What Is The Nutritional Values Of McDonald's Fruit Smoothies?

McDonalds offers consumers a choice of fruit smoothies and people, especially women, are enjoying them thinking they’re healthier than a soda or other sugary drinks. With a choice of banana, wild berry fruit or a strawberry banana combination, these smoothies are loaded with calories and off the chart sugar readings.

A small banana smoothie from McDonalds has 210 calories. The large smoothie has 330 calories with 70 grams of sugar. Smoothies may be one treat consumers need to be careful with.

McDonalds says that their smoothies are made with real fruit, and in fact, they are. However, the high sugar content comes from the natural sugars already present in the natural fruit in combination with additional sugars added by McDonalds.

The bottom line is that McDonald’s fruit smoothies are loaded in sugar, and sugar equals calories. The large banana smoothie has more calories in it than a McDonald’s cheeseburger, so for this reason it is not a good idea to have a fruit smoothie with your quarter-pounder meal.

Fruit smoothies on their own do not have enough nutritional value, such as protein, to be used as a meal. However, they are not the worst thing on the menu. A McDonalds strawberry shake has 570 calories, of which 17 grams of that are fat.

The ultimate culprit is McDonald’s 32 oz triple thick chocolate shake. This shake consists of 1,160 calories and 27 grams of fat, as well as 168 grams of sugar. For the sake of comparison, this one shake is the equivalent of eating 13 McDonlad’s baked hot apple pies.

McDonalds does have a website where consumers can check out the nutritional food value of all their meals. It is at nurtirion.mcdonalds.com.

Ingredients (Allergen statement in ALL CAPS.)  Wild Berry Fruit Blend  Strawberry puree, water, sugar, blackberry puree, blueberry puree,  concentrated pineapple juice, concentrated apple juice, contains less  than 1% of the following: Cellulose powder, xanthan gum, colored with  fruit and vegetable juice, natural (botanical source) and artificial  flavors, pectin, citric acid. *Dispensed from equipment that also  dispenses milk ingredients (yogurt) If these ingredients from McDonald's website are correct, and by law they should be, then McDonald's deserves a little more respect for this offering than they are getting on this board. I have never been an advocate for McDonald's -- quite the contrary.  As it stands, this is probably the healthiest thing that McDonald's serves besides water.  The fact that there is no corn syrup in here is huge! There is a vast difference between sugar and corn syrup in their effects on your body and the latter is probably the single most important cause of obesity in the U.S.  Corn syrup and High Fructose Corn Syrup are cheap sweeteners used in almost every processed food in America.  It is more addictive than sugar and leads to not only obesity, but high blood pressure, and increased levels of triglycerides in the blood.  Our rise from a 15% obese population in 1970 to 33% today coincides with the introduction of corn syrup in the American diet starting in the 1970's and it's wide adoption today.So, it's still not as healthy as eating whole foods but it's not a bad alternative compared to any other fast food offering I've seen.

The McDonalds website says this:

Ingredients (Allergen statement in ALL CAPS.) 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. *Dispensed from equipment that also dispenses milk ingredients (yogurt)

Ingredients (Allergen statement in ALL CAPS.) Wild Berry Fruit Blend Strawberry puree, water, sugar, blackberry puree, blueberry puree, concentrated pineapple juice, concentrated apple juice, contains less than 1% of the following: Cellulose powder, xanthan gum, colored with fruit and vegetable juice, natural (botanical source) and artificial flavors, pectin, citric acid. *Dispensed from equipment that also dispenses milk ingredients (yogurt)

Tons of clueless or purposeful disinformation here.

"Healthy" food from McDonald's is just *less unhealthy* than their typical faire.

42 g of added sugar.  Recommended daily allowance: 50.  Lights out.

Calling this healthy food is like saying I stuck myself with a knife which is healthier than shooting myself with a gun.

The key to health is balanced, natural, when possible raw, *unprocessed* food, consumed in MODERATION.

All this being said, in their own way, at least McD's seems to be making an effort, and that's SOMETHING, as long as they don't market it as "healthy." 

If you listen very, very carefully to their commercials, they never call their smoothies "natural" or "healthy."  "100%... FUN!"  is what they say.  Trying to fool people?  Perhaps... 

Caveat emptor!

I work at McDonalds and the fruit smoothies do not add sugar (additional sugar is not added at all and I do know the ingredients, I have access to the label).

I don't care what a website claims, the smoothies are not bad for you at all. Calorie-wise, if you want a healthier option, get the smoothie without yogurt. It's seriously the yogurt which adds the calories.

Our smoothies are really healthy for you. If you want to see more calories, look up the calorie & sugars for the parfaits. It's yogurt & granola there that get you.

I for one. Love the new Smoothies. I travel a lot for work, and when I'm on the road I have to be extra conscious of what I eat. Before I go to a restaurant I check calories of most restaurants - here's a great tool from McDonald's. You can choose your items and they give you your total nutritional count for everything! It certainly helps decide what to, or what NOT to have. Fries aren't worth it, but I have no guilt on a Smoothie as a meal replacement, or my beloved Southwest Salad (using less than half of the dressing).   www1.mcdonalds.com
You should always question content of any establishment- the only food you can completely trust is what you prepare at home.

McDonald's Real Fruit Smoothie Nutrition Facts
Milk, sugar, maltodextrin, vegetable gums, mineral salt, sugar, thickener, gelatine, emulsifier, maltodextrin, flavours, salt, vegetable gum, mineral salt, food acid, colour, apple juice, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, flavour, vegetable gums, food acid
Serving: 1 serve

Ride the blood sugar roller coaster and watch the fat pile up.   Fruit roll ups are made from real fruit and they are not healthy either...

You all make me laugh. Everyone has an opinion and will fight about anything! Even McDonald's fruit smoothie...I just wanted to know the ingredients.

Here is an official list of smoothies and their calories:Mc Cafe Smoothies
Strawberry
Banana
Smoothie (Large)
22 fl oz
cup
(541 g)
330
Strawberry
Banana
Smoothie
(Medium)
16 fl oz
cup
(428 g)
260
Strawberry
Banana
Smoothie (Small)
12 fl oz
cup
(347 g)
210
Wild Berry
Smoothie (Large)
22 fl oz
cup
(544 g)
320
Wild Berry
Smoothie
(Medium)
16 fl oz
cup
(434 g)
260
Wild Berry
Smoothie (Small)
12 fl oz
cup
(348 g)
210

There are 378 calories and 4 grams of fat in Mcdonalds Real Fruit Smoothie

I'm going to have to try one of their smoothies.   The only thing I ever get from McDonalds is a diet coke because even their "healthy" items never have quite agreed with my body either because of the high fructose corn syrup that might be in the food or the nasty oil they use that gives me acne.  But I did look at the ingredients for the smoothie, and although it contains added sugar, at least it's not that nasty high fructose corn syrup or corn syrup.  And some of the sugar in the smooth comes from the fruit sugar which adds to the number of grams of sugar anyhow.  Overall, the ingredients seem halfway decent despite some of the added sugar, but at 320 calories for a large sized berry smoothie, it would make a great breakfast substitute and I don't think the added sugar will ruin you as long as you aren't consuming large amounts of it every day.  As much as I have never been a big fan of McDonalds mainly because their food just still seems like cheap crap to me that just begs for GI issues over the next day or two after consuming, I'll have to give their smoothie a try.

Ugh. This saddens me. We are so blinded by artificial ingredients we actually are defending mcdonalds. A billion dollar industry. A company that employs more scientists and psychologists than any of us would be able to wrap our heads around. If your going to defend mcdonalds that's okay. But to say that they are at all healthy is to say that most lawyers aren't sharks. It really just doesn't make sense logically. In fact, have you seen your smoothie being made? There are no fruit on the premises. They actually put a cup in a blender type machine and it makes a blending sounds as smoothie is poured out. Perfectly made and straight from the smoothie faucet.

Go to jamba. Watching your weight that bad?? Take out the sherbert ask for bananas, mangos or orange juice. But please do not defend mcdonalds health campaign. They are the worlds greatest fast food chain and only god could break them but they are in no way shape or form ever looking out for us. They just know how to market to the average human...

The supposedly added sugar is actually from the yogurt. Yes, fruit smoothies have yogurt in them incase you guys didn't know...Going to mcdonalds sparingly will not kill you. A cheeseburger is what...300 calories? Maybe a cheeseburger, small fries(230 cals, 7% sodium), and a small fruit smoothie(230 cals?) or water. That's 530-760cals for a lunch. Lay off the angus quarter pounder, large fries, and 20 piece nuggets...and eat once a month or so. Stop running around hating on McDonalds, ALL OF THE NUTRITION FACTS ARE GIVEN and you can choose what you want or don't want to eat. As long as you eat sparingly, it's not the end of the world. 760 cals for a lunch once in a while is fine, especially if you eat small breakfasts

There is an exceptional difference between the sugar that is in fruit and pure sugar from sugar cane. Your body uses the sugar from fruit as energy, but the sugar made from sugar cane, essentially, is empty calories. These smoothies can be healthy for you.

Thanks Guest. Kc1234 doesn't understand that fruit contains sugars that are healthy for you. And, of course, the more fruit you eat the more calories and sugar you intake. Just like any other food

Okay, think about this. I just went to McDonald's and got a fruit smoothie instead of a Big Mac and fries for lunch. The difference in fat and calories is huge. I applaud McDonald's for making healthier options available and I am glad that they have made this new option available. I hope they sell millions and keep it on the menu. They should be praised when they do something like this, thanks to this new option McDonald's smoothies and salads are part of my diet and I am both loosing weight and my blood pressure is down. Exercise, moderation and McDonald's can all be part of a healthy lifestyle. Another point is for working people like me, we need a quick, convenient healthy options. I don't always have time to go to a salad bar at Whole Foods during the day. These smoothies keep me from many other less nutritious alternatives as well as keeping my budget and schedule on track.

Tons of clueless or purposeful disinformation here.    "Healthy" food from McDonald's is just *less unhealthy* than their typical faire.    42 g of added sugar.  Recommended daily allowance: 50.  Lights out.    Calling this healthy food is like saying I stuck myself with a knife which is healthier than shooting myself with a gun.    The key to health is balanced, natural, when possible raw, *unprocessed* food, consumed in MODERATION.    All this being said, in their own way, at least McD's seems to be making an effort, and that's SOMETHING, as long as they don't market it as "healthy."     If you listen very, very carefully to their commercials, they never call their smoothies "natural" or "healthy."  "100%... FUN!"  is what they say.  Trying to fool people?  Perhaps...     This is sooooo true I can't believe all these people living off of mcdonalds in the U.S. Why can't they take care of themselves? Only go to mcdonalds in some parts of europe if you have any true intelligence

I just ordered one, and they are great! I also checked the McDonalds nutritional link on thier site...I ordered the small...I am on weight watchers so a small is only 4 points...way better than anything else I can get for breakfast there with the exception of yogurt. These are low cal, low fat and decent fiber. For other ww members, the small is 4 pts, medium is 5 and large is 6.
Thanks!

It is peoples ignorance in food that has created this worldwide obesity epidemic.  If more people thought to even look at the ingredients in items BEFORE putting them into their mouth, we would safe ourselves lots and lots of calories per day.  I work for a bariatric surgeon and I am amazed everyday by our patient's diets.  We have patients that will eat cheetos for dinner and think that they are doing good for themselves.  Education is the key here.  You CAN'T believe the hype that fast food restaurants or the food industry, in general provide.  They are trying to get you to buy there product, duh!!!!

These smoothies have only slightly more sugar and calories than an equal volume of most popular sodas.  There is some added sugar, but I'm sure most of the sugar is from the fruit, so that's a plus.  Also, there are some nutrients, a couple grams of protein etc.  It is also probably more filling than a soda.  So, while I wouldn't call this healthy, I'd say it's only moderately unhealthy.  If you're drinking a 12oz or 16oz smoothie instead of a soda, that's a slight improvement.  If you want to be healthy, make your own smoothie with both fruit and VEGETABLES, some protein and no added sugar.

I must admit I love the new smoothies but at $3.07 (med) a day sometimes twice a day I have decided to buy a blender and make my own with natural Ingredients so there is no guessing as to what is in what!!! I do save money buy doing the smoothies but I guess I can save more by making my own.

FYI. There is a difference between who makes the McDonald's fruit smoothie depending on which side of the Atlantic you reside. U.S. McDonald's fruit smoothies are not made by Innocent Drinks, whereas U.K. McDonald's has (or had) a contract with Innocent Drinks. I believe Calorielab nutritional data is based on a U.S. McDonald's fruit smoothie. Consequently, the conclusions will be different. I, personally, am suspicious of anything that is promoted or said to be healthy when it comes from a U.S. McDonalds.

So man ignorant people on Here. Added sugar and natural fruit sugar are two different things. Added sugar=bad. Fruit sugar=good. You can pretty much be assured that if it's at mcdonalds it's not healthy for you. Go check your local herbalife and get a truly good and all natural healthy smoothie.

The terrible thing about McDonald's is that they market their salads, parfaits, and now smoothies as being 'healthy' and made with real fruit. Just because it's made with real fruit, people think that it's a perfectly healthy choice, which isn't exactly true. Just like the fruit juices marketed towards kids at the grocery store, all of the added sugar, high frutose corn syrup, and perservatives make these so-called 'natural' and 'good for you' beverages about as bad as a Big Mac. It's sad that they are praying on ignorance and I hope that people stay away from places like McDonald's all together. If you're in a rush for breakfast or lunch, try bringing fresh fruits and vegetables to work instead of playing victim to the fast food industry.

It contains about 53 mg in a Mcdonalds fruit smoothie.

I read that they are made from Innocent drinks which don't add any sugar to their smoothies.  That doesnt mean McDonalds didnt but its possible these are just fruit sugars and not cane.

Actually, I checked into this too.  McDonalds smoothies are, in fact, made by innocent drinks, and independent company that has contracted with McDonalds.  Quoting from innocent's website, their smoothies contain:
No added sugar
no concentrates
no sweeteners
no preservatives
no added anything

I'm not sure, but I ordered one and they taste great, I like the wild berry!(I don't like banana's)

Sorry but there is not 4 tablespoons of sugar per medium fruit smoothie. I can see 4 grams, but not 40.

The McDonald's fruit smoothie is NOT that good for you despite the prior response. According to calorielab website, the total calorie count for 1 serving of a fruit smoothie is 278 calories and 42 g of sugar (yes for one serving that is a lot of damn sugar). So depending on the size someone orders, they could be reaching in upwards of 800 calories and 120 g of sugar. I think it is absurd to believe that just because there is fruit in something makes it healthy. So depending on the person's current eating habits, the fruit smoothie will ruin any chances of maintaining a healthy diet. In short, the fruit smoothie is not nutritious based on sugar content.

I've had two small berry fruit smoothies and really liked them.  After reading these posts I am starting to worry about consuming fruit.  Fruit juice without added sugar has a lot of sugar, and nutritionists warn about drinking more than a cup a day.  Fruit puree has a lot of sugar, but I don't know if it is any more nutritional than juice?  We are told to eat more fruit, which I realize has more fiber, but does it has the same amount of sugar?  How much sugar is in blackberries and blueberries?  Does pureeing fruit encourage us to consume more than we should?  I like eating applesauce and dried fruit, but I now worry I'm consuming too much sugar.  Is eating fruit going to make me fat?

A small has 210

26

278

A small has 250 calories

Natural sugar turns into carbs which turns into fat.

McDonalds fruit smoothie have 1 point.

There are about 90g of suger .

42 GRAMS OF ADDED SUGAR!! In addition to the natural fruit sugar. Why are they adding sugar to fruit?? This is a nightmare for a diabetic, pre-diabetic,   hypoglycemic person or person trying to lose weight. And the sad thing is that its marketed to be "healthy".

Not much at all. McDonalds may say it has healthy, fresh fruit, but it is just about as bad for you as the rest of mcDonalds

There's nothing nutritional about anything from McDonald's. There's tons of sugar and artificial ingredients. I've been to McDonnell's about four times but most of the time it was because it was the only thing to eat. And it wasn't me that picked out to eat at McDonald's.

Well, they may not be completely nutritious, but they are delicious.  I ordered a small wild berry (210 calories) and it was more than enough!  I for one will be ordering this again!

Their smoothies taste great, and it's a nice alternative to candy and pastries when you have a craving for something sweet.

Blaming McDonald's for obesity is like blaming boat manufacters for shark attacks. Use a little common sense.

I cannot believe people actually bash and judge this. I am not a fan of fast food because it's fattening, but what do you expect? I am sick of people saying, "Oh they need to worry about our children becoming obese!", yadda yadda!

First of all, if you do not want your children to be fat, simply do not take them to McDonald's every single day and teach them that not all food is healthy. Second of all, if you're an adult and cannot make choices and take responsibility to check the nutrient facts before you eat, then you're just a child yourself.

Yeah fast food can be fattening, yeah some of their healthier choices aren't always the best, but if you're going to complain, who is going to care? You're the one who ate it. If you want something healthy, buy your own salads, fruits, veggies, meat, etc. If you want something healthier, then go to a health food store, not a fast food chain.

I am sick of people complaining.. If you cannot take responsibility for what you eat, then you probably deserve to be fat. If you know it's not always healthy and do not want to eat it, simply do not go to a McDonald's.

I took the time to put together a list of food from several fast food restaurants that are least in calories, saturated fat, sugar, etc etc and I choose those to eat on rare occasions. And 99% of the time, it won't kill you to have one Big Mac or one McFluffy every few months or so. Everyone is soo sensitive about health but then complain about fast food.. Make your own healthy choices then! You open up a restaurant and give everyone 100% real fruit for $2.29, or a hamburger for $1.

For people who keep advocating McDonald's foods I continually ask myself why.  First of all, I will agree that the fruit smoothie's are healthIER than most other things on their menu.  However, the integrity of all of their "food" is abysmal.  I am tired of the false claims McDonald's is constantly making, and am sad to see the adverse effects they have had on peoples' health.  While it is true individuals are ultimately responsible to make smart decisions about what they eat, it pains me to see uneducated (in terms of dieting) people continually support McDonalds.  Everyone, please do your body a favor and stop supporting this chain that is exploiting your health for its own profit.  For people who "don't have time" to cook, there are other options besides typical fast food that are just as fast.  Go to a supermarket and buy a sandwich, or get a burrito from some whole in the wall place, etc.  There are quick, easily accessable, and equally affordable food options out there if you are willing to find them!

That is very wrong a lot of people love McDonald's and then they turn a sweet tasting refreshing  drink into a calory mosnster bc its full of sugar I think McDonald's should be alittle more healthier not for only kids for evyn McDonld's love there is out there and that invole babies or toddles or evern senor citizens so management of McDonald's please do America a favor just think about it and its a good way to boost up your money a lot of people will love it and if they don't take it down not saying you have to do this just saying you shoulde try it and who will know maybe you will do McDonald's a huge favor like I said before just think about it please I ask you just think about it..
  P.s. Please think   love shai

I think all the negative comments are very foolish of those who have spoken them. Why is it that everyone picks on Mcdonalds? Is it because they are the #1 fast growing fast food chain in the WORLD. Why are people always so jealous over others fortunes? Is it because you will never have one because you are to busy   trying to knock everyone else down. I am so tired of people picking on Mcdonalds. Truth be known the ones who do criticize are the ones sitting on the sofa doing nothing else with their time while eating a bag of doritos. Why can't it be food sources like that   that are picked on. Its just like you going to the grocery store, you are in control of what you pick off the shelf. It is no different than when you are eating at Burger King or Wendys. What is the deal people. Mcdonalds has a lot of healthy choices, its that you CHOOSE not to order them. So get a life people and go examine your own cabinets and fridges before you criticize everyone else.That is the same as judging and you are not the Judge.