McDonalds to post calorie details on US menus to help tackle obesity

McDonald’s is to begin posting calorie information on menu boards at its US stores next week as it works to stem criticism that its food causes obesity.

The chain will also test healthier items, such as egg-white breakfast sandwiches, 350-calorie sweet chilli chicken wraps and more produce side items, to add to its menu in 2013, Oak Brook, Illinois-based McDonald’s said yesterday. Calorie counts will be listed on menus inside restaurants and at drive- through windows, the company said.

“We feel it’s important to do this for our customers,” said Jan Fields, president of McDonald’s USA, at a press event in Washington. “Calories are just part of the story.” The burger seller is making efforts to improve nutrition and disclose more about its food after being criticised for selling unhealthy items amid a national obesity epidemic. More than one-third of adults and about 17% of children are considered obese in the US, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

A Big Mac sandwich at McDonald’s has 550 calories, while a 12-ounce vanilla milkshake has 530 calories.

A US health-law mandate requiring chain restaurants with more than 20 locations to post calorie contents of fare may take effect later this year. The proposed regulation, issued April 2011, is a part of President Barack Obama’s health-care reform legislation.

McDonald’s has recently touted a “Favourites Under 400 Calories” menu, which includes the Filet-O-Fish sandwich, Egg McMuffin and medium fries, to attract US consumers. The chain has struggled to draw Americans as competitors step up promotions and add menu items.

Sales at McDonald’s US locations open at least 13 months rose 3% last month, trailing analysts’ estimates as growth slowed from a year earlier, the company said yesterday. McDonald’s has more than 14,000 domestic restaurants.

Last year, the fast-food chain began putting apple slices and smaller packets of fries in all of its Happy Meals in US stores. The change reduced calories in children’s meals by 20%, the company said in a statement at the time.

Darden Restaurant Inc, owner of the US dining chains Olive Garden and Red Lobster, also has made efforts to provide healthier meals. The Florida-based company is working with first lady Michelle Obama’s Partnership for a Healthier America to cut the calories and sodium in its food by 10% during the next five years, it said in September 2011.

— Bloomberg