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Arts & Entertainment

McDonald's is getting healthier, but it's still not healthy

Two words that will never be synonymous to me are "McDonald's" and "healthy." Kind of like "temporary rollercoasters" and "safe" or "Texas summers" and "not a burning hell," there are some things in life that just don't equate.

Contrary to my (and probably a chunk of America's) beliefs that McDonald's simply can't serve healthy food, it does appear that they are trying. (I'll believe it when the FDA puts out an official statement on McD's healthiness.)

A Super Size order of McDonald's french fries is shown September 3, 2002 at a restaurant in...
A Super Size order of McDonald's french fries is shown September 3, 2002 at a restaurant in Pompano Beach, Florida. McDonald's announced plans March 2, 2004 to phase out its Supersize french fries and drinks from all of its U.S. restaurants by the end of 2004. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images)

Yesterday, McD announced that (gasp) it has removed artificial preservatives from its Chicken McNuggets, McGriddles, Bagel and Biscuit breakfast sandwiches and scrambled eggs.

Looks like Chipotle finally stole enough of their customers to convince Mickie D, "huh, maybe we try to be healthy."

The cholesterol conglomerate also said that their Big-Mac, Quarter Pounders, hamburgers and cheeseburgers, Filet-O-Fish and McChicken sandwich buns will soon no longer contain high fructose corn syrup. Plus, apparently the Artisan roll introduced last year never used it.

The healthy train comes crashing to a stop with McDonald's final menu adjustment -- their chicken is "not treated with antibiotics important to human medicine" anymore. (And the healthy hipsters strike again, let the chickens run free without hormones or antibiotics.)

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These changes affect about half of the food on the home of the Big-Mac menu, but they don't address the fact the company's food is still gravely unhealthy. A single Big Mac meal with French fries and a drink is 990 calories, almost half what the FDA says you need in a single day. Along with that, 306 calories from each Big Mac come from fat, which is more than half of the calories in the burger.

This isn't McDonald's first venture into the dark and unknown territory of healthier options. Earlier this year, a kale salad was added to the menu.

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I contemplated including a few words from McDonald's USA president or their local registered dietitian, but all they did was talk about how proud they were of the transition mentioned above, and how they're "a year ahead of schedule."

Sorry Ronald, but even if you are "a year ahead" you're still decades behind Chipotle, the healthy branch you used to own.

What do you think of these changes? Let us know your opinion of McD.

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