McDonald’s, which has been trying a variety of ways to better connect with potential customers of late, has a new sales aid it’s trying in the Chicago area called the Burger Buildoff. If you click through to the site, you can construct your own customized McDonald’s burger.
It’s a fun exercise, but it has it limits. I would have liked to start with leaner beef, for example. The only choices are burgers McDonald’s already sells. If I could, I would have started with 96% lean ground beef.
The same is true for choice of buns. There is a whole grain bun, kudos for that. But I would have opted for salt-free whole wheat bread to cut the salt content. The cheeses do not include any fat-free cheese, not to mention any low-sodium cheeses (which are much harder to find).
Toppings include some healthy choices like apple slices and cranberries, but also things like french fries, wow. The veggies aso are good stuff, my only comment on these is you can’t have more than three veggies on your burger. The sauce choices seem endless but most are loaded with salt I’m sure. I went with ketchup but would have preferred a low-sodium, low-sugar ketchup choice like the LocalFolks brand I buy.
You don’t get to see a nutrition breakdown for your creation, something I would have been interested in. You can submit your final creation to McDonald’s but that requires logging in with your Facebook or Twitter accounts.
McDonald’s is saying the top two burgers it gets, after a judging round, will be sold in its outlets. It will be interesting to see what the public, and McDonald’s judges, opt for. Likely whatever it is, it won’t fit into my low-sodium, low-fat diet.
John
The No Salt, No Fat, No Sugar Journal 
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