I know. You are thinking how can someone like me, who talks about health and family, be doing work for McDonalds. Before you think I sold out and move on, relax, sit back and give me a minute here. When I accepted the invite, I was just as skeptical and tried to keep an open mind. After all, I had thought McDonalds was a leading cause of children being overweight, and the thought of giving my kids McNuggets as a meal never really crossed my mind. The times we have gone to fast food chain restaurants like McD’s are at airports or road trips where there are few options.
So I went to a franchise in North Miami filled with skepticism and uncommitted. I met with three franchisees (two moms and one dad) who explained how McDonalds has evolved as they grew up in the business. This was very interesting since most of these are family businesses, and franchisees have been behind a McDonalds counter since they were kids.
A couple of the franchisee moms
I was there to learn specifically about the new and simpler Chicken McNuggets, within the context of McDonald’s commitment to provide healthier and natural foods to its customers. Turns out the McNuggets are made with 100% white meat and no artificial preservatives, colors or flavors. I asked about that awful YouTube video of a pink paste (if you don’t know what I am talking about, you saved yourself a gross out) and was told that it was not accurate. McNuggets are white meat only. In fact, McDonald’s USA recently announced a number of moves across its menu as the company continues to evolve. This includes:
- removing artificial preservatives from several items which also don’t have artificial colors or flavors, including its iconic Chicken McNuggets. Across its breakfast menu, the pork sausage patties and omelet-style eggs served on McGriddles, Bagel and Biscuit breakfast sandwiches, along with the scrambled eggs on its breakfast platters, also now have no artificial preservatives.
- rolling out new buns this month that no longer contain high fructose corn syrup, including the buns used on Big Macs, Quarter Pounders, hamburgers and cheeseburgers, Filet-O-Fish and McChicken sandwiches. The Artisan roll introduced in 2015 never contained high fructose corn syrup.
- completing a major commitment to only serve chicken not treated with antibiotics important to human medicine nearly a year ahead of schedule.
Click HERE to read the full announcement about all of their new developments.
I did not become a convert overnight. After all, the McNuggets are deep fried and nothing will be as healthy as what you cook at home. But McDonalds was not as bad as I had imagined it to be. There are calorie counts on all products and you can choose healthier options such as a salad with kale instead of the fries (not that I would ever be able to resist the fries though). I even told one of the franchisees how my husband was shocked I would go to McDonalds for a blog post, and she asked me to bring him to a restaurant so he could have the tour and learn more. That is how confident she was in the strategy McDonalds is implementing.
So now I want to learn more about the other restaurants I do take my children to and have no problem serving them up chicken nuggets and burgers. I am not sure why I discard McDonalds so quickly given their commitment to healthier options. I encourage you to try the new McNuggets out for yourself, and keep an open mind. They have just made it a bit easier to feed the kids when you are in a hurry knowing that you are not giving them mystery meat full of preservatives.
Keep reading for more info about the McDonald’s App, and for a giveaway!
Download the McDonald’s App
You can Discover Delicious Deals by downloading the McDonald’s App. The app offers both national and local deals.
Some national deals they currently have running are:
- Savings to Savor
Get FREE 4pc. Chicken McNuggets, made with no artificial flavors or colors and now no artificial preservatives, with purchase of Large Extra Value Meal® when you use our App!
- Sip, sip, hooray!
Buy 5 McCafé® beverages, get 1 FREE!
Connect with McDonald’s South Florida #MyMcNuggets
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South Florida Mamas, We’ve Got a Giveaway For You!
Enter now to secure one sweepstakes entry for your chance to win McDonald’s Happy Meals featuring the new, simpler Chicken McNuggets every week for a year*. Additional entries will go up for grabs—by following @McD_SouthFLA on Twitter or by downloading the McDonald’s App to Discover Delicious Deals.
Open to US Only, 18+. One entry per household, per IP address. Winner will be chosen randomly by the entry-form, winner will have 48 hours to respond before another winner is chosen. Giveaway begins 8/17/2016 at 12:01am ET and ends 8/31/2016 at 11:59pm ET
*Free McDonald’s for 1 awarded as 52 McDonald’s Happy Meal “Be Our Guest” coupon cards to be used once every week for a year . Redeemable only at participating McDonald’s in Miami-Dade, Broward & Monroe County.
