News: McDonald's Pushes "Under 400 Calories" Menu

With the 2012 London Olympics Games set to start this Friday, McDonald's looks to promote the avaiability of their nutritional information by highlighting the new "Favorites Under 400 Calories" menu which organizes under 400 calorie items from their existing menu into four tiers based on calorie ranges to help customers makes informed choices to meet their caloric goals (or lack thereof). The four tiers range from "400 calories or under" to "100 calories or under."

Along with the new point-of-sale menu boards, McDonald's is also launching an instant win game starting tomorrow, Tuesday, July 23. Dubbed the "Win When the USA Wins Gold" promotion, select items from the "Favorites Under 400 Calories" menu will contain a games piece that you can peel and possibly win prizes instantly. All game pieces will also have a code you can enter at www.usawinsgold.com for a chance to win prizes whenever the USA nets a gold in this summer's Olympics.

The items that will score you a game piece include: the Egg McMuffin, Medium French Fries, Fruit & Maple Oatmeal, Premium Grilled Chicken Classic Sandwich, Medium McCafe Strawberry Banana Fruit Smoothie, Hash Brown, and Filet-O-Fish.

The text of their press picture is a little small so I'll just type the "Under 400 Calories" menu out:

400 Calories or Less:
- McDouble
- Bacon & Cheese Angus Snack Wrap
- 3-piece Chicken Selects
- Filet-O-Fish
- Medium Fries
- Ranch BLT Grilled Premium Chicken Sandwich
- Sausage McMuffin
- Classic Grilled Premium Chicken Sandwich
- Crispy Chicken Ranch Snack Wrap
- Snack Size Oreo McFlurry
- Hot Fudge Sunday

300 Calories or Less:
- Egg McMuffin
- Cheeseburger
- Sausage Burrito
- Fruit & Maple Oatmeal
- Premium Southwest Salad (grilled chicken, no dressing)
- Strawberry Sundae
- 6-piece Chicken McNuggets
- Grilled Chicken Ranch Snack Wrap
- Medium Strawberry Banana Real Fruit Smoothie
- Apple Pie
- Hamburger
- Medium Caramel Mocha (with non-fat milk)
- Small Fries
- Fruit & Walnuts

200 Calories or Less:
- Medium Iced Coffee
- Premium Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad (without dressing)
- Vanilla Cone
- Chocolate Chip Cookie
- Fruit 'N Yogurt Parfait
- Hash Browns
- Fat-Free Chocolate Milk

100 Calories or Less:
- 1% Low-Fat Milk
- Small Latte (with non-fat milk)
- Medium Iced Latte (with non-fat milk)
- Side Salad (without dressing)
- Apple Slices
- Diet Soft Drink
- Premium Roast Coffee (without cream or sugar)

I have to say in regards to making nutritional and ingredient information available, McDonald's does a really good job; even when new items come out, they get the information up pretty fast. Burger King, Taco Bell, Subway, and Wendy's are also pretty good. Interestingly, out of the Big 3 pizza chains, only Domino's lists their ingredients online, and Pizza Hut stopped listing nutritional information for their limited-time menu items.