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Friday, October 19, 2012

McDonalds is “McDo” in French

According to a recent issue of The Wall Street Journal, 14,000 McDonalds in the U.S. will begin posting calorie counts on their menu boards. Surprisingly, the highest calorie item is not a “Big Mac,” but is the “Big Breakfast.” Beware though: the healthy sounding mango pineapple smoothie (32 oz.) is equal to the grilled chicken sandwich in calories (350).

Although many chains already post calorie content, McDonalds is heading off a federal labeling requirement, where restaurants with 20 or more outlets will be required to post calories on menus. McDonalds also wants to portray their menu as not only containing junk food, with apples having been added to the kids’ meals. Americans now consume about 1/3 of their calories from restaurants and spend about 1/2 of their food budgets at restaurants.

Studies show that when calorie content is publicized, consumers generally decrease their intake, while other studies show no correlation.###

What do you think – do you pay attention to posted calorie content when ordering at a restaurant?

There are 15 McDonald’s in and around Nice, and although I haven’t been in one, when I pass the ones on the Promenade des Anglais and on Ave. Jean-Medicin, there always seems to be a lot of customers. I frequently see advertisements on the television for McDonalds too, so they are imbedded into the French landscape now, and whether this is positive or negative, seems to be a part of current French culture.
I happened to notice a automated ordering station in a nearby McDonalds as I was walking by (no calories posted) – I’m not sure these are to be found everywhere – has anyone used one (see video)?

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