An Urban's Rural View

McDonald's had barely announced its latest stab at healthier food when the skeptics decided Mickey D was just doing a public-relations pirouette.

Sure, the fast-food chain will soon offer a salad, fruit or vegetable in place of fries in value meals. But the skeptics won't believe McDonald's is serious about healthy eating until it stops selling obesity bombs: items so loaded with bacon and cheese and mayonnaise that a single meal approaches a full-day's recommended calorie intake. Some won't believe even then.

Example: McDonald's is taking important steps the healthy-food purists have been demanding. Juice or milk will become the default option in kids' meals, though sodas will still be available. And McDonald's marketing to kids will promote fruits and vegetables and include nutritional messages.

Reaction from a prominent health-food purist: This might give the company a "health halo" it doesn't deserve because its offerings still include unhealthy items. (http://tiny.cc/…)

However hard the company tries to promote better nutrition, it risks failure. Studies indicate that even when fast-food chains offer healthy choices, patrons choose the unhealthy ones.

In fact, according to an article last June in the New York Times (http://tiny.cc/…), a healthy item on a menu laden with fatty, salty, sugary items may encourage unhealthy choices. That sounds paradoxical, but a researcher said the presence of a healthy item on the menu vicariously satisfies our health goals and frees us to order what we crave.

I'm not sure the healthy items on fast-food menus have that effect on me but I admit I rarely order them. I don't patronize fast-food restaurants that often -- usually just on long-distance drives when there's little time for leisurely dining. When I do patronize them, I order something bad, something I wouldn't have at home or at a more upscale eatery. I see the salads on the menu. I like salads. But I order the fries.

Maybe people behave this way because, consciously or unconsciously, they assume that what fast-food restaurants do best is fast food. According to the Times, salad sales account for only 2% to 3% of sales at McDonald's even though they get a sixth of the advertising budget. A food consultant summed it up this way for the newspaper: "What we're learning from what's happening in the industry is consumers don't see fast food as a place to eat healthy."

Still, McDonald's seems to be planning on selling more fruits and vegetables. It's setting up new supply chains to handle an increase in demand, which is why it will take at least two years to roll out the new health campaign, longer in some countries.

Give the company points for trying. I don't question its motives. I do wonder if it will succeed in convincing diners to order the salad.

Perhaps McDonald's would get better results using stealth to achieve health. Reduce the salt and sugar and fat content of everything on the menu while retaining the taste. Sneak vegetables into the burgers and fries, or at least fortify them with vitamins and minerals. They've got creative scientists, don't they?

It would be a win-win for the company and the society if McDonald's could prove the skeptics wrong.

(CZ)

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