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McDonald's to roll out oatmeal in January

Bret Thorn, Senior Food Editor

December 3, 2010

1 Min Read
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Bret Thorn

McDonald’s Corp. said it plans to roll out an oatmeal item to its more than 14,000 restaurants on Jan. 3.

Fruit & Maple Oatmeal, which has been in test since earlier this year, will be available all day long, with or without brown sugar, for $1.99. The item contains 290 calories with sugar and 260 calories without it.

The giant quick-service chain said its oatmeal contains half a cup of fruit — red and green apples, dried cranberries, and golden and regular raisins — as well as five grams of dietary fiber and two-thirds of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s recommended daily allowance of whole grain.

McDonald’s joins a small but growing number of chains that serve oatmeal for breakfast, including Starbucks, Caribou Coffee, Jamba Juice and Prêt à Manger.

Oatmeal has proven to be a popular item at Starbucks since the Seattle-based coffee chain began offering it in 2008.

Cindy Goody, senior director of nutrition for McDonald’s USA, said the Oak Brook, Ill.-based chain would be assessing consumer feedback following the launch to determine whether the line might be extended or other items might be developed.

Goody said she worked with other members of McD’s product development team to help ensure a desirable nutritional profile for the product, with a focus on portion control and appropriate levels of fruit, whole grain and dietary fiber.

The details of McDonald’s oatmeal launch were announced at a media event in New York City, at which the chain highlighted healthful lifestyles by making health, beauty and fashion experts available for interviews.

Laura Posada, author of “Fit Home Team,” Jeannie Mai, host of the Style Network’s “How Do I Look,” and style and fashion expert Bevy Smith all attended the event.

Contact Bret Thorn at bthorn@nrn.com.

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About the Author

Bret Thorn

Senior Food Editor, Nation's Restaurant News

Senior Food & Beverage Editor

Bret Thorn is senior food & beverage editor of Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality.

Hi is responsible for spotting and reporting on F&B trends across the country for both publications. 

He is the co-host of a podcast, Menu Talk with Pat and Bret, which features interviews with chefs, food & beverage authorities, and other experts in foodservice operations.

From 2005 to 2008 he also wrote the Kitchen Dish column for The New York Sun, covering restaurant openings and chefs’ career moves in New York City.

He joined Nation’s Restaurant News in 1999 after spending about five years in Thailand, where he wrote articles about business, banking and finance as well as restaurant reviews and food columns for Manager magazine and Asia Times newspaper. He joined Restaurant Hospitality’s staff in 2016 while retaining his position at NRN. 

A magna cum laude graduate of Tufts University in Medford, Mass., with a bachelor’s degree in history, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Thorn also studied traditional French cooking at Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine in Paris. He spent his junior year of college in China, studying Chinese language, history and culture for a semester each at Nanjing University and Beijing University. While in Beijing, he also worked for ABC News during the protests and ultimate crackdown in and around Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Thorn’s monthly column in Nation’s Restaurant News won the 2006 Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award for best staff-written editorial or opinion column.

He served as president of the International Foodservice Editorial Council, or IFEC, in 2005.

Thorn wrote the entry on comfort food in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, 2nd edition, published in 2012. He also wrote a history of plated desserts for the Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets, published in 2015.

He was inducted into the Disciples d’Escoffier in 2014.

A Colorado native originally from Denver, Thorn lives in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Bret Thorn’s areas of expertise include food and beverage trends in restaurants, French cuisine, the cuisines of Asia in general and Thailand in particular, restaurant operations and service trends. 

Bret Thorn’s Experience: 

Nation’s Restaurant News, food & beverage editor, 1999-Present
New York Sun, columnist, 2005-2008 
Asia Times, sub editor, 1995-1997
Manager magazine, senior editor and restaurant critic, 1992-1997
ABC News, runner, May-July, 1989

Education:
Tufts University, BA in history, 1990
Peking University, studied Chinese language, spring, 1989
Nanjing University, studied Chinese language and culture, fall, 1988 
Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine, Cértificat Elémentaire, 1986

Email: bret.thorn@informa.com

Social Media:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bret-thorn-468b663/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bret.thorn.52
Twitter: @foodwriterdiary
Instagram: @foodwriterdiary

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