Oatmeal Is the New Cheeseburger

Published on Monday, August 29, 2011, by Joyce Slaton / Edit Post

After axing its "creepy king mascot," Burger King became the latest major fast-food chain to add oatmeal to its menu this week, a trend spurred by consumer demand for healthier choices. (And probably the fact that the profit margin on oats must be pretty damn high.) But a closer look at fast-food oatmeal raises the question: At what point does added sugar negate the healthiness of oats? Here's a breakdown of how the different companies stack up.

Burger King Fruit Topped Maple Flavor Quaker Oatmeal
Calories: 270
Sugar: 29 grams (about 2 1/2 tablespoons)
Weird ingredient: Burger King has not yet published the ingredient list for its oatmeal, according to a call to customer service, so God only knows.
Corporate bloviating: "At a time when so many families are looking for better-for-you meal offerings on-the-go, Quaker's partnership with Burger King Corp. provides a flavorful, whole grain choice when eating outside the home."

Starbucks Perfect Oatmeal with Brown Sugar, Fruit, and Nut Medley
Calories: 390
Sugar: 33 grams (about 2 1/2 tablespoons)
Weird ingredient: Niacinamide, a B-vitamin additive.
Corporate bloviating: "Start the day off right with our warm and hearty Perfect Oatmeal – 100% whole grain goodness made-to-order with your choice of brown sugar, dried fruit and nuts."

Jamba Juice Berry Cherry Pecan Steel-Cut Oatmeal
Calories: 340
Sugar: 28 grams (more than 2 tablespoons)
Weird ingredient: Jamba Juice is cagey about revealing its ingredients, preferring only to state if products contain potential allergens like tree nuts or soy. Odd.
Corporate bloviating: "Start your day off right with organic steel-cut oats slow cooked with soymilk and topped with your choice of toppings. It's a hot bowl of morning motivation."

Chick-fil-A Multigrain Oatmeal with Toppings
Calories: 280
Sugar: 21 grams (almost 2 tablespoons)
Weird ingredient: Malic acid, which lends a tart taste, like citric acid.
Corporate bloviating: "Warm & wholesome, our multigrain, steel-cut oatmeal is first slow-cooked in kettles the old-fashioned way."

McDonald's Fruit & Maple Oatmeal
Calories: 290
Sugar: 32 grams (about 2 1/2 tablespoons)
Weird ingredient: Mostly found in the cream that McD's dumps on top. One example: sodium phosphate. Little-known fact: If you search on Google for "sodium phosphate," the first link you will get is from NIH, and it says, "Sodium phosphate is used to completely empty the colon ... before a colonoscopy." Yep.
Corporate bloviating: "See what happens when wholesome meets delicious – your taste buds will sing!"

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POST A COMMENT |27 Comments

COMMENT

  • I can't imagine getting oatmeal at a restaurant. It's always the blandest oatmeal ever. Make it at home (it's so easy, you can do it in the mw)and add so many things that make it more flavorful from cherries and raisins to ???. If you have a microwave, stove, or hotplate, you can make oatmeal.
    When I go to a restaurant for breakfast it's because I want a big gutbomb that I don't want to bother...+READ

    I can't imagine getting oatmeal at a restaurant. It's always the blandest oatmeal ever. Make it at home (it's so easy, you can do it in the mw)and add so many things that make it more flavorful from cherries and raisins to ???. If you have a microwave, stove, or hotplate, you can make oatmeal.
    When I go to a restaurant for breakfast it's because I want a big gutbomb that I don't want to bother making at home- like chicken-fried steak and eggs, or menudo and huevos rancheros, or dim sum, or chilaquiles and eggs (I know, eggs figure heavily, but hey, it's breakfast). Oatmeal is one of the things we have at home, it's so much better and you can control the quality of the oatmeal by purchasing-COLLAPSE

  • Next time somebody tells me in person that _____ is the new _____, I'm going to slap them silly for being the way they are.

    Sixty is the new forty
    Maroon is the new black
    Buzzcuts are the new shag
    cupcakes are the new Twinkie (oh go on, get a style all your own)
    Women are the new man
    Give me a damn break here

  • This is a bit misleading, since it includes the sugar from the optional toppings. Most of the menues include brown sugar, usually a tablespoon, which you can choose to add or not. The rest of the sugars generally come from the dried fruit toppings, also optional. Therefore the oatmeal breakfast can be as healthy or unhealthy as you choose to make it, depending on how much sugar you add.
    To imply...+READ

    This is a bit misleading, since it includes the sugar from the optional toppings. Most of the menues include brown sugar, usually a tablespoon, which you can choose to add or not. The rest of the sugars generally come from the dried fruit toppings, also optional. Therefore the oatmeal breakfast can be as healthy or unhealthy as you choose to make it, depending on how much sugar you add.
    To imply that these menu items are high in sugar is rather like saying that black coffee is high in sugar, because they hand you a couple of sugar packets when you buy it.-COLLAPSE

  • The blood glucose effects of oatmeal really don't differ much from a large Snickers bar or bowl of jelly beans. http://www.trackyourplaque.com/blog/2010/03/oatmeal-good-or-bad.html

  • I have never understood how anyone thinks going to a restaurant for breakfast is faster than making it at home! After you stand in or drive through the line, you've used up far more time than even cooking something like eggs would take. Plus you have to get dressed, drive, and face people before coffee-UGH! If nothing else, make a batch of healthy muffins and freeze them (I use whole grains and...+READ

    I have never understood how anyone thinks going to a restaurant for breakfast is faster than making it at home! After you stand in or drive through the line, you've used up far more time than even cooking something like eggs would take. Plus you have to get dressed, drive, and face people before coffee-UGH! If nothing else, make a batch of healthy muffins and freeze them (I use whole grains and add nuts, fruit, and extra powdered milk), and make a pot of coffee the night before, making sure the keep-warm feature is off. Instant, cheap, tasty breakfast that you can eat in the car if necessary.-COLLAPSE

  • Niacinamide is not a weird ingredient, unless you find fortified foods weird.

  • I think the author of this article picked the highest-calorie oatmeal on the Jamba Juice menu (or one of them at least)just to make them look bad. In fact, when I was on a road trip a few weeks ago, Jamba Juice's oatmeal was the best "fast-food" breakfast I could find. The Starbucks oatmeal (no brown sugar, thank you very much) was a decent alternative.

  • In case anyone else is wondering, given the calories/grams of sugar counts above & 4 calories to a gram of sugar, the McDonald's version is the sweetest with 44% of its calories coming from sugar and Chick-fil-A's is the least sweet with only 30% of the calories from sugar. (Starbucks & Jamba Juice are at 34% and 33% respectively & Burger King is up there with McDonald's at 43%). To add a little...+READ

    In case anyone else is wondering, given the calories/grams of sugar counts above & 4 calories to a gram of sugar, the McDonald's version is the sweetest with 44% of its calories coming from sugar and Chick-fil-A's is the least sweet with only 30% of the calories from sugar. (Starbucks & Jamba Juice are at 34% and 33% respectively & Burger King is up there with McDonald's at 43%). To add a little perspective, Cheerioes get 4% of their calories from sugar while Fruity Pebbles are tied with McDonald's oatmeal with getting 44% of their calories from sugar.-COLLAPSE

  • Fast food oatmeal might be perceived as the absolute nadir of a sedentary existence but I've noticed that the "fresh" fastish food chains around London have added porridge to their menus. If you work in the city and a commuter in a hurry I suppose it's a nice way to kick off your hellacious day in the concrete canyon. But even here you can make Quaker oatmeal (Oat So Simple) in the microwave and...+READ

    Fast food oatmeal might be perceived as the absolute nadir of a sedentary existence but I've noticed that the "fresh" fastish food chains around London have added porridge to their menus. If you work in the city and a commuter in a hurry I suppose it's a nice way to kick off your hellacious day in the concrete canyon. But even here you can make Quaker oatmeal (Oat So Simple) in the microwave and it's passable.-COLLAPSE

  • I'd like to add several points to the aforementioned criticisms:

    i.) Portion sizes - where are they? McDs' has 290 calories and Starbucks' has 390, but how much food am I getting from each? We need some context.

    ii.) Although I think the author went out of the way to slam these food retailers, I do think that there's a valid point in there somewhere, which is this: American fast-food...+READ

    I'd like to add several points to the aforementioned criticisms:

    i.) Portion sizes - where are they? McDs' has 290 calories and Starbucks' has 390, but how much food am I getting from each? We need some context.

    ii.) Although I think the author went out of the way to slam these food retailers, I do think that there's a valid point in there somewhere, which is this: American fast-food retailers will sell health food only as long as it's palatable to the average American, which, generally, means that it will have to be dressed in sugar or fat. It's health food only as long as you don't ask questions. (I'd like to point out, also, that we've tacitly agreed that the american fast-food retailer has some burden of feeding the public health food, which is a bit paradoxical to me, since none of these companies have ever claimed to be in the market of health food.)-COLLAPSE

  • What a poorly written article. While I'm in agreement that there is way too much sugar in many prepared foods I don't think that is the case with most of the offerings stated in the article. Isn't the sugar optional in most if not all of these places? It would appear that the author wanted to slam these places no matter what and that's exactly what she did. I couldn't find a single positive thing...+READ

    What a poorly written article. While I'm in agreement that there is way too much sugar in many prepared foods I don't think that is the case with most of the offerings stated in the article. Isn't the sugar optional in most if not all of these places? It would appear that the author wanted to slam these places no matter what and that's exactly what she did. I couldn't find a single positive thing written about the addition of oatmeal to these restaurants' menus. Assuming you don't add the sugar there's nothing wrong nutritionally with any of these oatmeals. Personally I always avoid the added sugar and prefer Splenda. Yes, I do "risk it" seeing as how there is no evidence that eating a little, (or even a lot) will harm you as much as eating sugar will.-COLLAPSE

  • The added stuff only negates the "healthy" meal if the purchased oatmeal is worse than what one usually has for breakfast. Comparing fast food oatmeal to what one can make at home is missing the point (by a mile). The fast food oatmeal isn't replacing the homemade, it's an option to replace the other fast food breakfast offerings.

  • SO MUCH SUGAR! I put 1 tbsp of brown sugar in my bowl of oatmeal, and that's 12g of sugar. And i bet they're all the quick cooking mushy kind instead of the nice chewy whole oats. bleh.

  • DMR5713 - I love you. For years I've been eating oatmeal with a little salt, and for years my parents have thought I was crazy. I'm not crazy I've been tapping into part of my ethnic heritage! YAY!

  • I can haz oatmeal?

  • I think its great that there is oatmeal available at fast food outlets. When I travel it is so easy to hit an McD's and get an oatmeal for breakfast. When I order it, I specify, no cream and no sugar.I just get it w/the fruit on it. I eat oatmeal every morning when I'm at home (plain w/banana) and I finally have a chance to get something healthy on the road. Everyone is bashing the fast food...+READ

    I think its great that there is oatmeal available at fast food outlets. When I travel it is so easy to hit an McD's and get an oatmeal for breakfast. When I order it, I specify, no cream and no sugar.I just get it w/the fruit on it. I eat oatmeal every morning when I'm at home (plain w/banana) and I finally have a chance to get something healthy on the road. Everyone is bashing the fast food places for this but at least there is an option to get something that's healthy with a bit of modification when you order it.-COLLAPSE

  • I have to voice objection to the overall tone of this piece, and it's neglect in pointing out several things:
    1. Many of these places offer the oatmeal plain, and you can add toppings/sugars as you see fit. Jamba Juice's oatmeal isn't instant, and is pretty tasty. Remember also, that real fruit adds sugar to the nutritional value, but it isn't the same as adding refined sugar (e.g. one ounce of...+READ

    I have to voice objection to the overall tone of this piece, and it's neglect in pointing out several things:
    1. Many of these places offer the oatmeal plain, and you can add toppings/sugars as you see fit. Jamba Juice's oatmeal isn't instant, and is pretty tasty. Remember also, that real fruit adds sugar to the nutritional value, but it isn't the same as adding refined sugar (e.g. one ounce of raisins adds ~18g sugar, 1/2 cup of pitted raw cherries adds ~10g sugar).

    2. Weird ingredients? Niacin? Since when is B vitamin a "weird ingredient"? Virtually every cereal and enriched wheat product includes B vitamins. RE: sodium phosphate: The content in cream is negligible, and is certainly not on the order of what you ingest as a colonoscopy prep. This is information meant purely to be inflammatory on the part of the article's author, and is pretty outrageous.

    3.-COLLAPSE

  • There is no point in advertising these cookies as healthy with the addition of oatmeal, if they are steeped in sugar and fat. I think the customer has a right to know exactly how many calories they contain.

  • What's with the sweet oatmeal? OK, so I'm in a minority (in this country, apparently a very small minority), but I grew up (NYC area, eastern European Jewish background) eating hot cereal with salt (to taste) and butter, never sweet, and optionally with a little milk poured on top (which I never do anymore).

  • The sweetness of these would gag me. Buy Quaker Original instant oatmeal. It's unsweetened. Add water. Nuke. Take in travel cup with whatever you desire in it. Keep a pack in your locker/cubicle/office. The water dispenser's never far away.

  • blithery, no i know what country i'm talking about. it just never ceases to amaze me how lazy people are.

  • The jamba juice one is pretty delicious though. The starbucks one is a little too instant for my taste, but the Jamba juice one is quite hearty. And honestly I've only had these because I ran out the door with nothing, and that is better than getting the horrible egg sandwich at the hospital.

  • jlambert, I think you forgot what country you're talking about.

  • Why on Earth would you waste your money on oatmeal from a fast food joint? If you want quick and semi-healthy, the instant oatmeal packets take less time to prepare than you'll spend waiting in line for them to nuke your order in-store. Or, you can spend a little extra time making a big batch of the actual rolled oats, add all the healthy ingredients and as little sugar as you want. Then you just...+READ

    Why on Earth would you waste your money on oatmeal from a fast food joint? If you want quick and semi-healthy, the instant oatmeal packets take less time to prepare than you'll spend waiting in line for them to nuke your order in-store. Or, you can spend a little extra time making a big batch of the actual rolled oats, add all the healthy ingredients and as little sugar as you want. Then you just pop it in the fridge and warm it up throughout the week. Sheesh, just save yourself some time and money.-COLLAPSE

  • I agree about the Starbucks oatmeal - I don't think anyone really uses the whole packet of brown sugar. I love that it has fruit and especially nuts, which add protein and healthy fats to keep me feeling better and full longer. I really like that I can add only what I want - for taste and calorie reasons. I don't think I'd eat the oatmeal from the other "Fast food" places.

  • remember that McD's is only allowed to sell its oatmeal as fruit&maple in some states, due to the COMPLETE LACK OF MAPLE. ick.

  • I've only had the oatmeal from Starbucks, so I can't say whether or not this is true about all the brands mentioned, but the sugar (and all the other toppings) comes in a packet, so you can add as much or as little as you like. Therefore, the 33 grams of sugar per serving is accurate only if you dump the entire packet into the cup. In my opinion, the oatmeal is perfect with the nuts, dried fruit,...+READ

    I've only had the oatmeal from Starbucks, so I can't say whether or not this is true about all the brands mentioned, but the sugar (and all the other toppings) comes in a packet, so you can add as much or as little as you like. Therefore, the 33 grams of sugar per serving is accurate only if you dump the entire packet into the cup. In my opinion, the oatmeal is perfect with the nuts, dried fruit, and the equivalent of about 1/4 teaspoon of sugar. Plus a few drops of milk and sprinkling of cinnamon, of course.-COLLAPSE