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.)