Undressing the McDonald’s Salad

Posted by Briana Santoro on Mar 10, 2009 in Products Undressed

Have you ever suffered from Gut Rot? You know the sensation you get when it feels like your stomach is having a heart attack! I can specifically remember the times that I’ve suffered the most and it always followed a last resort feeding at the golden arches. As I would lay there moaning, I told myself “NEVER AGAIN!!” Needless to say, I haven’t been there in about 10 years and don’t plan on going back anytime soon. McDonald’s was made famous for offering unhealthy amounts of calories, fat, sodium, and sugar disguised as food. So when they came out with salads, I was pleasantly surprised. It looked like this mega-fast-food chain actually had some healthy options on the menu. Amazing! Most of us know that a ‘salad’ is synonymous with ‘health’, however, leave it to McDonald’s to make even their salads unhealthy. Some of them should probably be served with a side order of digestive enzymes and a recommendation for a good cardiologist.

It’s time to undress these salads to see what they are really made of.

The McDonald’s salad de-robed:
I chose the healthiest sounding salad and dressing on their menu and assessed its nutritional value. Here are the results:
Southwest Salad with Grilled Chicken and Renee’s Ravin’ Raspberry Vinegrette
400 Calories
15.5g Fat
1000mg Sodium
13g of sugar

Here is one of their more unhealthy sounding salads:
Mighty Caesar Entrée with Warm Crispy Chicken and Renee’s Mighty Caesar Dressing
700 Calories
54g Fat
1620mg sodium
2g sugar

Now for comparison, here is the nutritional value of a BigMac
The BigMac
540 Calories
29g Fat
1020mg sodium
9g sugar

I do want to note that when people order a BigMac they often get fries with it – so to be fair, here are the values for a BigMac plus a medium order of fries.
The BigMac with Medium Fries
900 Calories
46g Fat
1290mg sodium
9g sugar

Click here to see the Nutrition Facts of other McDonald’s products.

When we are comparing the products based on these 4 measuring sticks, it is easy to see that there isn’t a whole lot of difference between the Caesar option and the BigMac with fries. The Southwast salad definitely appears to be healthier from a fat and calories perspective but is the worst from a sugar perspective. Eating too much sugar can lead to a whole host of problems like high cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease, metabolic syndrome, etc.

One important thing to realize is that there are only 3 macronutrients (carbohydrates, fats and protein). If something is low in fat… it has to be high in one of the other 2 (and usually that is sugar). Have a look at some of the products in your grocery store that are fat free. Sugar is used in place of the fat and a whole bunch of other things are added to create the flavour and texture of fat since it has been removed.

If you read my article on “The Quick and Dirty Guide to Reading Food Labels” you will notice that I don’t spend much time looking at the nutrition facts like calories, fat, sodium, and sugar when I am assessing products. I am more concerned about the ingredients themselves and try to aim for whole foods eating. That means eating foods that are straight from the source and don’t contain a whole host of added crap. Here is a pdf document that contains all of the ingredients for the McDonald’s products. You may find some of the salad ingredients especially interesting. For example, did you know that their croutons contain hydrogenated cottonseed oil? Or that the grilled chicken on the Southwest Salad contains 25 ingredients!?! Even the sunflower seeds contain hydrolyzed corn protein. Yuk!

The problem is that most people don’t know what the McDonald’s salads are really made of and at first glance they may appear to be really healthy. However, this is partly an illusion. McDonalds tries very hard to blur the lines and make things seem a lot healthier than they really are. I decided to check out the McDonald’s website to see what they were telling people about their salads. Here is what I found:

“McDonalds recognizes the importance of offering nutritional choices to Canadians. That’s why we have created entrée and side salad choices for customers. The salads are made with romaine and iceberg lettuces, sliced tomatoes and red onions. Prepared fresh daily with these lettuces, McDonald’s entrée salads contain about three servings of vegetables according to Canada’s Food Guide.”

It is shocking that listing a few salad ingredients causes McDonalds to claim that they are offering nutritional choices. I see this a lot in Marketing. Companies will only list some of their ingredients and then make claims that make the entire product seem healthy. However, they conveniently leave out all the unhealthy bits. For example, let’s say someone was advertising a healthy broccoli snack and talked all about the benefits of broccoli and why you should eat it, but the actual product was a deep fried piece of broccoli with artificial cheese sauce. It doesn’t matter what benefits the broccoli has at that point. The product is unhealthy. I feel like this type of messaging is what McDonald’s is doing with their salads and the word needs to get out. People should know what is really in the salads and then make an informed decision as to whether they still want to put it in their mouth and have the cells of their body be made of those hard to pronounce artificial ingredients.

In conclusion, the McDonald’s salads do contain more whole foods than the BigMac and fries option. Therefore, if you are choosing between the two, go with a salad because their will be more nutrients. Also, I would recommend choosing either the raspberry or balsamic salad dressing. It is important to note that these are the healthiest on the menu but I still do not consider them to be ‘healthy’ dressings. Alternatively you can skip the salad dressing altogether or even better, bring your own homemade option. In addition, I hate to rain on the parade, but after reading the ingredients in the animal products and other toppings like nuts, seeds, croutons, etc, I would personally stay away from those. Therefore, unless you feel like just eating a plain vegetable salad with nothing on it, or bringing your own dressing, I would recommend going elsewhere.

In Canada alone in the last few years McDonalds has sold 7 Million salads! I often wonder what percentage of those people actually know what they just ate. I hope this information provides some interesting food for thought. Maybe it will even entice McDonald’s to change some of their ingredients to a more whole foods approach. Fingers crossed.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Briana Santoro

Briana Santoro is the Founder and Chief Product Undresser at The Naked Label Inc. She is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist, Certified Iridologist, Business Strategy Consultant and lover of whole foods. She holds her own in the kitchen, loves growing organic food, yet is lacking a green thumb, and could eat hummus every day of her life! In addition she is a dynamic public speaker and writer. Her passion for creating a world where everyone can be healthy and feel fabulous is what helps her spring out of bed in the morning.

Drew Donaldson

Very interesting. I personally have a hard time eating at McDonalds after seeing the movie “Supersize Me”.I thought they were changing their image after that movie with the new salads, but after reading this column I now know the truth!!!!
Paula T.

The grilled chicken one doesn’t seem that bad to me, though I’m no dietician. You have to keep in mind that most people will eat a salad as a meal, while people ordering a big mac will typically add fries.
Ashley

I agree with paula, I am a dietician myself & you must keep in mind that any meal should not be more than 15grams of fat, therefore when eating this salad as meal you are in the right guidelines with maintaining a healthy diet. Not to mention most people want taste & health so adding the crispy chkn w/it gives the taste one wants & still allows you to stay healthy. I have many clients whom have lost tons of weight by eating this salad AS A MEAL FOR DINNER FOR 2MONTHS! (NOT THE BACON RANCH!!) THE BACON RNACH W/EITHER THE GRILLED OR CRISPY GOES OVER THE GUIDELINES FOR MAINTAINING A HEALTHY DIET, EATING THIS ALONE GOES WAY OVER THE TOTAL FAT ONE MEAL SHOULD HAVE! You might as well have 1 of their regular meals, or even the fish filet meal would be healthier! The keys are eating the south west crispy as your whole meal & nothing else! Drinking water/mineral water or unsweetened tea with it instead of soda/shake etc. Also not buying fries or anything else with it! & NOT ASKING FOR A 2ND DRESSING OR CROUTONS OR ANY EXTRAS ! I myself had eaten it & still do when wanting something quick yet healthy & tasty, I’ve done this maintaining my weight where it should be! SO don’t be so fast to count it out yet b/c the #’s seem high, they are actually just fine if eaten solo as a complete meal!
Gary T

Re the McD’s salads: Read the ingredient list on the back of the salad dressing will show that as being a huge contributor to the listings of trans fat, carbs, sodium, etc. The SW Chicken salad also contains carrots, which have sugar in them, the glycemic index of natural sugar in carrots is very close to table sugar. The “chips” included are deep fried in oil, more fat and calories. Even the lettuce greens have some natural sugar in them. You would get some sugar from picking lettuce and greens out of the garden and eating them straight from the garden! If you don’t want the extra transfat, sugar calories, etc., just get the greens, without the chicken — the glaze on the chicken will account for much of the high sodium content of the salad, sugar, etc. — without the “chips” and without the corn, which also has high sugar content.

McD’s has been at the front of fast food for so long, that it wouldn’t matter if they did offer “health food store quality organically grown” food, no one would believe them. In the minds of some, they are guilty of contributing to bad health and overweight people, regardless of what they do or offer on their menu. But, I have been in several McD’s over the years. I have NEVER seen anyone point a gun to someone’s head, making them eat their food against their will. So, it is time for people to accept the responsibility for eating properly and taking the responsibility for their own bad health and fat bellies! If people would not eat at McD’s, they would quickly go out of business. They still sell the Big Mac and fries, because that is what people want/buy. It is not the responsibility of McDonald’s, or, the government, to monitor what people decide to put into their own mouths. It is an individual’s responsibility!
Ellen

Interesting post. Indeed, a salad is synonymous with health for many consumers, I wrote a blog post about it as well: http://foodintakecontrol.blogspot.com/2011/02/taste-beyond-basic-four-senses-role-of.html
Becca

This is only looking at when you add in the most unhealthy chicken however, and on the salads come a glaze. You can take both off which takes out a lot of what you’re complaining about.
Again, listen to the nutritionist; it’s true that you can’t base it off of what is printed on the Nutritional guide.
Also if you want it to be healthy, use vinegar as a dressing instead of the dressings that come with the salads.
It simply makes sense.

Also
Do you honestly think that McDonald’s deep-fries broccoli and then smother it with cheese?
Bailey

Yes i agree completely with this article. In fact, my children have eaten one of thier salads, and they like carrots and spinach salads more than the chicken nuggets and such from McDonalds restaurant. I believe that if these things are making people overweight and obese, they should stop eating it. They have the rights and the responsibility to keep their bodies intact. McDonalds might as well put a sign on all of their restaurants saying “Sugar included in all items” or “we make you fat, double the time!”
Bailey

And by the way, McDonalds is a hazardous enviroment for children in the fact that, my son broke his leg there. Just adding that. Thanks 🙂
Mandi

Bailey – YOU broke your sons leg by being a bad, inattentive parent. Just sayin.
Joanne

OK so those are the stats on fat, salt and sugar… what about other nutritional values…. buns of white flour, roughage and no or limited vegetables… I feel better same day and next day eating the southwest chicken salad than I do any of the hamburgers.
Doreen Mason

I eat McDonald’s salads as a meal and enjoy them. I use the fixings i.e. dressing, croutons provided. I don’t eat the whole thing at once. I save half or 1/4 of everything for the next days lunch. I would seldom eat anything with the salad. However, when I missed two meals last week, due to illness and nausea in the morning, and needed to eat something fast in order to down a bunch of antibiotics in a short period, I downed 1/2 of a grilled chicken Caesar salad and one Thai McMini. I took 6 antibiotics in 8 hours along with two probiotics and my stomach felt fine.Today my husband brought me home another salad and two more McMini’s. I ate about 3/4 of the salad for dinner and kept the remainder of the salad, and the McMini’s for a meal, or two tomorrow. I eat my Mc Meals with water or juice. I don’t mind the McMinis cold. I don’t always eat McDonalds food, but every now and then I crave the odd thing from there. I am almost 56 years old and weigh in the range of 106 lbs to 108….It’s in my unprofessional opinion a lot to do with portion control. I agree with the writer above. Nobody is forcing McD’s food down our throats. Everyone likes to bash it, but most people seem to like to eat it. Anything in excess is usually harmful, except perhaps money…and yeah that can be too.
Trae

I work at mcdonalds. im 17, 6 ft 3 and 160 lbs. I get the bacon ranch salad with grilled chicken and itallian low fat dressing. it’s well in the guidelines. Of course its going to be fattening if you get it with crispy chicken and ranch. but if you get it with something low fat, like italian, or ginger, or balsamic its perfectly fine. All these people take the most unhealthy choices and then say mcdonalds is bad for you. How about order the healthy choices and EXERCISE and don’t blame mcdonalds for your problems.
- Sandy
  
  AMEN!!!!!!!
- Jeffrey Muller
  
  its not really the type of dressing you get on top of the salad its the actual lettuce and salad mix itself. i just quit working at a mcdonalds about 2 weeks ago and if you look into not the salads but the lettuce you see that its sooo high in sodium. sodium is used as a preservative in the salad mix so it will last longer and idiots are eating these salads thinking “yay im being healthy!” when in reality its healthier to eat a candybar
Ashley Tinsley

Really? Dont bother writting articles about unhealthy fast food places, because, as other responses have indicated, you dont need to eat it. If you’re feeling what you call “gut rot” after eating a salad, the problem is most likely because you forced yourself to eat too much.
Cam Bowles

I tried the chicken grill thinking it was healthy and OMG was I ever sick
I have highblood pressure and the level of salt had my heart skipping beets
never again. I’m glad I googled this cause I didn’t know why I was so sick.
I drank about 2 cups of water to thin out the salt in my blood and I’m feeling
a bit better……….Thanks for posting this
girly

You ordered the salad, but where did you get the calorie and fat information? Did you use the salad dressing? A lot of the fat and calories come from the packet of dressing. I for one don’t use the dressing. On McDonalds website they offer nutritional information for both the grilled chicken and fried chicken salads. Then they offer nutritional information for the dressings seperately.
Briana

Hi all – thanks so much for your comments. This article was the very first article I ever wrote on the blog. A lot has changed in the last 2.5 years so I have been going through and revamping articles to ensure they are up to date. I also updated this article to help answer some of the questions posed in the comments and to help provide more information. I hope this helps to clarify things 🙂 Happy reading and as always, thanks for your support.

Yours truly in naked health,
Briana
Kate

I agree. Mcdonalds IS BAD FOR YOU. Period.
Sandy

Fast food restaurants were not created for people to eat at three times a day, they were meant for a fun night out once in a great while. You get fat by bending your elbow and shoveling it in too much !!! Anyone with any kind of brains know you get more calories with every addition you make to the lettuce! Don’t blame the restaurants for your inability to control yourself.
- Pauliina
  
  I disagree with you. Have you ever watched Supersize me? But restaurants have responsibilities, too. That’s why they’re regulated by authorities. Sadly, there actually are people who eat at McDonalds every day. The man kind has lost its sence, no matter how hard you tell to use it. For example, there is a girl who eats nothing but Chicken McNuggets (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2092071/Stacey-Irvine-17-collapses-eating-McDonalds-chicken-nuggets-age-2.html)
kiki

the salad isnt unhealthy if its the ONLY meal you have during the day. if your on a diet you should be exercising too, so it wouldn’t matter if you eat that salad. Everything you eat has calories. But people choose to get fat by eating mcdonalds all the time and this could go for ALL fast food resturants too cause there FAST FOOD.
- Pauliina
  
  Sorry, but you’re terribly wrong.
  If you tend to eat only one meal a day, you body will immediately store the fat and sugar and every single nutrient it gets there. Your blood sugar will go from extremely low to extremely high, which will increase the produce of insuline, a fat storing hormone. Furthermore, you get no vital nutrients and instead you get bad, saturated fats and loads of sugar, meaning that your cholesterol will only consist of saturated, industrial fats. In addition the liver doesn’t like processing high levels of sodium. And if you exercise on top of that, your body’s not getting the best fuel it can get.
- SunsetCruzing
  
  @Pauliina This assumption in itself is wrong. Your body adapts to the way it is treated. Just as people claim you should eat 6 small meals a day neglect to tell you once your body has adapted to the increase in intake after about 2 weeks the metabolic factor you gained normalizes and you find your self at square one. The same is true for someone who eats one to two times a day. It may slow down RMR but after 2 weeks it will regulate. I will give you that eating less puts a strain on eating what we need to balance out, however the body itself adapts and stores them accordingly. It is a resilient machine. What works for one person may not another and the best way to summarize is to eat healthy and balanced because in the end a diet is a game of simple math. Consumption > Exertion = weight gain. I will not comment on Diabetes because I have not had enough personal interaction in training. However I would assume it would be harder to regulate insulin levels as needs of these individuals are in a more critical state.
  
  Ryan B.
  NASM CPT, ISSA, PES.
- Jeffrey Muller
  
  hate to tell you but i am an EMT and shes right. thats why u arent suppose to skip breakfast cuz if you only have one meal a day or if you dont eat breakfast your body tells itsself “hey survival situation we need to store what we can” and it starts saving calories as fat. If youre having small meals many times a day (i think its 6 small meals) then your body does better at burning the calories being brought into the body and burning the calories already stored
- Diabetiker
  
  Tell that to a diabetic
jar2013

Not sure where the nutrition info comes from. According to the McDonald’s Nutrition Pamphlet (http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/getnutrition/nutritionfacts.pdf), the accurate info is as follows:

Southwest Salad with Grilled Chicken alone (Rasberry Vinagrette is not available in USA, and I can’t imagine raspberry going well with a Southwest Salad anyways :P)
290 Calories
8g Fat (Higher than what was given, not including the dressing)
650mg Sodium
11g of sugar

Mighty Caesar Entrée with Warm Crispy Chicken and Newman’s Caesar Dressing (This is what really drove me insane….)
540 Calories
36g Fat
1240mg sodium
9g sugar

Where did the 700 calories come from? And how about 54g of Fat? over 1600mg of sodium? These are much, much higher than the factual data portrays. Does Canadian dressing just have more punch to it than American dressing? Anyhew, mini-rant.

P.S, the article was written in March 10, 2009 originally, so info may have changed from this time to current.
- TheNakedLabel
  
  @jar2013 Hey thanks so much for your comment. So happy to have you in The Naked Label community. You are quite correct that this original article was written a few years ago and their menu can and likely has changed since then.
  
  Here is some info though that should help to answer some of your questions. Go to this website and click on the link for “Nutrition Facts” – http://www.mcdonalds.ca/ca/en/food/nutrition_calculator.html. Also this link should get you to the exact pdf. http://www1.mcdonalds.ca/NutritionCalculator/NutritionFactsEN.pdf
  
  You are also correct that these are the facts listed on the McDonald’s Canada website.
  
  In the breakdowns that were provided in this article they included the salad and the dressing. Therefore, if you look at the caesar for example, you can see that in the updated nutrition facts pdf the Mighty Caesar Entree with Warm Crispy Chicken contains 450 calories. When you then add in the Renee’s Mighty Caesar Dressing which is 260 calories you are at a total of 710 calories. It looks like it has actually gone up since the original writing of this article. It looks like the sodium and fat content have remained the same.
  
  Hope that helps clear things up for you and once again thanks for visiting The Naked Label 🙂
  
  In health,
  Briana
TheNakedLabel

My friend from edgyveg posted the following thought of the day on her blog. It made ma laugh so hard I almost peed my pants 🙂 Thought I would share it with everyone here.

Thought of the day = “Going to McDonald’s for a salad is like going to a prostitute for a hug”.

Happy giggles! 😉

Briana
kathrinegoodrum

I think mcdonalds salads are pretty good. You guys should check out http://www.formvote.com though

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