We’ve all been there – the kids are in the backseat, everyone is hungry, and you’ve got to be at a soccer game in twenty minutes. You have no choice; you’ll have to stop at a fast food restaurant and pick up dinner. Your fast food options historically have left much to be desired, but one company has listened to consumers and is working to change that.
Today, Chick-Fil-A unveiled a revamped kid’s meal. Focused on their newest entree, grilled chicken nuggets, this kid’s meal clocks in with fewer calories and lower sodium levels. This new kid’s meal is predicted to be one of the most nutritious fast food kid’s meals in the country. Chick-Fil-A is already known for having some of the healthier food choices at a fast food restauran, but they are by no means a saintly choice, boasting some of the worst choices as well.
Compared to a typical hamburger fast food meal, the four count grilled nugget meal (with a fruit cup and a low fat milk) contains 60% less calories and an estimated 85% less fat. In addition to the fruit cup side offering, Chick-Fil-A is adding Buddy Fruits Pure Blended Fruit To Go Applesauce into the options.
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Maruchy Lachance is president of Running Ninja!, a lifestyle brand for runners by runners. Running Ninja! offers a wide variety of apparel and gifts for runners to keep you happy and inspired while you’re on the run.
You would be proud to hear that I am still living up to my New Year’s resolution to run every single day in 2012. You would then be surprised to hear how on the sixth day I drove to a popular fast good joint where I ordered from the super size menu.
Without any sense of irony or guilt I ate the entire thing. What followed was a terrible food hangover and not 10 minutes later I felt sluggish and bloated then came the “indulger’s remorse” – those feelings of regret. I felt as if I could never eat again, but three hours later I was ready to eat a small country. Thankfully I opted for a big salad with all kinds of veggies and a Thai chicken pizza on honey wheat crust. When I finished eating I felt satisfied and energetic – nothing like my lunch experience left me feeling.
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McDonald’s has never really been known as a place to go for a healthy meal. Now they are trying to change their image, and are hoping consumers will respond positively.
McDonald’s is attempting to create healthier Happy Meals and the first area to test the new menu is Chicago. In this new Happy Meal, kids will get less fries, some apple slices and milk instead of the standard Happy Meal components. McDonald’s has offered fruit as a substitution to fries for many years in the Happy Meal, but it had to be requested until now.
The default for Happy Meals has always been French fries and the drink of your choice alongside a hamburger, cheeseburger or chicken nuggets. The new healthier option will be the first time that the Happy Meals will default to a fruit in an effort to address the challenges kids face in meeting the recommended daily consumption of produce. McDonald’s has plans to roll this Happy Meal out to all of their locations by March.
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Have you ever wished you could catch your favorite shows while chowing down on a cheeseburger? McDonald’s customers in the U.S. will soon be able to. Though seemingly incongruous with the notion of “fast food,” McDonald’s will offer the new McTV network in 800 McDonald’s restaurants across Southern California and Las Vegas.
The network, which could reach nearly 20 million viewers per month, will feature entertainment, news, sports and video content for Quarter Pounder connoisseurs. Programs will be shown on a one-hour cycle, eight minutes of which will be dedicated to commercials. The in-store channel, which will be customized by restaurant location, is a joint venture between McDonald’s and ChannelPort Communications LLC. According to AOL TV, if it’s successful, it could be rolled out in restaurants nationally.
Leland Edmondson, founder of ChannelPort, told AOL TV “The intention is to catch and engage the customer, and then enhance their experience.”
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If you’ve ever wished that you could swing through a drive-thru to pick up your favorite fast food without the side of “dieter’s remorse” that accompanies a double cheeseburger, then you’ll be on board with the latest trend: fast food without grease, salt or guilt.
This week, Chicago-based Lyfe Kitchens, owned by two former McDonald’s executives, opens its first store in Palo Alto, Calif. with further plans for as many as 250 outposts nationally over the next five years, joining other health-focused quick service restaurants including Chicago’s Ful 2 Live and the California based Native Foods Cafe.
“It’s going to be great tasting, satiating, familiar foods,” the company’s chief communications officer, Mike Donahue told the LA Times, “with no [genetically modified foods], no additives, nothing processed and everything under 600 calories.”
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