McDonald's Oatmeal - just saw an ad for this

[c oliver]

Just saw an ad on TV today for McD's oatmeal. Sounded like it's not instant and they definitely said it has fresh fruit on it. And the fruit looked quite tasty. Has anyone had this? I'm glad when I see a fast food place bringing out new products that offer some healthy(er) options.

[Augie6]

I used my free cupon today.. and wasn't all that bad... (yes instant , yes mcdonalds) The apples become really annoying.. and other fruit really didnt have a taste..nice to have that option all day. If i had to go back to mcd , i will get the oatmeal over lunch/diner food

[mpjmph]

Heard on the news last night that the VT Maple Association (or a similarly named group) is taking issue with McD's use of the word maple in the oatmeal description, b/c it doesn't actually contain maple.

[greygarious]

I wonder if the supermarket cereals with maple on the label contain it, either? Real maple bumps up an item's cost considerably. Has McD's heard of Garrison Keillor's (fictional)
"Raw Bits" cereal, whose slogan is something like "oat hulls and wheat chaff for all your fiber needs"? Add some sawdust, put it in a styrofoam cup with dried fruit and apple chunks, and charge $2.49 for it...;-D

[goodhealthgourmet]

http://www.slashfood.com/2011/01/10/a...

""It is illegal to use the word maple on a product unless the sweetener is 100 percent pure maple. Artificial maple flavoring should be clearly and conspicuously labeled on the principal panel with the term 'artificial flavor'."

what are they going to do, slap a big sticker on the side of the cup? rename it "Artificially maple-flavored oatmeal with fruit?"

[ipsedixit]

Technically, this would only be a problem for Ronald McDonald in the state of Vermont. From everything that I can tell, the oatmeal complies with all applicable FDA and FTC regulations.

The state of Vermont certainly cannot regulate how one decides to use the "maple" for someone in Japan eating a McDonald's oatmeal cup because the word "maple" cannot be trademarked at this point. Too late, and really, too generic of a term.

If I were McDonald's I would give Vermont the single finger salute ... because even if push comes to shove, how much oatmeal do you think McDonald's sells (or can sell) in the whole state of Vermont? I bet a busy morning rush hour in one square mile of Manhattan would probably equal the total sales of oatmeal in Vermont for an entire week.

[mpjmph]

That was more of less my reaction when I heard the news story.

[L2k]

Enough, apparently, that they have reformulated the product for the Vermont market.

No middle finger here, just all five fingers, taking in the cash like a business should.

[cheesecake17]

"maple-ish oatmeal with fruit" sounds better!

and the commercials did make the oatmeal look pretty damn appetizing!

[ipsedixit]

Reading all of this is sort of depresing.

How about something positive? Like who makes good oatmeal.

Personally, I like the oatmeal at Corner Bakery and Caribou Coffee the best.

[Bob W]

i like the oatmeal at Au Bon Pain a lot. You ladle it yourself (like the soups), then add toppings. I'm sure it gets pretty gloppy later in the morning but I find it quite good.

I used to get oatmeal at Corner Bakery but have just seemed to fall into the ABP oatmeal routine.

[lynnlato]

Personally, I'd rather eat gloppy oatmeal with some texture than mushy Quaker-like oatmeal. But I've never ordered oatmeal at a restaurant, fast-food or otherwise. I just make my own.

[artemis]

Jamba Juice has my favorite - berry cherry pecan, hold the "brown sugar crumble." The Au Bon Pain one is good too.

[mdepsmom]

I agree-- i tried their oatmeal using an entertainment book coupon for a free one, and would totally go back and pay for it :)

[mdepsmom]

I tried it last week (had a coupon for a free one) and didn't like it. It was, as a previous poster mentioned, very pasty tasting. The only redeeming quality was the dried cranberries. I didn't like the fresh apple chunks at all. I was asked if I wanted it w/ or w/o brown sugar; I said with but got without. Maybe the brown sugar would have helped. Good thing it was free.

[rochfood]

http://www.theimpulsivebuy.com/wordpr...

[greygarious]

I looked it up on their site - quite a bit of sugar, because in addition to fruit there's maple and brown sugar. Being McD's, there HAD to be a second shoe to drop. While I was waiting for bloodwork this week, the two technicians were raving about how good it is - but then their conversation shifted to giving their kids Spaghetti-O's and canned ravioli for BREAKFAST. In that context, the oatmeal has to be a step in the right direction.

[goodhealthgourmet]

you know what's really strange? for the oatmeal *without* brown sugar, the listing for saturated fat is higher and the cholesterol and sodium are lower than if you get it with brown sugar. i guess i can see the increase in sat fat if they add a little extra cream (though i don't know why they would)...but then the reductions in sodium and cholesterol make even less sense. WTF?

[c oliver]

Trying to get my brain around that. Could it be that with the increased sugar they get enough flavor that they can decrease the sodium? Don't have an idea about cholesterol.

[lynnlato]

I've come to the conclusion that a good many nurses and medical staff have horrible diets. Everytime I go to my endocrinologist's office they are having Dominoes pizza delivered. My Dr., on the other hand, is a vegetarian. And having worked at a restaurant that had a huge catering business that mostly delivered to medical offices and hospitals that seems to be the norm - lots of bad-for-you food rolling in those break rooms and all paid for by the pharmaceutical companies.

Oops, off topic! McDonalds oatmeal - I wish they would quit pretending like they want to help America eat healthy! ;-)

[Bob W]

it gets me throught breakfast at McD's with my kids without having to eat some delicious, greasy, mouthwatering sausage biscuits....

[Nocturnalbill]

Please, please, oh please let that be humor.

[givemecarbs]

My thoughts exactly nocturnalbill.

[Bob W]

LOL I thought it was.

[Nocturnalbill]

I have to check. Every once in a while I just miss it.

[joe777cool]

Wow I had the completely opposite reaction when I saw that commercial. Warm oatmeal with cold crisp apples on top? No thanks! I will stick with a bit of milk and brown sugar.

[ipsedixit]

I think Starbucks oatmeal is better, but that's not saying much.

And I don't mind that it's instant. In fact, I think it's actually preferable that way. I do not want to eat oatmeal that's been sitting around "warming" in a chafing dish for hours on end, and I certainly do want to wait around while they make the oatmeal on demand. This is fast-food after all.

[goodhealthgourmet]

the idea of a big vat of precooked slop sitting around waiting to be dished out is pretty gnarly, but i can't stand the texture of instant. hell, if TJ's can get frozen steel-cut oatmeal right, you'd think these guys could figure out how to offer something better than a packet of instant.

[Nocturnalbill]

I would understand maybe Starbucks figuring out the better route, but McDonalds....there I truly expected the Quaker in a bowl with Dole container fruit.

[goodhealthgourmet]

nah, the folks at Charbucks are too busy making pointless changes to their logo to bother improving the quality of their products ;)

[Nocturnalbill]

Well I didn't mean that they should stop blow torching the beans, no that shouldn't happen.

[artemis]

I think the starbucks oatmeal is pretty good, but I always request that they use steamed soymilk instead of water. Jamba's is much better.

[chococat]

I tried it last week and give it a thumbs down. It is instant oatmeal (I watched them dump in the packet and add hot water from the coffee machine) and it is of spectacularly poor quality. Very pasty and musty tasting. I will say that the toppings are very tasty and the apples are fresh and add some texture to the otherwise textureless mush. The only "fast food" oatmeal that I've really liked is from JambaJuice, but it's quite expensive and just an occasional treat for me.

[c oliver]

Aha. The ad said something like "oatmeal made fresh for you" or something like that. So the "making" is the pouring in of water. I'll stick with my Sausage McMuffin then :) Thanks.

[Cathy]

I would think a coupon for a free one will be coming out soon. That was the only reason I tried the oatmeal at Starbucks.

When I saw an ad for it, I figured it is part of a New Year Resolution ad campaign.

[libgirl2]

Darn! The ad made it look so good, too!

[goodhealthgourmet]

it always does ;)