Known internationally for their burgers and fries, McDonald's is now trying to tap into the health food market with kale wraps and garden salads.
But are the new changes enough to win over dietitians?
"Honestly. it has been about 10 years since I have visited McDonald's," registered dietitian Shauna Lindzon tells the Huffington Post Canada. "When I look at the current menu, unfortunately not a lot has changed. The majority of the options are still high in fat, sodium and low in fibre."
McDonald's is doing one thing right when it comes to nutrition, though. Their website makes it easy to find out the nutritional facts on all of the items on their menu, a feature dietitian and owner of Dietetic Directions, Andrea D'Ambrosio, says could still use some upgrades. "My recommendations for improvement of this tool would be to add dietary filters for low sodium and high fibre options."
We asked dietitians across the country to take a look at the McDonald's menu to determine which foods we can indulge in without eating a day's worth of calories in a meal. And while some items seem a little on the small side, Toronto-based dietitian Christy Brissette says to watch out for the labels — calling something a snack doesn't make it so.
"A chicken sandwich isn't a snack — it's a meal! The name makes it sound like you should be having two or three of these. Would you eat two or three sandwiches in 1 sitting?"
In our series The Dietitian Dish, we ask Canadian dietitians what they would recommend as breakfast, lunch or dinner options at specific fast food and chain restaurants in the country. Please note, none of the dietitians below are associated with the restaurants we choose, and the restaurants are not paying us to dissect their food. Which restaurant would you like to see us tackle next? Shoot us an email at CanadaLiving@huffingtonpost.com or let us know in the comments below
