Review: McDonald's Smoothie

We were in a huge hurry yesterday evening. We had to attend an orientation for the gifted and talented program at Grayson's school at 5:30, then football practice began at 6:00. We were already going to be late, so I made the decision to run by McDonald's and grab one of their new smoothies so Grayson could have a substantial snack before practice (I worked until 5:00, so no time to grab anything from home either). Beyond my better judgement, I did this without checking the Web site for nutritional information first.

I did check it out after we go home, and I was pleasantly surprised. Here are the ingredients to the Strawberry Banana variety that Grayson had.

Strawberry Banana Fruit Blend Strawberry Banana Fruit Blend: Strawberry puree, banana puree, water, sugar, concentrated apple juice, contains less than 1% of the following: cellulose powder, natural (botanical source) and artificial flavors, xanthan gum, citric acid, colored with fruit and vegetable juice, pectin, ascorbic acid (preservative).

Low Fat Yogurt Cultured Grade A reduced fat milk, sugar, whey protein concentrate, fructose, corn starch, kosher gelatin. Contains active yogurt cultures.

Ice Sure, there are some things that can be improved upon (less sugar, no artifical flavors, etc.), but I have to give credit that they used fruit and veggie juices for coloring and real fruit purees. I believe it takes small steps like these to get our society where it should be regarding nutrition, and this is the right path. We won't make this a habit though. I can still make smoothies much healthier and cheaper at home!