Ever wonder how many calories are in a McDonald’s meal? If you do want to know just how nutritionally void that Big Mac is, you would have to pull up the information on the restaurant’s web site. Until now!

Today, the corporation announced that they will list nutrition information on restaurant and drive-thru menus nationwide. President Obama’s new health regulation requires restaurant chains to post calorie information. McDonald’s move comes ahead of federal government regulation that could require major chains to post nutrition information as early as next year.

Jan Fields, president of McDonald’s USA, said in a press release that the company volunteered to give out their nutrition information. “We believe it will help educate customers.”

I asked our resident dietitian, Mary Hartley, what she thinks of McDonald’s providing their nutrition information, and she said, “It’s good publicity and they (McDonalds) know it really won’t make a difference, but who knows what will happen over time. Many people have no idea of how many calories they need and so the information is meaningless.” She points to the fact that New York City has required calories posted on menus for several years and it’s done little to change buyer behavior there.
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Oh, Canada, why are you getting all the interesting interaction from McDonald’s and we’re not? McDonald’s in Canada is making waves with their new “Our Food. Your Questions” campaign. Real customers are getting their tough questions answered about the restaurant’s food. Even the tough questions are being answered in very in depth ways.

I came across this campaign after hearing that a McDonald’s executive chef revealed the recipe of the Big Mac’s secret sauce through a YouTube video. The video exists on the Canadian McDonald’s YouTube channel along with some other very revealing videos. Most are simply extended responses to questions asked at the “Your Questions. Our Food.” website, only hosted in Canada.

At the site customers asked questions like, “when you say 100% beef, do you mean the whole cow: the organs, snout, brain, kidneys, etc. etc., or just the plain beef we buy at the grocer?” Or, “Does your Egg McMuffin use real eggs? They look too perfect.”
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A recent study shows that New Yorkers are eating much less of the trans fat since the ban took effect back in 2008.

The city passed the ban back in 2006 that limited the amount of trans fat per serving to be less than 0.5 grams.

Americans eat about a third of their meals away from the home which meant at the time a larger consumption of this dangerous fat. Trans fats are even more dangerous than saturated fats because not only do they raise total cholesterol levels but also lower good cholesterol, which helps fight against heart disease.

The recent study done by Christine Curtis, MBA, of the New York City Department of Mental Health and Hygiene, and colleagues looked to see how much, if at all, the effect of the ban was having on New Yorkers. They looked at 6,969 lunch receipts from before in 2007 and 7,885 after the ban in 2009. They reported their findings in the July 16 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
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Teenagers in China are four times as likely to get diabetes than those from the United States. This was discovered by a study led by Barry Popkin, Ph.D., W.R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of nutrition at University of North Carolina’s Gillings School of Global Public Health.

The researchers used data from the longest ongoing study of its kind in China, China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS). They analyzed data from over 29,000 people that were followed from 1989 to 2011 in 300 different communities in China.

While comparing data from the CHNS to the National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES) in the United States the researchers found the rates of diabetes were higher in the youth from China. Children aged 12-18 from China had a 1.9 percent compared to 0.5 percent of American children who had diabetes. They also found that 11 percent of Chinese children and 30 percent of Chinese adults are currently overweight.

“Those who are Asian, Native American, African American have more thrifty genes and are more likely to store fat. These populations come from ancestry that experienced bouts of famine and needed to store extra fat to survive,” said Sarah Kahn, Resident Pharmacist with Dietsinreview.com, in an email. “Fat around the abdomen is an indicator that could lead to diabetes.”
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Chipotle, how do I love thee? Let me keep counting the ways! This place keeps getting better and better. Chipotle just announced that effective this June, 100 percent of their stores’ sour cream and 65 percent of their restaurants’ cheese will be made from pasture-raised cows.

A pasture-raised cow is one that has daily access to outdoor pastures. Additionally, the animals are never fed hormones, only a vegetarian diet. The leading Mexican grill chain has made some bold and progressive moves in the last year, challenging the existing quality found in typical fast-food. Chipotle has already made a commitment to serve only naturally raised meats that contain no hormones or antibiotics. As a further commitment to health and sustainability, Chipotle buys its produce from farms located within 250 miles of each location. They also support family farms with The Chipotle Cultivate Foundation, which helps farms with sustainable practices and promotes healthy eating for kids.
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