At long last, McDonald’s Philippines decided to “drop the bomb” and reveal the nutrition information about the food they serve. Caution: I guarantee you won’t be looking at that burger the same way again after reading this, so if you’re ready for the hard truth, please proceed…
Disclaimer (from to the flyer that you may get at McDonald’s stores): the nutrition information is based on average data from standard product formulation. Actual serving size and nutrient value may vary due to analytical methods, local suppliers, assembling, formulation changes or natural variation of raw materials. This information is correct as of March 2010. In short, these are just estimates.
Because of the number of items offered by McDonald’s, I decided to just post the top and bottom three with the most and least amount of calories and sodium (where applicable), by categories presented in the leaflet.
Burgers
| Energy (kCal) |
Sodium (mg) |
|
| Quarter Pounder with Cheese | 560 | 1,390 |
| Big Mac | 510 | 1,080 |
| Double Cheeseburger | 420 | 1,260 |
| Hamburger | 240 | 560 |
| Burger McDo | 250 | 760 |
| Cheeseburger | 290 | 810 |
| McChicken | 340 | 700 |
| Filet-O-Fish | 340 | 740 |
You may notice that calories aren’t directly proportional to sodium (salt) content. Cheese contributes a lot of sodium so you may want to take it easy. Quarter Pounder with Cheese is consistent with having the highest amount of calories and sodium, while consistently of the other side of the spectrum is Hamburger.
Chicken and Pasta
| Energy (kCal) |
Sodium (mg) |
|
| Crispy Chicken Fillet with Rice | 450 | 750 |
| 6pc McNuggets | 320 | 770 |
| Chicken McDo | 310 | 700 |
| McSpaghetti | 270 | 730 |
McSpaghetti is interesting because it has the lowest calorie in the list, but because of the cheese it has one of the highest sodium content.
Breakfast
| Energy (kCal) |
Sodium (mg) |
|
| 2pc Hotcakes with Sausage (served with butter and syrup) | 520 | 1,080 |
| Big Breakfast | 480 | 1,110 |
| Big Breakfast with Muffin | 470 | 1,060 |
| Sausage Egg Muffin | 390 | 1,210 |
| Sausage Muffin | 320 | 1,150 |
| Plain Muffin | 160 | 300 |
| Hamdesal | 230 | 580 |
| Hamdesal with Cheese | 280 | 830 |
| 2pc Hotcakes (served with butter and syrup) | 410 | 470 |
| Hash Browns | 320 | 580 |
What’s strange about this table though is that Big Breakfast with Muffin has fewer calories than without Muffin! Is it a typo, or do they serve Big Breakfast slightly smaller with Muffin? Also, be wary that many on this list exceed 1,000mg sodium.
Desserts
| Energy (kCal) |
Sodium (mg) |
|
| McFlurry Oreo | 370 | 190 |
| Hot Fudge Caramel Sundae |
270 | 130 |
| Mini Apple Pie | 170 | 125 |
| Plain Sundae | 170 | 75 |
| Chocolate Dip | 170 | 65 |
| Vanilla Cone | 110 | 55 |
Not much room as far as desserts are concerned, but given the small serving and high calories you should take McFlurry Oreo sparingly. Vanilla cone is your best option in this list, calorie-wise.
Beverages
| Energy (kCal) |
|
| Large Coke/Sprite | 260 |
| Medium Coke Medium Sprite |
190 200 |
| Regular Coke/Sprite | 140 |
| Nestea Lemon Iced Tea Eight O’clock Orange |
150 |
| Del Monte Pineapple | 130 |
When it comes to beverages, it’s not so trivial: the larger the serving, the higher the calories. And to soda drinkers out there, Sprite interestingly has more calories than Coke! Also, notice that a serving of iced tea or orange juice actually has more calories than a regular serving of regular soda! I guess pineapple juice is still the best choice among the selection, but if you’re absolutely concerned about calories but don’t want to settle for water, the “light” and “zero” sodas are your way to go with zero (0) calories.
Fries
| Energy (kCal) |
Sodium (mg) |
|
| Large Fries | 490 | 450 |
| Medium Fries | 310 | 290 |
| Regular Fries | 210 | 190 |
Fries are quite simple, the bigger the serving, the higher the calories and sodium. Better share! 😀
* * *
To put these calories into running perspective, a 130lb person running 5K in half an hour would burn around 233 calories—that basically just covers the burger! Of course the heavier you are, or the more effort you exert, or the longer you run, the higher your calorie burn would be. Depending on your goal you’d have an idea on how much calorie “budget” your workout entitled you with.
In terms of sodium intake, the World Health Organization recommends less than 2 grams (2,000mg) of sodium per day for adults (individuals 16 years of age or older).¹ The recommended intake of sodium for adults should be adjusted downward based on the energy requirements of children relative to those of adults. In terms of salt, a gram (1,000mg) of salt is equal to 0.4 grams (400mg) of sodium; or inversely, a gram of sodium is equal to 2.5 grams (2,500mg) of salt.²
I shared this information not to deter anyone from eating from fast foods, but instead to eat wisely especially if you’re concerned about your caloric intake. This nutritional guide may help you from starving yourself if fast food is your only convenient choice. To the untrained eye, you can’t really tell how much calories a food has just by looking at it, and nutrition guides like these help us make a smarter decision. I salute McDonald’s Philippines for bringing this initiative to the country, and I dare other fast food chain to follow suit.
References:
¹ Guideline: Sodium intake for adults and children
² Salt: the facts
* * *
runningpinoy 
I don’t think I want to eat McDonald’s anymore… Nah…I still will. Haha! What’s interesting also is that a cheeseburger contains lesser calories than a McChicken sandwich! Cheeseburger it is!!! 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
LikeLike
Most, if not all, cafes and restaurants in the U.S. have a separate “menu” listing all the nutrition facts of the food and beverage they serve. Kudos to McDonald’s Philippines for doing this. I think all other food joints should follow suit 🙂 thanks for sharing!
LikeLike
It’s better if there’s also an info regarding Protein.
LikeLike
There is on the leaflet which you can get at stores 🙂
LikeLike
Woah! Thanks for sharing this. I love McChicken Burger. I will still eat this but maybe I’ll just limit myself. Wish I could.
LikeLike
About the big breakfast w/o muffin – It comes with rice
LikeLike
McNuggets is too yummy to resist so I always try to run for a longer time the following day after eating McDo in exchange of this guilty pleasure.
LikeLike
Mcmuffin paradox.. probably not a typo.. It may have something to do with the way they computed the caloric value.. they did it by weight maybe?.. anyway, there is a minimal difference so its not that significant.
The sodium is surprising.. i didn’t expect the pancakes to carry over 1000mg of sodium. Where did all that salt come from??
LikeLike
@ Boneless Bangus
2 pcs hotcakes with butter and syrup 410 mg sodium.
2 pcs hotcakes with butter and syrup, and sausage 1,080 mg sodium.
I think we can conclude that the sausage contributed to the high sodium content since 2 pcs pancakes merely contain 410 mg of sodium. Nothing surprising here.
LikeLike
Wow,Sodium is way to high,No wonder Hypertension is widespread in this country, why can’t Jolibee do the same? Are they afraid that they might lose customers?
LikeLike
Having a list like this commissioned for your products is a bit expensive, and they’re not required by any law in the Philippines to do such.
LikeLike
is there a protein content on their hamburgers?
LikeLike
Yes it has, but it’s outside the scope of this post. Get a copy of the leaflet from McDonald’s for the complete listing.
LikeLike
THANKS FOR SHARING THE NUTRITIONAL FACTS ABOUT THE MCDONALDS PRODUCTS AND SO HAPPY TO KNOW THE SODIUM CONTENTS OF THE PRODUCTS!!
LikeLike
You’re welcome 🙂
LikeLike
An outstanding share! I’ve just forwarded this onto a colleague who had been conducting a little research on this. And he in fact ordered me dinner simply because I stumbled upon it for him… lol. So allow me to reword this…. Thank YOU for the meal!! But yeah, thanx for spending time to discuss this subject here on your web site.
LikeLike
You’re welcome! (Was it a Big Mac? :D)
LikeLike
Be careful of the Chicken McDo meal… based on MyFitness Pal, the caloric value they give is for the chicken part only, without rice. So adding rice puts the total to almost 500cals? 😦
LikeLike
320 kcal for my fave nuggets hmmm….
LikeLike
For the Big Breakfast with Muffin / without Muffin thing, rice kasi yung kasama nung without muffin, fried rice pa at that so talagang mas mataas ang calories nun.
LikeLike
Its better to eat at macdonalds 1 month 1-3 times only not everyday or else ahaha
LikeLike
I won’t have problems with this coz I seldom eat out. It’s like once or twice a month. If ever, I only have halo-halo most of the time. It won’t have salt and MSG in it. Does Mcdo have halo-halo?
LikeLike
McDonald’s Philippines does not serve any native food, but it’s only here that they serve Spaghetti 🙂
LikeLike
please also put the sodium content into perspective. how much of it does our body need or not need. thanks
LikeLike
Updated, thank you for the suggestion! 🙂
If you want to be thorough, you may read my reference (WHO): http://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/guidelines/sodium_intake_printversion.pdf
LikeLike
Hot Fudge! 🙂
LikeLike
Is there info on the longganisa breakfast meal? Thanks!
LikeLike
It should be there in the flyer from McDonald’s, just grab a copy from the nearest branch
LikeLike
What about one platter of McSpaghetti?
LikeLike
The ketchcup, sugar and cream packets have approx 60 calories per packet.
LikeLike