Infographic: McDonald's rocks the oat
Is McDonald's new 'Fruit and Maple Oatmeal' as cheap and healthy as old-school oats? MNN investigates.
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A picture perfectly depicted with more than 1000 words. Bravo. Well done.
.25 ( 1/4 cup) of the mccanns ots,and.5(1/2 cup) of the quaker ots but 1.15 (1.1/8 cup)of McD oats.is what is on the report.it may be the serving size,but not the same amount of oats used! do the math mccanns has 600 cals a cup,quaker has 380 a cup McDs has about 275 cals a cup
No. I don't know what is in Mcs oatmeal, but if I'm interested I'm more than capable of finding out for myself! Making information available seems to be laudable, but as in all cases government oversteps , wanting to force all people to defer to progressive ideology!
If you're not interested, don't read it. Some of us appreciate the research that is provided by sites like this.
Oatmeal is disgusting.
All sugars are not created equal and the refined sugar content is outrageous. Make your yummy oats at home and try adding some honey instead of sugar...What's the difference you ask? Here is an article to help http://bit.ly/qzej6o
Interesting breakfast option. I assume it tastes better than the plain oatmeal...or at least I hope it does!
Check out the review on Mcdees new banana nut oatmeal at fattiesreviews.blogspot.com
I make an oatmeal shake by blending skim milk,oatmeal,banana.Its delicious and I don't have to wait for it to cool.Hot oatmeal tends to make me puffy so this is an alternative for me. Sometimes I throw in activia to really settle my stomach. Instant oatmeal has too high a sodium content. Don't feel you have to buy a name brand oatmeal.El cheapo is just as good. Sometimes I can't be bothered with cooking dinner..Guess what ? a bowl of oatmeal fills in for dinner.
The bottom line: homemade oatmeal is better for the body. Mix rolled oats with water and Voila! you have breakfast. It's inane that McDonalds chooses to add so many damn ingredients to their food -- especially to something as simple as oatmeal.
how in hades do you figure there's 1 gram of sugar in half a cup of skim milk?? i'm talking the quaker instant oatmeal here. all the skim milk i ever saw has a pretty standard 12 grams of sugar per cup. plus the size discrepancy doesn't do the scientific analysis any favors. this whole thing seems weird and off-putting to me. it's a 300 calorie breakfast treat. bfd. if the thing had 500 calories or something, maybe i'd bother to put together some (occasionally misleading) charts.
At least compare apples to apples. McDonald's Oatmeal has listed fruit as ingredients. The comparison is invalid if regular oatmeal is not listed with similar fruit. In this example apples, raisins and cranberries would raise the part count to 5 (for Non McDonalds) and raise the calorie count.
If you send a kid to a candy shop, don't expect her to come home with a healthy salad.
McDs is as it is--no more, no less/
has more calories than I would eat in a day. Yikes.
You should be eating more calories than that breakfast plate, albeit, not at once, and not in pure fat and sugar. 1200 is a pretty universally recognized minimum.
You can order the oatmeal sans brown sugar and cream.
It cuts out a lot of calories, sugar, and fat and it still just as enjoyable...not to mention better for you!
Enjoy the daylights out of your oatmeal with NO sugar, NO salt, and NO fat of any kind.
These are the healthiest and are really good. Takes 30 minutes extra in the morning, but I make a large batch, put in refrigerator and then take out each morning and heat in microware for a fast breakfast.
I am not condoning the ingredients used by any means, but comparing nutritional data from one that has fruit and maple flavoring to plain oatmeal eschews the numbers
I think you make an excellent point. Apples and oranges should not be compared. Clearly, fruit and maple oatmeal will have more ingredients and calories than a smaller amount of plain oatmeal.
Okay, their oatmeal has apples and oranges but it also has a list ingredients I cannot even begin to pronounce, and I guarantee that extra fat doesn't come from the fruit. If you HAVE to eat breakfast out of the home, get some instant, some apples and whatever, throw it in the microwave at work. Or as someone suggested, make it ahead of time.
I'm sorry, but McDonald's is always going to be McDonald's. Even their "healthiest" choices are far from the healthy choices consumers can make when eating food. My college biology professor said, "if you want to really eat healthy, don't ever eat out." I agree. We have the ultimate control over what we put into our bodies in the way of food. When I prepare a meal at home, I know exactly what ingredients go into it, and I know I'm giving my child a great start. Heaven knows, she'll make.... More
It looks to me like the McD's is 1.15 oz. The Quaker is 1 oz. total and so is the steel cut if you could add you would see the sizes are very close.
I like McDonald's oatmeal. I've been cooking my own food ever since I was a young guy. That's like more than 4 decades. I don't want to eat my own cooking every day. There's not that many calories in this oatmeal. Doctors tell you to eat a good breakfast, not a o calorie breakfast. If you want 0 calories, drink a glass of water.
There's entirely too many nattering nabobs of negativity in the "green" movement. Relax, don't worry and have a McDonald's oatmeal.
For all of you comparing brown sugar or even better - maple syrup to the chemical sweetners in Mcdonalds - you are missing the point MMN is making that will affect your health. Not to mebntion what all these chemicals do to your metabolism to make you gain weight needlessly, cause hyperactivity and depression.
Do a bit of reading people!
I think the comparison is a bit out of whack - I think if you make it with whole milk (which I do, since it lasts longer in the fridge, and is tastier), that brings it up at least 30 calories, and adds about 4g fat (2.5 saturated). 1 Tbsp brown sugar (being moderate here, sometimes I put as much as 2) is about 13g according to the internet, not sure how to calculate the sugars exactly, but that brings it much closer, and fruit would probably add more.
Note also that the directions for.... More
Plain and simple: Don't eat anything you haven't cooked at home. Grow your own vegetables (yes, even in the city!, I DO!). Make your own bread (get a breadmaker at Goodwill!). If we were to clean out our cupboards of mass produced junk it would leave room for recipe books and literature on how and what to eat healthier. It all comes down to the long run. I don't want to be diabetic and obese at 42 like my mother and a lot of others I know close to me. I am NOT perfect either, just.... More
The McDonalds option includes brown sugar flavoring and apples and raisins and you are comparing it to plain oatmeal??? With all due respect that is not fair at all. As other have said it would be a little more fair if you compared it to a flavored Quaker Oats product that had some cut fruit in it. I am sure it would still not fair all that well but at least the calories and a few other metrics would be more equal.
In regards to the price, its convenience. How much does it cost to.... More
... you can make a large batch of oatmeal on Sunday, Separate it into individual portions, add fruits, nuts, honey, brown sugar... whatever you want. Heat it for two and a half minutes and take it with you out the door all week. No crap, no drive-thru, no extra stops. Convenience is what you make it. Not to mention it's a lot less stressful than worrying about all that junk
I have been looking for quick breakfast solutions on the healthy side. This sounds like a good plan.
this is absolutely not a fair comparison. And, Matt is right on point #2 -- there are options...just like there are with oatmeal at Starbucks...no one ever pointed a gun to my head when i added the brown sugar, nuts and raisins to my oatmeal at Starbucks...and they always ask which toppings I would like.
I am very familiar with McDonald's because I've worked on the brand. If you have to eat out and are limited in choices, believe me, McDonald's is where you want to eat. Their food.... More
This is the default way that McDonald's sells oatmeal....yes, you can ask to have these items taken off but few will do it. So the key is that consumers think they're ordering "healthy" oatmeal but its actually not much better than just asking for the egg mcmuffin.
The key is the deception /veneer of health when it's same old/ same old
If you have a choice--get oatmeal and a black coffee--or the fruit and walnut salad and throw out the walnuts. An egg mcmuffin has the following:
Total : 300 Calories 110 from fat 12g fat 5g saturated fat 0 trans fat 260g cholesterol 820mg of sodium! 30g carbohydrates 2g dietary fiber 3g sugars
Looking only at the calorie count, sure it might look close, but then you look at the fat and the sodium and YIKES! Give me the oatmeal with no sugar please!
Of course this is if you.... More
again, am very familiar with the mcd's organization. i find it hard to believe anyone gave you a hard time about holding an an option. if it happens to be a training issue, ask for a manager. if a manager gives you a difficult time, call the customer service number and let them know. it's not policy. mcd's is very customer focused. it's also one of the largest companies in the world. so occasionally, counter employees need to be retrained. they aren't perfect but they aren't evil either.
Who on earth would eat unsweetened oatmeal with no added fruit or nuts and blue milk? Might as well compare to the nutritive value of garden pebbles, because we're as likely to eat a bowl of those.
I prefer to get good compex carbs (oatmeal or hot oat bran is even better) and protein at each meal, so I mix in a scoop of whey or other protein powder (pea, hemp, rice, egg white, etc.) in mine. A dash of cinnamon is all that's needed. That combo gives me enough of the right kinds of carbs and protein, without sending me into the carb/sugar crash zone.
I eat unsweetened oatmeal with no added fruit rather frequently. Just a teaspoon of plain cinnamon is plenty of flavor. Also, the sugar in fresh or unprocessed fruit is vastly healthier than processed sugar in the McDonald's oatmeal.
I eat plain oatmeal. But even if you don't, do you normally add 32 grams of sugar?
OK, come on... you are comparing this to plain oatmeal. Well, duh. What is going to come out better? But be fair! At least compare it to those instant fruit flavored packets that quaker puts out... that would at least be a more fair comparison. And, to be honest, you make it look like the worst thing in the world but it's still a better choice than some of the other breakfast foods and has a lot of fiber too. I always hate these biased comparisons. :(
I think instead of trying to discredit the contents in this graphc, maybe we as consumers need to be paying attention to the labels even more. It is McDonalds. You dont go to McDonalds thinking that you are going to get a "healthy" meal. But in comparison to some of the other stuff out there for breakfast, it is still not as bad!!! I do not eat it, nor will I. I do not eat at McDonalds often.
The Big Breakfast at McD is 2260 mg sodium! That's more than two TABLESPOONS of salt, and depending on which RDA you use, either a day's worth (maximum limit) or 1 1/3 days worth (recommended limit).
Note: about 1800 mg of table salt (sodium chloride) per tablespoon ... which is roughly half sodium and half chloride. Chloride has no major health issues ...eat whatever. Sodium though ... so about 900 mg sodium in a tablespoon.
Mc'ds is not healthy ....... but the serving size comparisons are NOT equal. What you are comparing it to is MUCH smaller. You are deceptive!!!!!
Why should I believe you when I know you are a liar!!!!
...which is to READ carefully. READ the serving size, which includes the milk, fruit and other add-ins. Now compare that with oatmeal and milk. This is the problem with the average American consumer: they don't READ labels carefully.
HINT: the more unpronounceable ingredients, the less healthful the product is for you. Go with unprocessed foods when given the choice. They're cheaper and better for you and they are not all that time-consuming. While things are cooking, you'll have time.... More
I liked the oatmeal at McDonalds...raisins, apples...didn't know so unhealthy...oh well...no more of that!
Let's see: corporate chemical breakfast vs. .33 cup of rolled oats with .5 cup of pumpkin and .50 cup of almond milk....which is likelier to be healthful and nourishing?
You can't compare an item that is 1.5 cups to something to that is only .5 cup. No disrespect, the inconsistency regarding the size ratio makes me discount your entire analysis.
Hi Natalie -
They didn't compare 1.5 cups to .5 cups. They compared 1.15 cups of McDonalds to 1 cup total ( .5 oatmeal plus .5 milk). 1.15 cup is just a smidge over a cup. I thought the same as you until I re-read the comparison.
Not saying it's a shock, but wow. Not that health isn't the issue here, but the price difference is astounding. Especially when you consider what they likely pay for oatmeal. Yikes! Funny I was eating a bowl of Quaker Oats while reading this. Well, at least it wasn't one of the Big Breakfasts, which at 1150 to 1310, I will never eat again!
Thanks for the heads up:)
