McDonald's Go Active Meals
What's New at McDonald's?
I decided to try one of the new McDonald's "Go Active Happy Meals". I chose the Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad with Newman's Low Fat Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing and Butter and Garlic Croutons.
The meal includes a 16 ounce bottle of DaSani water, a "Stepometer" and a small program journal to chart your walking. The price: $4.99.
The salad included mixed greens, grape tomatoes, shaved carrots, shredded Parmesan cheese, and grilled chicken breast. The portion was quite filling and it tasted good. The packaging information was a little deceiving, and not totally inclusive. They do not list protein, merely calories, total fat, carbohydrates and fiber on the box. I had to look for the complete nutritional information on their placemats.
Editor's Note:The meal selected at the right is the only one on the menu that comes even close to 40-30-30. Use caution and care when buying these meals, as there are many ways to throw it completely out of balance!
The Real Nutritional Info:
So, taking a look at the information provided, I came up with:
| Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken | Item | Calories | Cal Fat | Fat (g) | Sat Fat (g) | Chol (mg) | Sodium (mg) | Carbs (g) | Fiber (g) | Sugars (g) | Protein (g) |
| Salad | 200 | 50 | 6 | 3 | 70 | 820 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 29 |
| Dressing | 40 | 25 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 730 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Croutons | 50 | 15 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 | 140 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Totals | 290 | 90 | 10.5 | 3 | 70 | 1670 | 21 | 3 | 6 | 30 |
The Analysis:
If we plug this into the 40-30-30 Label Analyzer, it comes out 28-40-32 (in need of some carbs), 3.3 Zone Blocks and Low Glycemic.
You can just purchase the salad for $3.99. The "Stepometer" is more like a toy than a quality pedometer. I found that it did not accurately measure steps at all.
The Bottom Line:
Overall, I liked the meal, and I give credit to McDonald's for providing healthy alternatives to the traditional fast foods.