The company has long maintained that its food can be part of an active, balanced lifestyle.
The packaging information will consist of icons and bar charts displaying how McDonald's menu items relate to daily recommendations for calories, protein, fat, carbohydrates and sodium.
They will debut at McDonald's restaurants at the Olympic Winter Games in Turin, Italy, in February.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nonprofit health advocacy group, called the move "a useful step in providing customers more, and more readable, nutrition information." But the Washington-based organization, which has long urged fast-food companies to both provide more information and offer healthier food, was muted in its praise and said McDonald's should provide calorie counts on its menu boards.
"Considering America's obesity epidemic, that calorie information would do more than just about any other measure to help people protect their waistlines," said CSPI Executive Director Michael F. Jacobson.
He also said that instead of giving total fat content, McDonald's should have been more specific since its fried foods are high in saturated and trans fats, which increase the risk of heart disease.
But Dr. Louis Sullivan, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and a health adviser to McDonald's, said its "creative" approach is "scientifically sound and communicates complex information in a clear and accessible way."
If you can't wait to see all the bad news, you can go to McDonald's website (they don't make this obvious to find on the site) to get all the "nutritional" information on their poisons, er, I mean foods.
For example, I didn't know you could get a double Quarterpounder with cheese, large fries, and a large chocolate Triple Thick shake (32 fl oz cup) and not have an immediate heart attack and die, but apparently you can -- 2,410 total calories with 92 grams of fat (most of it saturated and trans fats, but they don't break down that information so that you can make an informed decision). That's one possible meal, albeit a large one that most of us would never consider ordering.
If you must eat at McDonald's (assuming there is no 7-11, Circle K, or grocery store for miles and miles in any direction), look at the nutrition chart posted on the wall someplace near the front counter -- otherwise you won't know how bad that crap is until you've already ordered it.
McDonald's already posts all the nutritional info on Happy Meal Bags/Boxes. Their salads are a great option for me when I need to do drive through. Grilled Chicken Caesar no Dressing 206 cal 6g fat 29 g protein 9g carbs 3 g fiber, I get the Low Fat Balsamic dressing 43 cal 3 g fat 4 g carb IF you use the whole thing. The apple nut salad there is a wise choice without the sweetened nuts. The yogurt parfait is another good one. There are good choices you just have to be wise in choosing.
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