The document discusses the history and growth of McDonald's. It describes how McDonald's pioneered a fast, low-cost food production system in the 1940s. Over time, McDonald's expanded globally and introduced new menu items like McNuggets and salads. However, this also contributed to increasing obesity rates. In response, McDonald's began providing nutritional information and adding healthier options. The document analyzes McDonald's menu items and shows how the company aims to meet daily nutritional needs through its offerings. McDonald's continues adapting to remain the top fast food brand worldwide.

1. McDonalds: Worlds Number One
Brand
National College of Ireland
Msc. Data Analytics
Data Visualization
Mansi Chowkkar X18134599

2. McDonalds: Nutrition and
Healthy Menu
The very first McDonald was started by
Richard and Maurice brothers in San
Bernardino, California in 1948. Ray
Krock was the salesman of McDonalds
and he invented a simple, quick and cost-
effective method that enabled McDonalds
brothers to produce massive quantities of
food at low price. That time, price of
simple hamburger was half of the price of
burgers served by competing restaurants.
Customers received their burgers quickly
at half price, wrapped and warmed. Krock
opened first McDonalds franchise in Des
Plaines, Illinois in 1955. Today
McDonalds has more than 35,000
franchises in 119 countries.
As McDonalds business kept on
growing, agricultural areas such as
chicken, ham and beef also started to
grow. McDonalds added fried chicken
and McNuggets in its menu list in 1983,
which made McDonalds as a second
biggest purchaser of chicken. in the
United States. To meet the demand for
meet, McDonalds developed its new
breed of chicken, named as
“Mr.McDonalds”. This particular bred
grown quickly and had a lot of breast
meat. Even competitors started to copy
McNuggets. It was the fastest growing
parameter for the poultry industry. In
response to that fast food industry has
started to introduce new healthier menu
like salad, low fat drinks, low fat milk and
fruits.
Innovation in advertising played an important
role in attracting young people on fast food.
McDonalds lucky man Ronald McDonald
introduced the “Happy Meal” in 1963. As the fast
food industry started to grow rapidly, obesity rate
in the world also increased. Fast food industry
responded to this increased obesity problem by
introducing healthier menu such as salads, low fat
milk, sugarless cold drinks and fruits.
McDonalds started to label calorie, sodium and
carbohydrate value on its packaging. McDonalds
also introduced salads and fruits to its menu
along with burgers and fries.
Most popular fast
food giant,
McDonalds started
printing nutritional
values on its burger
and fries
packaging.
"McDonald's is
committed to
nutrition and has
offered healthy
menu items for
many years.
However, we felt
we needed to go
beyond our menu,"
explains McDonald's
franchise owner
and operator Nellie
Thomas
Figure 1: McDonalds Happy and Healthy Menu

3. McDonalds: Number
one Brand
Statista 2018 data shows
that McDonalds is the
number one brand in the
world as compare to any
other fast food brand.
According to 2018 news
report McDonalds showed
29% of growth from last
year and Burger King
showed 28% growth from
last year. McDonalds is
topmost service provider in
breakfast menu. From last
few years many competitors
have challenged
McDonalds such as Taco
Bell, Starbucks.
McDonalds sustained in
competition by adding new
innovation in its menu and
marketing
Figure 2: McDonalds brand value in the world
McDonalds is a big brand and hence any change in its
menu impact all the food industry. For example, when
McDonalds shifted towards cage free eggs, more than 100
companies followed suit. In 2004 filmmaker Morgan
Spurlock released documentary which shown negative
effects of eating excessive amount of Mcdonalds. This
documentary shows that after eating McDonalds food
regularly for 30 days, person gained 24 lbs (10.9 kg) and a
body mass increased by 13%. This gave negative
publicity to McDonalds.
McDonalds reacted to this bad publicity and announced
to start printing nutrition values on food packaging
including fat, salt, calorie and carbohydrate content.
Consumer now easily read nutrient value of food and decide
for healthy meal choices. This change was a positive step
for better communication in customers. According to news
people were more health oriented in 2017 as compared to
all previous years.
Survey done in United states regarding eating pattern
showed that people are confused about healthy food. Which
food contain nutrition value, less sugar and less fats. People
get confuse due to many sources of information such as
internet, dieticians, gym trainers, nutritionist etc. This
problem invoked, printing of nutrition value on food
packaging.
McDonalds have got
an attitude of
commitment. They
always want to be
better. McDonalds
always listen to
customers need and
make them happy.
Over the past year,
McDonalds have moved
faster and introduced
new aspect of the
menu.

4. Today consumers are more concerned
about health and wealth. Adults are
more inclined towards healthy eating
and physical exercise. Healthy eating
includes more proteins in diet and less
carbohydrates and cholesterol.
Statista data for 2015 and 2016
shows the main factors with greatest
influence for food packaging. Expiration
date is the main factor which need to be
observe before buying any packaged
food. Nutrition facts are second most
important fact which majority people
want to know before buying any
packaged food as shown in graph. From
the graph we can see calorie and other
nutrition information fact importance
has increased from 2015 to 2016.
McDonalds food packaging
incorporated all these customer demand
and included nutrition value such as
calorie, fats, sugar and salt. To see the
impact of food labelling with nutrient
value there have been carried out 600
case studies. There were around 2
million observations showing purchase
in 11 countries. According to report in
American Journal of Preventive
Medicine, food labeling have effect on
consumer choices. There is a reduction
in calorie intake by 6.6%, fat intake by
10.6 and other unhealthy choices by
13%. When food companies started to
print food labeling on products it has
been observed that total trans fats in
food item have reduced by 64% and
sodium reduced by 8%. Bottomline is
food labels shift behavior of industry
and consumer towards healthy dietary
food.
Figure 3: Greatest influenced factors about food packaging
Majority
consumers
influenced by
nutrition value
of food
packaging while
purchasing
food.
McDonalds
started to print
nutrient value
on food
packages.

5. Nutrition value of McDonalds
Menu
The McDonalds have recently
announced plan to make kids meal and
other meals more nutritious. Happy meal
now won’t have more than 600 calories
as promised by Mcdonalds. Happy meal
and kids meal will have less
salt(sodium), sugar and fat content. They
have reduced amount of sugar in
chocolate milk. They have changed
happy meal, now 6 piece of chicken
McNuggets will come with smaller size
of fries. Cheeseburger is included in
happy meal only with special request.
Change in Happy Meal is not
happening for the first time in
McDonalds. In 2011 apple slices added
in menu as a side item. In 2014
McDonalds stopped offering soda from
kids menu as it contain no nutrition value
and added sugar.
The graph in the figure 4 shows nutrient
value for most common McDonalds
menu item. Only chocolate milk without
low fat milk contains more than 600
calories that is 700 calories. Rest all
food menu contain less than 600
calories. We can see that most famous
Big Mac contains 530 calorie, Filet-o-
fish contain 390 calories, McChicken
contains 360 calories and Chicken
McNuggets (6 piece) contains 280
calories. Hence, we can say that
McChicken burger and chicken
McNuggets are more healthy option
from menu. As McDonalds promised,
sugar content from all menu is reduced.
Only chocolate milk and Big Mac
contains more sugar contents.
Carbohydrate contents of Big Mac,
chicken nuggets, filet-o-fish and French
fries is comparatively less. We can see
that coffee contains no added sugar,
carbohydrates and calories. Low fat
milk and apple slices are also healthy
option to have in McDonalds instead of
any burger.
Figure 4: Nutrition value of a most Common McDonalds menu item

6. Figure 5: Calorie value of child menu
Now lets us look at the chart in figure 6,
Which shows total fats in child menu and total
fats required in a day. It also shows saturated
fats from menu item and required value of
saturated fats in a day. Total fats from
hamburger is less than daily requirement.
Similarly, saturated fats from hamburger is
much less than daily requirement of saturated
fats. From graph shown in figure 5, Calorie
content of hamburger is 280. 280 calorie ie
required for riding a bicycle for 45 minutes.
From both the graph we can see that coca-cola
contains 0 fats and 0 saturated fats whereas, it
contains 100 calories. Apple slices contains no
fats and no saturated fats with 15 calories.
Kids French fries and McNuggets also
contains very less amount of saturated fats
with required number of calories required for
daily physical activities.
Our body requires certain amount of nutrients
to sustain everyday process and activities.
Getting theses daily recommended nutrients in
right proportion is necessary for good health.
Carbohydrates, protein and fats provide
calories and have other metabolic functions.
Other components of food such as sodium,
fibers also play an important role in good
health.
Carbohydrates: Carbohydrates, sugar
eventually break down into glucose. Body needs
glucose for energy and other physical activities.
Primary energy source of glucose is
carbohydrates hence, most of the calories should
come from carbohydrates. For a 1800 calorie
diet, our body needs 202 to 293 carbohydrates
per day. All food has carbohydrates as a primary
nutrient except for eggs, seafood and meat.
Fats: Body requires fats for absorbing
vitamins A, D, E and K. Fats also serve as a
secondary source of energy to the body when
body runs out of glucose. From total calorie,
20 to 35% should come from fats. Fats offer 9
calories per gram. If we consider 1800 calorie
diet then our body should get 40 to 70 grams
of fats in a day. Skinless chicken, fish, beef
provide required amount of fats to the body
without adding too many calories.
Fiber: Fibers are required to body for bowel
health and regularity. It does not add any
calorie to body. It allow body to push out all
waste and helps in absorption of nutrients.
Daily 26 grams of fibers are ideal for our
body. We get fibers from vegetables, fruits and
beans.
Sodium: Salt should be very minimum in our
daily diet but, some amount of sodium is
needed to body for heart rhythm.
Figure 6: Fats and saturated fats value of child menu

7. Figure 7: Number of McDonalds outlets in the world
Sodium allows our body muscles to
contract and relax. Daily sodium intake
should not be more than 1500 grams.
Excess amount of salt holds water in the
body, which makes heart to pump
harder to get blood through the body.
This makes the heart weak and
increases risk for the cardiovascular
disease.
Proteins: In absence of carbohydrates
and fats proteins provide energy to the
body. Our body required 10 to 30% of
proteins which is around 45 to 157
grams.
Considering all these nutrient value
McDonalds announced that its happy
meal is going to be healthier.
Figure 8: Calorie value of all beverages
•How much
calories
required for
our body in
a day?
•How much
carbohydrat
es, proteins
and fats are
required to
meet the
daily calorie
requirement
(1800 to
2000 calorie
diet)

8. Sugar content of all soft drinks, coffee, tea, smoothie and
milkshakes reduced to achieve healthy target. Graph shown
in figure 8 explains calorie value of most common beverages
in McDonalds. Diet coke, coffee and iced tea contains no
calorie value. Chocolate shake, strawberry shake contains
more than 600 calorie value. Fat free chocolate milk and hot
chocolate milk shows considerably low value of calorie
which is a newly added menu item.
From 2011 McDonalds made its Happy Meal healthier by
reducing french fries’ size and including apple slice as a side
dish. Fat free chocolate milk is also added newly. We have
seen calorie value of fat free chocolate milk as 130 calorie
and its saturated fats as 1.5, with carbohydrate value as 12.
This shows that McDonalds have achieved its target of good
nutrient value. It also added more vegetables in burger and
added salad as a side menu.
Figure 9: Saturated fats from healthy food
Figure 10: Proteins from healthy food
Getting readily available healthy food made
McDonalds as a number one fast food giant in the
world. The company now has more local offerings
than ever before, such as Angus burgers in
Australia, Wraps in Europe and smoothies in the
US. Big Mac is McDonalds very demanding
burger. Considering this fact, they have started
double cheese burger, many wraps with crispy as
well as grilled chicken and bacon. Due to new
menu introduction, new lifestyle changes and
flexible opening hours, McDonalds have increased
number of restaurants in the world.
Graphs in figure 9 and 10 shows saturated fat value
and protein value from list of the healthy food
items from McDonalds. Side salad, apple slices,
coffee and diet coke show saturated fat value as 0.
Fruit and yogurt parfait, medium French fries and
fat free milk shows very less saturated fat.
Whereas, chicken McNuggets, McChicken burger
and premium bacon salad shows saturated fat value
as 3.
As we can see from the graph, chicken nuggets,
chicken burger and bacon salad contain good
amount of proteins. Fat free milk contains protein
value as 8 with 1.5 saturated value, which is a good
option from McDonalds menu. Fat free milk is
newly added item in the menu.
How to decide an appropriate food item:
As we know how much unit of proteins,
carbohydrates, sodium, fats and calorie required by
our body per day. From this information we can
compare menu and then decide which one to eat
with the combination of another item. Let’s
compare McDonalds very famous burger Big Mac
with Hamburger as shown in figure 11 and figure
12. Both the graphs compare all nutrient values for
Big Mac and Hamburger.

9. Big Mac contains calorie value as 530 and hamburger contains
calorie value as 240. As we know we must not exceed calorie
value of 1800, we must calculate calorie consumed in rest of the
day and go for one whichever is suitable. Now consider
cholesterol value, which is 85 for BigMac and 30 for
hamburger. Cholesterol are not good for health hence; we can
choose Big Mac over hamburger. As we know sodium value
should not exceed 1500 grams in a day. Sodium content in Big
Mac is 960, whereas sodium content in hamburger is 480.
Hamburger contains no trans fats and
moderate amount of proteins. Big Mac
consists of very small amount of trans fats and
slightly higher amount of proteins.
Considering all these facts we can make
hamburger as a healthy burger choice as
compare to Big Mac burger.
Figure 11: All nutrient values for Big Mac
All new strategies for nutritious food
and quick response to the customers
requirement made McDonalds as a
popular brand. Advertisement on TV,
internet, tickets, movie theater, FIFA
world cup etc made McDonalds as a
topmost brand.
As we know United states have major
population and it is a well-developed
country.
Its major population is inclined towards
fast food. In this new lifestyle era where
we don’t get time for cook, we always
try to find easy, ready, healthy and
affordable food. From figure 7, it is seen
that united states have worlds largest
McDonalds restaurants. Canada and
china are 2nd
and 3rd
topmost countries
with large number of McDonalds
outlets. This shows that McDonalds is a
world famous brand.
Figure 12: All nutrient values for Hamburger

10. Conclusion
The report explains all the journey of
McDonalds till its success. How McDonalds
established in market, how critics arises for
its food value and how McDonalds fought
for its brand value to overcome these
obstacles is explained in this report.
McDonalds move towards healthy menu,
attracted lot of new customers. New
innovations made McDonalds most valuable
and recognized number one brand in the
world. All of the factors reported here
enabling McDonalds to stay ahead in the
competition and continue to increase its
profit, number of franchises and revenue in
the world.
References
[1] Wilson, C. (2015) ‘The birth of fast food:
how McDonald’s and other fast-food chains changed
the way America eats--and lives’, New York Times
Upfront, p. 16. Available at:
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&
AuthType=ip,cookie,shib&db=edsgao&AN=edsgcl.
399571202&site=eds-live&scope=site (Accessed:
22 June 2019)
[2] www.qsrweb.com. (2018). McDonald's
remains 'golden' in brand value rankings. [online]
Available at:
https://www.qsrweb.com/news/mcdonalds-remains-
golden-in-brand-value-rankings/ [Accessed 23 Jun.
2019].
[3] https://www.statnews.com/2019/02/19/food-
menu-nutrition-labels-influence-behavior/ [Accessed
23 Jun. 2019].
[4] Scholastic News/Weekly Reader Edition
5/6 (2018) ‘Happy and Healthy? McDonald’s is
making changes to its kids’ meals’, p. 6. Available
at:
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&
AuthType=ip,cookie,shib&db=edsggo&AN=edsgcl.
538857367&site=eds-live&scope=site (Accessed:
23 June 2019).
[5] Healthyeating.sfgate.com. (2019). Daily
Amounts of Carbs, Fat, Fiber, Sodium & Protein.
[online] Available at:
https://healthyeating.sfgate.com/daily-amounts-
carbs-fat-fiber-sodium-protein-4230.html [Accessed
23 Jun. 2019].
[6] https://www.kaggle.com/mcdonalds/nutrition-
facts
[7] https://www.statista.com/statistics/273057/val
ue-of-the-most-valuable-fast-food-brands-worldwide/
[8] https://www.statista.com/statistics/245009/inf
ormation-on-food-and-beverage-packages-
consumers-look-at/
[9] ‘Marketline Case Study: McDonald’s
Corporation Case Study’ (2012) McDonalds Case
Study: Remaining Relevant in a Health-conscious
Society, pp. 1–20. Available at:
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&
AuthType=ip,cookie,shib&db=bth&AN=74247869&
site=eds-live&scope=site (Accessed: 23 June 2019).

11. Appendix
List of Figures:
FIGUR
E
DESCRIPTION VISUALIZATION
1 Healthy and Happy
McDonalds food
Source:
https://www.google.com/search?q
=McDonalds&source=lnms&tbm
=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwia8
7_uu4DjAhWUfMAKHSxpBZQ
Q_AUIESgC&biw=1280&bih=5
29#imgrc=FIfxR5TD-reKtM:
2
Brand Value of McDonalds
Donut chart is used to show the brand value
of McDonalds among all fast food giant using
Power BI tool. Dataset used is from Statista.
3
Greatest influenced values about
food packaging
Pie chart is used for showing peoples great
concern about healthy food from 2015 to 1016
using Data wrapper tool and Statista dataset.
4
Nutrition value of most common
McDonalds menu.
Nutrition value, calorie, carbohydrates and
sugar for common McDonalds menu is shown
using line graph from Power BI tool. Line
graph is used since it shows up and down of
values for better and quick understanding.
5
Calorie value of child menu Tree map is used to show calorie value of
child menu from McDonalds using excel
visualization tool. Tree map is used as it
shows different size rectangles in a compact
manner according to value.
6
Fats and saturated fats value
for child menu
Vertical bar map is used to show saturated fat
value and fat value, daily required fat value
from kids menu using excel visualizing tool.
Bar plot explains increments and decrements
properly to understand sudden change of
values.

12. 7
Number of McDonalds outlet
in the world
Location map is used for showing number of
McDonalds outlet in the world using Tableau
visualization tool. Location map shows exact
location on world map.
8
Calorie value of all beverages. Funnel map is used as it symbolizes the
area accurately with a solid rectangular
slice in descending order to show which
one contains high calorie and which one
contains low calorie value.
9
Saturated fat value from healthy
menu items
List of healthy items shows saturated fat
value using waterfall chart from Power BI
tool. This chart is used to show
considerable decrease in healthy food so
that one can easily conclude most healthy
food.
10
Protein value from healthy menu
items
List of healthy items shows protein value
using waterfall chart from Power BI tool.
This chart is used to show considerable
increase in healthy food so that one can
easily conclude most healthy food.
11
All nutrient values for Big Mac All the nutrient values are compared for
Big Mac using line chart so that it can be
compared easily with other food items for
a particular nutrient. Excel visualization
is used.
12
All nutrient values for Hamburger All the nutrient values are compared for
Hamburger using bar chart so that it can
be compared easily with other food items
for a particular nutrient. Excel
visualization is used.