following feedback to McDonald's nutrition-related feedback online form:

http://www.mcdonalds.com/countries/.../food_form.html

I read with much enthusiasm the introduction of your new premium salads - providing consumers with a healthier choice, as your PR folks describe it.
But when I examined the nutrition facts and ingredients of each of your salads, I was shocked to learn you have resorted to using trans-fatty acids (in the form of several partially hydrogenated oils) which are known carcinogens! So much for your salads being a healthier alternative for people. And then to add further insult, you load it up with MSG, various sugars, and more. And that's *before* you add the salad dressings.
As a low-carb dieter conscious of my health, I shall surely boycott your new salads until you do a serious re-think on their health-damaging ingredients. It is regrettable indeed because you could have provided delicious salads without having resorted to such horrible additives. Shame on you.

I got news for you, some of those salads ain't Low-Carb either and the ones that are low get 50-100% of their carbs from Sugar.

Crispy Chicken Salads -- 17g Net Carbs (4g Sugar)
Grilled Chicken Salads -- 8g Net Carbs (3-4g Sugar)
California Cobb Salad (w.o Chicken) -- 4g Net Carbs (4g Sugar)
Bacon Ranch Salad (w.o chicken) -- 4g Net Carbs (3g Sugar)
Caesar Salad (w.o chicken) -- 4g Net Carbs (3g Sugar)
Side Salad -- 2g Net Carbs (1g Sugar)

Worse yet are the dressings:

Cobb Dressing -- 9g Net Carbs (5g Sugar)
Low Fat Balsamic Vinaigrette -- 4g Net Carbs (3g Sugar)
Ranch Dressing -- 4g Net Carbs (3g Sugar)
Creamy Caesar Dressing -- 4g Net Carbs (2g Sugar)

Oh, and on top of they have anywhere from 170mg (Low) to 1,170mg (High) of Sodium, 610mg to 1,900mg with Dressing added. Of course, I wouldn't expect anything less from the people who add SUGAR to their french fries...and no I am not kidding.

I was shocked too when I got on the McDonald's website and saw the carb count in a grilled chicken caesar salad-You might as well dive into a Big Mac(BUT I WON'T!!!)

Thanks for all the info!!

And here's what McDonald's Customer Satisfaction department replied (complete with grammatical goofs and ducking the trans-fatty acid carcinogen issue) to the letter I sent in my original post in this thread.


You feedback however is very important to us and will be shared with our Menu Management team for on going evaluation.

Once again, thank you for contacting McDonald's and I hope you have found this information helpful.

McDonald's Customer Satisfaction Department

*and here's what I replied in turn to the above*

To: McDonald's Customer Satisfaction Dept.

I think you're missing the thrust of my original letter. Just because the government says a certain ingredient is "safe" doesn't mean it's healthy nor nutritional. MSG and sugars aren't healthy, and certainly not nutritional. Yet, your company chose salad ingredients which contain this... you're not honestly trying to imply that all your competitor's salads contain MSG, or so much sugar, are you? You'd be wrong if you tried stating such. Furthermore, I noticed how you conveniently ducked my raising the issue of your including trans-fatty acids in the form of numerous (I counted up to five) partially hydrogenated oils, which are known carcinogens as demonstrated by government and non-government medical testing. Again, this is not something all your competitors include in their salad.

I once again encourage McDonald's to do a serious re-think of their ingredients in their salads, or at least to cease and desist their marketing efforts in falsey portraying these salads as being a healthier alternative for consumers to choose from. They aren't. And it's ethically wrong of you to claim otherwise in either your marketing ads or your customer satisfaction replies.

I realize you're just a pawn in the chessboard of a larger corporation, Linda, but you're part of the problem if you play the denial game - and ultimately, play with people's health by pretending to provide something you do not: health-conscious salads.

Angered at my intelligence being insulted from your deceptive reply,

WOW Gary
I am totally impressed with you -What a great letter !!
You are right -it seems like they did dodge you on some issues.
Thanks for taking the time to contact them with concerns-I never would have thought about that.

:clap: :clap: :clap:

Thanks, Jerppt; my inspiration is from my "standing on the shoulders of giants" the Lisa N's, Gotbeers, Wai'ls, etc. and the others who've bothered to give enough of a hoot to not only Preach to the Choir (us), but to take the important step in actually emailing the various anti-carb newspaper/magazine article writers and tell them - be it in sophisticated wording or simple-worded matter-of-fact rebuttals - that they're on notice and being called on the carpet for their carbohydrate misdoings (heh-heh).

Well, she's not outright lying when she says this, but neither is she giving you the whole truth regarding MSG. The MSG found naturally in foods is not the same as that which is used as a food additive. The following link explains it pretty well:
http://www.truthinlabeling.org/III.What%20is%20MSG.html

It will be interesting to see what their response/defense is for including hydrogenated fats in salad (if they actually do respond). Their first excuse (hey, it occurs naturally in foods, so we should be okay adding it to ours!) won't work since trans fats do not naturally occur in foods, let alone in lettuce!

Well done, Gary! Let 'em have it with both barrels! :devil:

After receiving their first lackluster response, it became fairly clear to me that the person at the customer response person's level isn't empowered to say too much, and I don't think anybody in management would dare respond - though they claim the comments we send are recorded. I've had enough of their whitewashing and ducking, so I actually email blocked their entire domain so I wouldn't get too worked up dealing with another of their responses. But not until I sent that final salvo calling them on their evading the trans-fatty issue. Actually, that issue will catch up to them in the oncoming tide of even the feds slumbering into minimalist action on gearing up for emplacing trans-fatty acid counts on food labels.
If the corporate brass at McDonald's is as clueless or uncaring to add those bad elements into their food, it will take awhile for them to respond properly (if ever) to the public. Usually, soulless corporations don't budge for altruistic reasons, but rather, not until something impacts their profit line. That's why they're called "corporations" (etymology: a corpse without a soul). Onward to checking out the "nutrition" info of the other wanna-be premium salad fast food places of Wendy's, Jack in the Box, et al. Amazing how having a "healthy" salad from McDonald's can blow a person out of ketosis and contribute to getting cancer, yet the ingredients list explain how and why to those who know better.

And thanks to Lisa N for your encouragement.