McDonald's steps up

Starting next year McDonald's will display nutritional information on its packaging for its food items, reports this article from the Boston Herald. Seeking to counter charges that its food is unhealthy and contributes to obesity, McDonald's Corp. announced yesterday that it will display nutrition facts on the packaging of most of its menu items next year. Patrons of the world's largest restaurant company will be able to learn the amount of calories and fat, among other information, in their Big Macs and Quarter Pounders with Cheese by looking at the wrapper instead of having to go to its Web site or ask for it at the counter. Although McDonald's has been a magnet for complaints about fast food being unhealthy, CEO Jim Skinner said the move responds to demand by customers, not consumer groups. This is an important step for McDonald's. It will greatly assist consumers to understand the calories that they are consuming when they eat fast food. The most important thing in losing weight and maintaining a healthful weight is to focus like a laser on the amount of calories that you consume daily and that you burn. This means understanding the calorie content of what you eat. Being able to directly determine the calories in a McDonald's meal will help raise your knowledge level about the calories you are eating and help you lose weight (if you use the info wisely.)