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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If you have never heard the term “health halo” before, you are not alone. In fact, this buzz phrase is not used all that often in common conversation; however, it is something dietitians use once in a while to explain the effect certain foods have on our overall healthy meal perceptions.
The term “health halo” has actually been around for quite a few years. In fact, a few researchers from Cornell in 2007 brought up the issue of health halos and some of the fast food restaurants that wear them in an effort to identify why the obesity epidemic continues despite the fact that more “healthified” foods seem to become available by the day.
At first, you may be confused by what the term actually means, but when you think about it, it’s actually a clever way to identify foods that claim to be more than what they really are. For example, foods that carry a low-fat claim may cause someone to identify them as healthy – although this may not be the case. Whether this food is healthy or not, believing that it is may cause inhibitions to be lowered and result in eating more and underestimating calories all at the same time. Foods that cause this to happen are considered to be under a “health halo” and you want to watch out for these if weight loss or maintenance is a primary goal for you.
If identifying health halos seems like a challenge, don’t worry! There are many ways to not let that pesky halo get the best of you.
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If you’re a fan of the customizable burritos, tacos and salad bowls from Chipotle Mexican Grill, then you’ll be especially thrilled with ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen, Chipotle’s much-hyped Asian spin-off.
Chipotle Chief Executive Officer Steve Ells says that the ShopHouse concept was born during a two-week eating spree in Thailand and Singapore last year.
“I was very inspired by Southeast Asian food and the fact that it would lend itself to the Chipotle format,” Ells, 46, told Bloomberg News in an interview this week.
At ShopHouse, you won’t be offered burritos or tacos, but instead customers choose between rice and noodles topped with ingredients such as grilled chicken satay, organic tofu, pork meatballs, Chinese broccoli and eggplant. According to Bloomberg News, the bowls go for $6.50 to $7.50, compared with $7 to $8 for a Chipotle burrito.
While we haven’t sampled any of the menu items for ourselves, a preview to Fortune reporters included grilled steak with chili-jam marmalade, roast corn with scallions, Chinese broccoli, pickled vegetables — all served over brown rice, plus green papaya salad on the side.
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