McDonald’s is making a further attempt to change the perceptions of its food, at a time when it is looking to add new fruit options including blueberries, junior bananas and seedless clementines into its kids’ Happy Meals.
According to the Daily Mail, the global chain hosted a dinner earlier this week in New York for reporters and bloggers, where waiters served cuisine prepared by celebrity chefs using ingredients from the group’s menu.
The event was, was billed ’A transforming dining experience of “fast food” to “good food served fast.”
During the evening, a Kung Pao chicken appetizer was made with Chicken McNuggets doused in sweet and sour sauce and garnished with parsley. Slow-cooked beef was served with gnocchi fashioned out of McDonald’s french fries and a fruit sauce from its smoothie mix. For dessert, its biscuit mix was used to make a pumpkin spice ‘biznut,’ a biscuit-doughnut hybrid.
The company has added several new menu items over the last 18 months including egg-white McMuffins and the option of salad instead of fries.
Last month, McDonald’s added a 50-calorie version of Go-Gurt Low-Fat Strawberry Yogurt as a Happy Meal side option. Made for McDonald’s by General Mills, it has 25% less sugar — about 6 grams — than conventional Yoplait Go-Gurt,
However, it is finding it more difficult when it comes to adding vegetables to its menu. A trial of baby carrots several years ago flopped.
Greg Watson, the chain’s senior vice president of menu innovation, told USA Today: “It’s much more challenging to come up with vegetables that kids will be excited about.”
