McDonald's Corp. said Monday it would increase efforts to educate consumers about the quality of its food ahead of a highly-anticipated book and movie that are expected to criticize the world's largest fast-food chain.
Chief Executive Jim Skinner also told reporters that McDonald's still had plenty of opportunities to keep driving sales momentum, three years after a robust turnaround of its iconic hamburger chain.
In addition to rolling out two new menu items a year in its flagship U.S. business, Skinner said McDonald's still had room to improve efficiency at its restaurants.
He also said the chain would staunchly defend its breakfast business, and expects sales during the morning hours to keep growing despite the promise of stepped-up competition from rivals like Starbucks Corp. and Wendy's International Inc.
"We can continue to grow breakfast," Skinner told reporters at the company's Oak Brook, Illinois, headquarters. "We are not going to sit by and allow someone to erode that day part because it's so important for us."
Analysts have credited consumer demand for breakfast items such as McGriddles sandwiches and a new, stronger blend of coffee with helping boost overall sales at McDonald's U.S. unit, particularly in recent months.
Later this year, McDonald's faces threats to its image from both a movie version of the 2001 Eric Schlosser book "Fast Food Nation" as well as a follow-up book by the same author aimed at teenagers.
Skinner said McDonald's is consistently targeted by critics because of its "ubiquity," adding that the chain would work harder to educate consumers about things like the quality of its food and the career opportunities it offers employees.
"I haven't read the book... but we are about telling the McDonald's story," Skinner said. "It's important for us to ramp this up now."
In recent years, McDonald's has countered critics of its business by offering healthier foods like salads and apple slices, promoting physical activity in its advertising to children, and improving benefits and wages for restaurant staff.
But the chain still faces criticism over a 2002 pledge it made to reduce artery-clogging trans fats in its French fries. The switch to a healthier cooking oil for its fries has not been made because McDonald's fears altering their taste, Skinner said.
He added that the chain was still committed to reducing trans fats in its fries, but could not say by when.
McDonald's shares were down 60 cents. or 1.7 percent, at $34.25 in early afternoon trading Monday on the New York Stock Exchange.