McDonald's claims to care about your wellness, so it's offering oatmeal on the menu. However as New York Times Magazine food columnist Mark Bittman suggests, all might not be as full of healthy, all-natural goodness as advertised.



McDonald’s oatmeal is bad for you and costs too much



Oatmeal is not unlike other goods at McDonald’s which knows how to market goods making over $16.4 billion a year which is the Gross Domestic Product of Afghanistan. The oatmeal at McDonald’s isn’t as greasy as a Sausage McMuffin which makes it seem like it is healthy. Nevertheless, the wording used by the company for 40 years will continue, Bittman claims, to deceive consumers.



Oatmeal is really just sugar



Quaker Strawberries and Cream Instant Oatmeal is a classic example. There is sugar and artificial flavors in the oatmeal. You will find no strawberries or cream. The oatmeal at McDonald’s has “natural flavor” meaning just a tad bit while “cream” does not mean anything with dairy product. This means McDonald’s is just the exact same. Sugar is a main ingredient because McDonald's oatmeal must be sweet enough to compete with rival Starbuck's “Perfect Oatmeal."



It also does not hurt McDonald's bottom line that it charges roughly $2.30 for the 9.2-ounce oatmeal cup. That much oatmeal and a tiny sampling of dried fruit costs one-tenth as much whenever you make it yourself.



Pay that for ease



The convenience of McDonald’s oatmeal is what several use to justify the purchase, although that doesn’t really work. Getting McDonald’s oatmeal means driving there, waiting, ordering, waiting some more, paying and leaving. In as much time, you could make instant oatmeal with fruit at home and have time for juice and the morning paper.



McDonald’s allows customers to opt out of cream and brown sugar in the FMO (“fruit and maple oatmeal”) making it healthier ignoring the truth that 21 ingredients, mostly chemical, are used in making the oatmeal. The ingredients don’t change with that choice. As Bittman suggests, it is all about getting McDonald's consumers to come back for more.



Information from



McDonald’s

nutrition.McDonald’s.com/nutrition1/itemDetalInfo.do?itemID=1500



New York Times

opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/22/how-to-make-oameal-wrong/?hp



Starbucks

starbucks.com/menu/food/hot-breakfast/starbucks-perfect-otmeal?foodZone=9999



Don't oatmeal and drive

youtube.com/wath?v=hMyMpXLX1VI