McDonalds kicked off the New Year with a new addition to their breakfast menu-Fruit and Maple Oatmeal. There are a few problems with McDonald’s new offering-one big one: their Fruit and Maple Oatmeal doesn’t contain any actual maple.
The Vermont Agency of Agriculture [1] is claiming that this new product doesn’t contain any pure maple, which is in violation Vermont’s stringent maple law. They are saying the oatmeal contains natural maple flavor, which is an artificial flavor and not pure maple. If this is found to be true it could mean that McDonald’s will have to change the ingredients or labeling. [2]
In a written statement, McDonald’s says they are “currently in discussions with the State of Vermont to ensure that we meet any applicable state standards.” [3]
More problems with the oatmeal.
Turns out it’s not so nutritious. The ingredient list is long-much longer than the oatmeal you would make at home. My rule of thumb: if the ingredient list is long and many of the ingredients are unrecognizable-it can’t be good for you and don’t eat it. The oatmeal has refined sugar added in a few places-brown sugar and dried sweetened cranberries (sugar, cranberries). There are also a number of preservatives that have been added-sulfur dioxide and calcium ascorbate.
The light cream that comes with the oatmeal is also far from healthy; containing milk, cream, sodium phosphate, datem, sodium stearoyl lactylate, sodium citrate, carrageenan. Again the ingredient list was long and I had to look up quite a few.
McDonald’s oatmeal has 290 calories and 4.5 grams of fat. [4]
A single serving of 365 Organic Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats with skim milk is 190 calories with 2.5 grams of fat.
BOTTOM LINE
I haven’t tried McDonald’s oatmeal and I probably never will. I will give Mickey D’s a small amount of credit for trying to provide a healthy breakfast option. For now I think I’ll stick with my homemade oatmeal with four simple ingredients: organic rolled oats, water, rice milk and raisins.
Have you tried McDonald’s new oatmeal? Any thoughts?