McDonald’s® serves a range of high quality foods that can be part of a balanced diet, with accurate and easy to understand nutrition information so our customers make informed menu choices.
The wellbeing of our customers is our top priority, and we work with our employees, franchisees and suppliers to serve a balanced array of quality food products, provide a range of menu choices, and provide the information needed to make individual choices.
For ingredient and nutrition information, including allergen and sensitivity information, visit our nutrition section
Our nutrition journey
McDonald's has built its business by adapting to the changing needs of customers. We have made significant changes to our menu, the ingredients we use and the way we prepare food in our kitchens.
Key menu milestones
Some key menu milestones are outlined below. These are just some of the ways McDonald’s has evolved its menu to offer a wider range of choices to our customers.
2003
December
- Happy Meal options were introduced with additional drink options including milk, water and fruit drink – all at no extra cost to the customer.
- Cereals were added to the breakfast menu.
2004
February
- SaladsPlus menu was launched, offering a range of products each with less than nine grams of fat per average serve.
March
- Fruit bags were introduced as an additional Happy Meal option, or as a separate snack item. This gave children even more choice, with two meal options (hamburger, apple bag and water; three McNuggets, apple bag and water) fitting within a third of a child's recommended daily intake for energy, total fat, saturated fat and sugars.
June
- McDonald’s announced it had changed to using a vegetable cooking oil with less than one per cent trans fat (which had been trialed in New Zealand restaurants since November 2003). This also significantly reduced the saturated fat content in the fries.
2005
May
- The DeliChoices menu was launched, adding a range of freshly toasted deli-style rolls, some of which contained less than nine grams of fat per average serve.
2006
April
- Sugar levels in burger buns were reduced by around 40 per cent.
November
- McDonald’s voluntarily introduced nutrition information on most of its packaging to help customers make informed choices when they visit a restaurant. The labelling incorporates Percentage Daily Intake information, based on FSANZ requirements. Nutrition information was also introduced on the back of traymats. (McDonald's prints around 15 million traymats each year.)
December
- McDonald’s announced another major step forward for the health of New Zealanders with further changes to cooking oil, resulting in a blend that continues to be virtually trans fat free. The December oil change cost McDonald's around $1 million, and resulted in a total reduction of more than 725 tonnes of saturated fat or an 83 per cent reduction in saturated fats compared to early 2004.
The Lighter Choices brand was also introduced during 2006 – a range of lower fat menu items.
2007
February
- McDonald’s replaced Sprite® with the sugar free alternative Sprite Zero®. Together with the reduction of sugar in hamburger buns, this has taken more than 300 tonnes of sugar out of our supply chain.
- Lighter Choices combos were introduced with DeliChoices rolls. These combos have less than 10gms of fat per average serve.
March
- McDonald’s launched an online nutrition calculator that includes detailed nutrition information and ingredient listings.
- McDonald’s launched the Pasta Zoo Happy Meal – a nutritious meal option for children containing less than five grams of saturated fat per serve, and no artificial colours and flavours. Pasta Zoo also fits within a third of a child's recommended daily intake.
July
- McDonald's Made To Order cooking platform is launched, with food now freshly prepared once the customer has ordered.
November
- Coke Zero® is rolled out in 44 restaurants (31 per cent of total restaurants), giving customers increased options for sugar-free drinks. (Restaurants need a certain type of machine to offer all three types of Coke® as well as other drink options. McDonald's aims to roll out Coke Zero® nationally as restaurants upgrade their machines.)
McDonald's restructured its pricing in 2007 to provide bottled water as part of regular combos at 20 cents less than soft drink alternatives.
2008
February
- McDonald’s launches a new “cooked in a canola oil blend” symbol to the packaging of menu items cooked in oil to visually inform customers these products are cooked in a blend of canola and sunflower oil which is virtually trans fat free.
March
- McDonald’s celebrates more chicken choices for customers with the introduction of new crispy or seared, 100% chicken breast fillets. The seared option provides a lower-fat alternative to deep fried chicken.
May
- McDonald’s announces that all espresso coffee served at McDonald’s and McCafé will be purchased from Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farms. This means that McDonald’s six four million cups of espresso coffee served each year will be made from coffee beans purchased from farms that have been certified on the basis that beans are grown sustainably, in a way that benefits the farmers and their families’ welfare.
2009
January
- McDonald’s includes Pump® Mini New Zealand Spring Water on its rotating Value Picks menu, providing good value to customers choosing water as their beverage option.
- McDonald’s announces that all filter coffee is also now sourced from Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farms. The switch to certified filter coffee as well as espresso coffee means McDonald’s is now the largest retailer of sustainable coffee in New Zealand, serving around six million cups of coffee per year.
February
- McDonald’s launches a new range of DeliChoices chicken wraps, each available with seared chicken (skinless, seared on a hotplate rather than deep fried, lower fat alternative), premium salad and a soft tortilla. The wraps replace McDonald’s DeliChoices rolls, and two are now included on McDonald’s Lighter Choices menu (Sweet Chilli and Classic, each item contains less than 9 grams of fat per average serve).
June
- A nutritious new Happy Meal choice is introduced, the seared Chicken Snack Wrap. On its own, the seared Chicken Snack Wrap contains less than eight grams of fat per average serve and is high in protein. When ordered with Pump mini water and apple slices, the seared Chicken Snack Wrap Happy Meal is a low-fat, high protein children’s meal option which contains less than a third of the recommended dietary intake (RDI) of energy, total fat, saturated fat and sodium for children aged four to seven years. The seared Chicken Snack Wrap replaces McDonald’s Pasta Zoo option.
