McDonald’s is putting ‘badges’ next to certain menu items: What do they mean?

(NEXSTAR) – McDonald’s is adding visual “badges” to 17 of its menu items in an effort to “make the ordering experience clearer and simpler” for customers who might be looking to hit their macros at Mickey D’s, the company announced this week.

The badges, which McDonald’s also refers to as “callouts,” are meant to designate items that the fast food chain has deemed to be protein-forward, according to the company. The markings currently appear next to nearly a dozen items in the app or on the online menu, in yellow text bubbles near the images.

“From longtime classics like the Egg McMuffin® (17g protein) to fan favorites like the 10-piece Chicken McNuggets® (23g protein), the ‘badges’ are designed to make the ordering experience clearer and simpler for those looking for protein,” reads a post published to the official McDonald’s Corporate website earlier this week.

Customers use touchscreen kiosk ordering systems inside a McDonald’s in Miami Beach, Florida. The company’s new protein “badges” will appear next to items (on McDonald’s ordering kiosks or in the McDonald’s app) that McDonald’s has designated as being more protein-forward. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

McDonald’s also touted that there are 30 items on its menu with at least 15 grams of protein, despite designating only 17 items as “badge”-worthy. Confusingly, some of the items featuring the badges appear to have less protein than some of the items without the badges.

For instance, the McDouble (22 grams of protein) featured the badge as of Friday morning, but the Daily Double (22 grams), Big Mac (25 grams) or Quarter Pounder (30 grams) did not. The Sausage Burrito (13 grams) and the Egg McMuffin (17 grams) also had the badge, but the Sausage McMuffin (14 grams) and the Bacon, Egg and Cheese Biscuit (17 grams) did not.

When asked, a McDonald’s representative did not say how the company determined which items would be worthy of a protein “callout.”

It’s unclear if McDonald’s is planning to add more “badges” to its menu in the coming weeks.

As of Friday morning, they distinctive yellow text bubbles appeared next to at least 11 items on the McDonald’s online menu: the Egg McMuffin (17 grams), Sausage Burrito (13 grams), McDouble (22 grams), Cheeseburger (15 grams), Filet-o-Fish (16 grams), 3-piece McCrispy Strips (30 grams), 6-piece Chicken McNuggets (14 grams), 10-piece Chicken McNuggets (23 grams), Ranch Snack Wrap (17 grams), Spicy Snack Wrap (17 grams), and 4-piece McNuggets Happy Meal (19 grams).

The somewhat confusing “badges” aside, McDonald’s is far from the first major restaurant chain to highlight their protein-packed menu items in recent months.

Blaze Pizza, Chipotle, Dunkin’, El Pollo Loco, Jack in the Box, Shake Shack, Smoothie King and Subway are just some of the restaurants that recently introduced high-protein items or menus designed to capitalize on protein-forward diet trends.

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