McDonald's launches yolk-free Egg McMuffin nationwide
Do you love English muffins and disc-shaped ham, but hate pre-cooked egg yolks? McDonald’s has some big news for you.
The fast food leader announced yesterday the launch of the “Egg White Delight,” a version of the popular Egg McMuffin breakfast sandwich made with egg whites, a whole grain English muffin, white cheddar cheese, and Canadian bacon. The Egg White Delight has 260 calories, compared to the original McMuffin’s 300.
Other egg white breakfast sandwiches already exist elsewhere on the fast food landscape (Dunkin Donuts has offered them in several sandwiches for years), but unlike its competitors, McDonald’s will grill its yolkless offerings, rather than microwaving them.
McDonald’s began testing the sandwich last year, and a national rollout is planned for April 22, according to the Daily Meal. The chain will also offer egg whites as an option for its other breakfast sandwiches, for an unspecified price.
The egg white embrace is just the latest in a series of moves McDonald’s has made to rebrand itself into a hipper, more health-conscious brand and distance itself from its competitors in the crowded burger chain market. If the old McDonald’s was chiefly about burgers and fries, from a marketing standpoint, the new McDonald’s is heavily focused on smoothies and apple dippers.
Last year, the Oak Brook, Ill.-based company took the preemptive step of posting calorie counts on its menus, ahead of a law that will require chains with 20 or more locations to do so nationwide (once the FDA works out the kinks). Over the past decade, a wide array of purportedly health conscious choices have been added to the McDonald’s lineup, including milk and apples in kids’ Happy Meals, smoothies, yogurt and granola parfaits, premium salads, and oatmeal. There’s also a new “Favorites Under 400” section on McDonald’s menus, which lists all offerings that clock in under 400 calories.
The Egg White Delight launch comes days after the company posted lackluster sales figures in February. The chain saw its in-store sales drop 1.5 percent last month, despite a big sales push for its fish items (hoping to lure Catholics avoiding meat for Lent, according to the Washington post), and emphasizing he successful “Dollar Menu.” McDonald’s also nixed some of its lower performing menu items last month, including the Fruit and Walnut Salad and Chicken Selects.
