For decades McDonald's has been a symbol of modern American culture. But in the past few years, the fast food company has been embroiled in legal controversy and featured in a scathing documentary, Morgan Spurlock's "Super Size Me."
McDonald's Corp. announced Tuesday that it would start printing nutritional information on food wrappers beginning next year. Will this change actually have an impact on McDonald's consumers?
Most Tufts students don't think so. "I think it's a good idea, but I don't know if it'll do anything," freshman Forrest Gittleson said. "It might stop someone, but if they're reading the wrapper, they've already bought the food and they're probably going to eat it anyway."
Several students felt that printing nutrition facts on food wrappers will not make the healthier food selections offered by McDonald's more appealing - or make high-calorie Big Macs and large fries less appealing.
"People more or less know what's healthy and unhealthy," junior Alex Nussbaum said. "The people who read nutrition labels are not the people eating at McDonald's."
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has suggested McDonald's post caloric information next to food items on the menu. CSPI's director, Michael F. Jacobson, told the Associated Press that "considering America's obesity epidemic, that calorie information would do more than just about any other measure to help people protect their waistlines."
One concern raised in "Super Size Me" is the addictive quality of fast food. The documentary suggested parents who bring their children to McDonald's may be setting their children up for a life-long addiction.
Sophomore Sarah Katz said parents bringing their kids to the restaurant wouldn't be deterred from doing so by the presence of nutritional information on wrappers.
"The allure of McDonald's is that you can get a whole meal for a small amount of money, and you can get it quickly," Katz said. "I think most parents are willing to sacrifice nutritional quality for convenience."
McDonald's will premiere the nutritional information wrappers at the Winter Olympics in February. Students are skeptical if the combination will be successful.
"With the whole 'athletic' theme, you'd think that the idea is to make it seem like [McDonald's is] trying to be more health conscious," junior Mark Schenkel said. "But the labels just say that our food is death - delicious death."
Every student interviewed believed Burger King and other fast food chains would soon follow suit with their own nutritional labeling.
"They'll absolutely do the same thing," Nussbaum said. "You see one place start a trend, like salads, and then everyone else has salads on the menu. They have to compete with each other."
Nussbaum saw both the bright and dark sides of McDonald's decision. "I think they are taking steps in the right direction," he said. "But printing nutritional information on wrappers - while responsible - is not going to make that big of a difference."
