McDonald’s to put nutrition facts on packaging

Slowing growth in sales prompts image polishing

McDonald’s, the world’s largest restaurant chain, will place nutrition information on most of its packaging to attract health-conscious consumers.

The company will use icons and bar charts on boxes, wrappers and other packaging to make it easier for diners to see the fat and caloric content of burgers, fries and salads, said Cathy Kapica, McDonald’s director of global nutrition.

The information, which is already listed on tray liners and in brochures in the chain’s restaurants, will not be on beverage cups. “ It is about our customers and their expectation to get nutritional information in their hands,” CEO Jim Skinner told a Chicago news conference.

Skinner, who took charge 11 months ago, started selling fruit- and- walnut salads and $ 3.89 premium-chicken sandwiches to attract mothers and other consumers who shun McDonald’s burgers and fries. Nutritional concerns have damped sales in Britain, where the chain last month opened restaurants to public tours and boosted advertising to try to improve its image among diners.

“ Similar to Wal- Mart, McDonald’s is the natural lightning rod for any health criticism almost anywhere they are,” said Win Murray, an analyst at Chicagobased Harris Associates. “ They are the biggest and most successful.”

McDonald’s shares, which had risen 3.3% this year, are on course for their worst performance since 2002. Comparablestore sales climbed 3.7% in the third quarter, the slowest growth since the rst quarter of 2003. Since 2003, sales have increased every quarter as management debuted higher- price new products including $ 3.99 entree salads and premium-chicken sandwiches such as the Ranch BLT.

The new boxes and wrappers, which will be introduced in the rst half of 2006, will be used by more than 20,000 restaurants in North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America by the end of next year, said Ralph Alvarez, president of McDonald’s North America.

McDonald’s took two years to develop and test the packaging, Skinner said. Consumers said they wanted a simple, easy- to- use explanation of nutritional data, leading McDonald’s to add it to packaging and leave it off restaurant menu boards, where the extra information would be confusing, he said.

A global ad campaign featuring tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams and Olympic athletes kicked off Skinner’s health and nutrition push in March.

McDonald’s faces a lawsuit by two New York teenswho claim the company hid the health risks of Chicken McNuggets and other foods that made them obese. In January, a U.S. appeals court overruled a federal judge’s decision to dismiss the suit, clearing the way for the teens to demand documents from McDonald’s. Walt Riker, a company spokesman, called the suitwas “ frivolous.”

In September, McDonald’s distributed nutritional booklets and coupons to 23 million households in Britain, where during August and September it spent 28% of its global marketing budget on advertising aimed at changing the views of consumers who think the chain’s food is unhealthy.