McDonald’s has unveiled a new eye-catching packaging design, which is fun and educational at the same time. The restaurant chain is changing the look of its carry-out bags and fountain beverage cups, which now fearure QR codes that provide access to nutrition information. The fast-food giant launches the new design in the U.S. this week and is going to roll it out globally through 2013, “with the text being translated into 18 different languages,” says the company in the press note.

“Our new packaging is designed to engage with customers in relevant ways and celebrate our brand. Customers tell us they want to know more about the food they are eating and we want to make that as easy as possible by putting this information right at their fingertips,” commented Kevin Newell, McDonald’s Chief Brand Officer.

Photo: McDonald’s new global packaging designs featuring QR codes (click to enlarge)

McDonald’s wanted the new designs to deliver important nutrition facts to the consumers in the most engaging way, with a modern twist. For this purpose, the new bags and cups feature a mix of text, illustrations and a QR code.

The company has been providing nutritional information about its food for over 30 years, and the new initiative is a new step in providing consumers with such facts in the direct way, right from the packaging. The chain has been using bags and cups to inform its customers about nutrition facts for 7 years, since the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino 2006.

This move will be the next major packaging update since 2008, when the brand introduced emotional package design by the UK agency Boxer. See the retrospective of McDonald’s brand messaging through the packaging here.

Photo: McDonald’s new global packaging designs featuring QR codes (click to enlarge)

In Australia, McDonald’s invites its fans to track their burger to get the full picture behind it. As part of its “Macca’s” campaign, the brand has released the “TrackMyMacca’s” iPhone app, which lets you to learn more information about the background of the ingredients in the actual food you’ve just bought. Watch the video below to see how it works.