There are essentially three major players in the fast-food chicken space: McDonald’s, Chick-fil-A, and Yum!
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McDonald’s has also said that it will stop using artificial preservatives in some menu items, including Chicken McNuggets and select breakfast items.
McDonald’s stopped adding an artificial preservative to the cooking oil used to make Chicken McNuggets and removed artificial preservatives from pork sausage patties, eggs served on McGriddles breakfast sandwiches and scrambled eggs on breakfast platters.
Mike Andres, president of McDonald’s United States of America, said that over the past few years, the company took a hard look at its foods and how they were prepared.
However, only time will tell if these changes will make any big differences in helping McDonald’s turnaround its business.
McDonald’s is debuting new buns without high-fructose corn syrup for an array of its sandwiches.
These sorts of changes are becoming standard for restaurants and consumer packaged goods companies trying to keep up with changing customer preferences and to stay competitive with newer brands that boast only all-natural options.
Embracing the “real food” kick that has been sweeping kitchens and tables, McDonald’s trumpeted some of its latest menu changes at a media event Monday.
This latest series of changes follows what McDonald’s did previous year when it committed to sourcing 100 percent cage-free eggs by 2015 and replacing iceberg lettuce with fresh romaine, baby spinach and baby kale in its salad blends. Combined, the shifts have altered almost half of the food on McDonald’s menu. The differences between high fructose corn syrup and regular sugar haven’t been firmly established, if they exist at all, and it’s hard to gauge what getting rid of artificial preservatives means without knowing exactly which preservatives McDonald’s is getting rid of. Its rivals have made changes as well.
McDonald’s, like many of its food industry peers, is increasing efforts to please health-conscious consumers. The group urged Kentucky Fried Chicken and other fast-food chains to move away from meat and poultry suppliers that overuse antibiotics, a practice that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned is making these drugs less effective for treating disease in people.
“When you have a supply chain as big as ours, sometimes things don’t happen as fast as you want them to”, she said.
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Parents and individuals on the go will be delighted to learn that McDonald’s rebuilt food menu includes a number of healthier ingredients and menu items. Reporters there posted images of “breakfast bowls” and other new items the company is testing.
