Do you order salads from McDonald's? If you do, you may be curious about whether other
customers love these menu items as much as you do. There is so much to learn about salad
at Mickey D's! We're here to share the biggest and most fascinating 10 untold truths about
McDonald's salad.
McD’s Salads May Contain A Lot Of Sodium
When we think salads, we don't usually think "sodium", but maybe we should...especially
at McDonald's! Mickey D's has been called out for the high sodium level in some of its
fresh and crispy salads. There is more sodium lurking in these salads than you might expect.
For example, the Bacon Ranch Salad With Buttermilk Crispy Chicken, which is a current menu item,
according to the official McDonald's USA website, features 1120 milligrams of sodium. That's
47 percent of the recommended daily allowance of sodium. If you're going to indulge in one
of these salads, keep sodium content in mind. Balance things out by eating other meals and
snacks that are lower in sodium during the day. It's no surprise that fast food tends
to be higher in sodium than food that's prepared at home or in finer restaurants. Most people
love food with a salty kick, so fast food joints give the people what they want. In
fact, 90 percent of people in the USA consume too much sodium. A lot of sodium isn't really
a good thing, health-wise, but you should be ok if you stay under or around the recommended
daily allowance of sodium. McDonald's is very transparent about the sodium content in its
salads and other menu items. Just visit a McDonald's in your area, or an official McDonald's
website, to get full nutritional information for every single menu item.
McDonald's Has Made The Grilled Chicken In Its Salads Healthier
McDonald's execs definitely hear any criticism about their salads and, sometimes, they spearhead
changes to the recipes, with the goal of making the salads healthier in mind. For example,
the grilled chicken utilized in Mickey D's salads is now prepared differently, to make
the fast food joint's salads with grilled chicken healthier choices. In 2015, McDonald's
decided to take the maltodextrin out of all of its chicken recipes, including the recipe
for chicken that's added to salads. This change signalled a big shift in McDonald's attitude
towards its customers. The company was responding to a wider cultural shift, whereby people
were learning more about the ingredients in food and looking for cleaner options. This
change got press coverage all over the world. McDonald's goal with the whole grilled chicken
change was to eliminate an ingredient that its valued customers might not be familiar
with. Maltodextrin was used as a form of sugar that facilitated the browning of poultry. The
company also took the sodium phosphates out of its chicken products. Sodium phosphates
were formerly utilized in order to preserve the moistness of the chicken. By making its
salads "cleaner", McDonald's hoped to generate more sales and goodwill. A lot of other eateries
were following suit around that time. Many restaurants started reformulating their products
in order to give them more appeal with health-conscious consumers.
One Salad Had More Calories Than A Double Big Mac
McDonald's infamous Kale Salad was notorious for having more calories than a double Big
Mac. In 2016, the chicken salad was promoted as a "Keep Calm, Caesar On" salad with shavings
of genuine Parmesan cheese, as well as a delectable lettuce blend that included baby Kale. It
all sounds delicious and healthy, but it was topped with a rich Asiago Caesar salad dressing
and could be ordered in a higher-calorie "crispy chicken" format. With dressing and crispy
chicken, the salad contained a whopping fifty-three grams of fat, as well as 730 calories. It
also had 1,400 mg of salt. In contrast, a Double Big Mac, which isn't known as a diet-friendly
option, contains 38 fat grams, 680 calories and 1340 mg of sodium. So, fast food salads
may look light, but they are sometimes a lot heavier than people think. While the kale
salad was surely a tasty choice, it didn't offer calorie or fat gram savings, and it
contained quite a bit of salt. McDonald's execs probably didn't enjoy the press coverage
that this salad's high calorie count received. Salads were offered to be healthier choices
for consumers, after all.
A Hong Kong McDonald's Has A Salad Bar
If you visit the McDonald's NEXT restaurant in Hong Kong, prepare yourself for a unique
experience. This eatery features sleek and sophisticated decor, including a glam salad
bar encased in shining and sculptural stainless steel. This is the McDonald's to visit if
you want quinoa or other trendy, healthy ingredients. According to a story published in 2016, the
Hong Kong eatery also offers table service during the evenings, as well as Wi-Fi that's
free to access. If you're not in the mood for a salad during your visit to NEXT, don't
worry. You can grab pastries and lots of other tempting menu items. The branch also serves
very good coffee. Equipped with ordering booths that feature high-tech touch screens, as well
as phone chargers of the wireless type, this futuristic McDonald's allows guests to make
their own gourmet burgers. NEXT Hong Kong was created to appeal to health-conscious
consumers. This particular restaurant is situated in Hong Kong's Admiralty district. It's a
convenient place to grab a snack or a meal, as it's possible to place orders without lining
up at the counter. However, a lot of regular McDonald's locations now have touch screens,
so customers can order without talking to staff at McDonald's counters. The salad bar
at NEXT looks truly awesome. If you're hungry for heartier fare, you may choose from some
unique menu items, including the Beef and Egg Burger and the charmingly named, "Cheesy
Champion" thick-cut Angus Burger.
The McD’s Salads Don't Sell That Well
97 percent of customers are not ordering salads at McDonald's locations. Most people come
into Mickey D's to enjoy the tried-and-true, such as burgers, fries and McNuggets. Salads
are always an option, but only around three percent of customers make the decision to
order them. Part of it is probably the fact that customers can smell the greasier fare
offered by McDonald's, such as the golden french fries, as soon as they enter McDonald's
locations. It can be tough to resist the lure of classic fast food sometimes. People who
are really into salads probably have other places to go to get what they want, such as
Whole Foods stores. McDonald's has salads on the menu, but the eatery really isn't synonymous
with salads. People don't usually think of salads when they think of McDonald's. What's
important is that McDonald's does give customers the opportunity to get side salads instead
of fries, if the customers are so inclined. The salads are there if customers want them,
even though some of them are a bit higher in calories than some people realize. McDonald's
isn't really doing the whole salad thing to make money. It does make some money off the
salads, but they represent a very small sliver of McDonald's profits overall. The salads
are offered to show customers that McDonald's is trying to move away from its "super size
me" image.
Premium Salads Will Be Nixed From The Late-night Menu
In early April 2019, it was reported that McDonald's is planning to make some significant
changes to its late-night menu. If you're in the habit of ordering premium salads between
midnight and three in the morning, sorry, but you'll have to pick up other menu items
instead. These changes are being made so that staff can get food prepared and served faster
during the wee hours. Premium salads are being removed from the late-night menu and so are
Buttermilk Crispy Tenders, Artisan Grilled Chicken Sandwiches, Filet-O-Fish sandwiches,
Buttermilk Crispy Chicken Sandwiches and Signature Crafted Recipes. It'll also soon be impossible
to access tasty bagel sandwiches and snack wraps during the late-night hours. Snack wraps
are currently available in only some regions. The changes will begin on the 30th of April,
2019, at all locations that stay open after midnight. Some fans took to social media
to share their horror over the changes. People get set in their ways and don't want change,
especially when it comes to accessing their preferred late-night snacks. In time, everyone
will adjust to this new reality, but there will be growing pains. Remember, it's only
five hours that these menu items will be off-limits. The menu during all other hours is staying
pretty much the same. It changes from time to time, but no huge changes are planned right
now.
Some People Got Sick From McDonald’s Salads
Salads are perceived as healthy choices, but, now and then, they cause people to get very
sick. Ingredients in salad, including lettuce, may be contaminated with bacteria that makes
people ill. Usually, salads causing illnesses is a relatively rare phenomenon. But it did
happen with McDonald's salads back in 2018. It was reported that a "fecal parasite" was
present in McDonald's salads. Gross, huh? This parasite caused 163 people to fall ill.
Three of those people had to go to the hospital for treatment. The CDC and FDA sent out investigators,
who were able to figure out why people were getting sick. They were the ones who traced
it all back to McDonald's salads. The restaurants serving the tainted salads were located in
Kentucky, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and a handful of other states. After the CDC and
FDA figured out what was happening, Mickey D's stopped selling salads in restaurants
in affected US states. It also stopped selling salads in other states that were receiving
similar lettuce blends from a particular distributor. This was done just in case. Overall, three
thousand fast food joints had salads temporarily removed from their menus. McDonald's actually
has a great track record when it comes to food safety, but it does get recipe ingredients
from distributors sometimes, and all distributors are clearly not created equal. Food safety
is a big deal at McDonald's. The salad incident was an isolated incident and far from the
norm. McDonald's run a quality assurance program for its suppliers, to ensure that they measure
up to the fast food chain's high standards. Every supplier needs to prove to McDonald's
that it is adhering to every health and safety regulation.
5 Salads Are Currently Offered
Right now, McDonald's restaurants in America offer five tasty salads on the menu. As we
mentioned, premium salads will soon be nixed from the late-night menu. During all other
hours of operation at USA-based McDonald's restaurants, customers may choose from Bacon
Ranch Salad with Buttermilk Crispy Chicken, Bacon Ranch Grilled Chicken Salad, Southwest
Buttermilk Crispy Chicken Salad, Southwest Grilled Chicken Salad and Side Salad. Menus
may vary in other countries. In Canada, customers have some different options, including Caesar
Side Salads and "I'm Greeking Out" Salads with Crispy or Grilled Chicken. "Keep Calm,
Caesar On" salads with Crispy or Grilled Chicken are also available. The typical Side Salad
is available in Canada, just like the USA. There are a lot of good salad offerings at McDonald's.
The salads aren't strong sellers, but they are always there if people want them, except
when there's a food contamination issue or during late-night hours in places where salad's
been taken off the late-night menu. If Mickey D's customers want to get salads, they can.
Most prefer to get cartons of fries, burgers, McChicken sandwiches or other "traditional"
McDonald's menu items.
Salads Were Launched In 1987
Salads have been around at McDonald's restaurants since the late 80s, when hair was big, Madonna
and Duran Duran were superstars and John Hughes movies like Pretty in Pink and The Breakfast
Club were popular favorites. The whole move towards health-conscious fast food started
up in the late 80s and continues today. In particular, Millennials are concerned about
the ingredients in what they are eating. The vastness of the internet means that it's simple
for Millennials and others to learn more about the food that they’re eating. When standards
started changing, McDonald's was there to initiate the whole salad thing. While salads
don't thrill customers the same way that Big Macs and Chicken Nuggets do, they fill an
important need. They offer alternatives. Plus, the salads are yummy. They come with tasty
dressings and plenty of fun and delicious add-ons. If you're not used to eating fresh
greens for lunch or dinner, you may want to give it a try by ordering McDonald's salads.
In the age of Uber Eats, you can get McDonald's salads delivered right to your door if you
want to. Greens are good for us. If you want to reduce the calorie count in McDonald's
salads, skip the Crispy Chicken and dial down on the dressing. You could even skip the dressing
entirely, though there are some really good options.
Different Salad Dressings Are Available
One great thing about McDonald's salad dressings is that they are truly yummy. McDonald's offers
Newman's Own dressings. You probably already know that this salad dressing company was
created by the late Hollywood icon, Paul Newman, who was known for his beautiful blue eyes,
as well as his kindness and compassion. Sales from his products go to charity. Right now,
USA-based McDonald’s customers may choose from Newman's Own Ranch Dressing, French Dressing,
Low Fat Family Recipe Italian Dressing, and Low Fat Balsamic Dressing. Newman's Own dressings
are really good. So are the company's pasta sauces, which aren't available at McDonald's.
If you want to support a worthy charity while you nosh, you'll feel good knowing that your
salad dressing is helping charities. With Newman's Own, which has been around since
1982, one hundred percent of net profits, as well as royalties, from the company's collection
of products are given to non-profit organizations worldwide.
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