The McTruth About McDonalds

We all know that obesity is a (*ahem*)growing problem in the western civilized world, and it is easy to blame a number of factors on this serious health crisis. Not enough time to fix healthy meals, long work hours and even longer commutes, and who can even think about exercise? In recent years, print and film media have come out with a couple of shocking documentaries about fast food that may make you want to slow down and take a little bit better care of yourself, however! "Super Size Me" and "Fast Food Nation" both take aim at corporate behemoths like McDonald's that pump out french fries and other greasy fare faster than you can say McWaistline. To make matters worse, the prices are so low (consider for example, McDonald's Dollar Menu), that just about anyone can buy their way to artery-clogging heaven.
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Is there truth behind the claims of FFN and SSM? Or were they simply based on the hype of similarly greedy individuals hoping to rake in their own big bucks at the expense of corporate America? I had to find out for several reasons. McDonald's was my first job, back in the 1980s. Yes, I got to wear the chocolate brown polyester uniform that warmed in a suspicious manner every time I got too close to the fryer. Now that I think about it, I don't recall fire extinguisher training there... On a positive note, I was very proud of my name tag and the three areas for "medals" (bronze, silver and gold), for cooking, cleaning and cashier service. Plus, as a bonus, we got free meals at every shift. Pies not included.

When I started my family, the very first corporate logo that my son recognized was - you guessed it - McDonald's. And it wasn't even because we took him there for Happy Meals. I'll be honest, Starbucks was a close second, but I'm guessing that in a dark corporate backroom somewhere are two middle managers (one in green/black and one in red/yellow) arm wrestling for the "build to suit" rights for the last vacant lot kitty corner from the gas station on Main Street USA. But I digress...

If we are going to eat this convenient food, or Heaven Forbid, feed it to our children, shouldn't we know the truth about it? O.K. then, let's proceed. But I am going to warn you... only read on if you think you can stomach it.

Why is mcdonalds so bad for you

McDonalds is full of salt and sugar which isn't healthy for the human body. As it has so much bad stuff in it, overnight it builds up in your body, causing you to put on weight. That's why you should not have it every day. 

By exercising you can get rid of that built up weight like: Running, Jogging, Swimming, Cycling, Jumping, Gym, etc. 

I always thought of McDonald's as junk food and terribly unhealthy.  But for fun, I looked up the nutritional information of the French fries, which I always associate with McDonald's, and have found that it really isn't that bad!  There is fiber, protein, and most of the fat that is found in it isn't even saturated.  

A recent study at McGill University in Montreal, Canada proved that gremlin, a hunger-inducing hormone in our gut, enhances the image of junk food's yummiest. The stimulant is naturally activated when hungry, causing quarter pounders and greasy pizza to look overwhelmingly tasty and unavoidable, as if we're junkies looking at crack.

Coverage of this study at science fiction blog io9 was assigned the following headline: Fast Food Joints Add Hormone to Food That Makes You Want to Eat More. Despite this insinuation of food tampering, the McGill study never said that. Or aimed to prove that.

Along with the headline, the entry created a scandalous tone by noting, "since ghrelin isn't regulated, a fast food restaurant that wanted to sell more food could easily turn it into an additive in their hamburgers or donuts, essentially 'addicting' people to their food.." But as far as we know, Ronald McDonald hasn't done that. Most commenter’s responded with "aha!" remarks. As if, all this time, we've been duped into eating fries laced with a crack-like drug. See, it's not my fault I wolfed down that entire extra-value meal, readers must have been thinking.

Instead, the study proves that when we're hungry, we're vulnerable. Just like Mama always said: don't go to the grocery store when famished. You'll buy tons of crap you don't need. The same goes for any fast food joint. Mr. Ghrelin the Cunning Hormone will jump out and talk you into that double-bacon cheeseburger you don't really want. He's the sneaky one here, not necessarily the fast food lords.

While doing the research for my blog post today, concerning nutrition, I found McDonalds nutrition as a trending keyword. At first I had to laugh, like there’s any real nutritional value in most of the food served by the fast food chain. My laughter quickly turned to “holy sh**” mode when I noticed the list of trending keywords also included Wendys nutrition, Arbys nutrition and others.

The first question that popped into my mind is “What would possess people to conduct a search for nutritional facts concerning ANY fast food nutrition whether it be McDonalds nutrition or the like?”

Here are a few scenarios to consider…

The Parent Factor: Could it be that the reason so many people are going to Google and typing in the keyword McDonalds nutrition is to prove to their children that fast food is really bad for them? Perhaps…

The Curiosity Factor: Could it be that some people just get a random thought that tells them to go do a Google search for McDonalds nutrition because they have absolutely nothing better to search for? Maybe…

The Competition Factor: Could it be that other fast food chains are Googling McDonalds nutrition in an attempt to prove to the public that their fast food is somehow better than Mcdonalds fast food? A likely scenario…

McRib Is it Real Pork?

The McRib sandwich from McDonald’s is a strange product of the food science world: fake “ribs” molded out of mystery pork and drowning in sauce. First McDonald’s created the “Boneless Pig Farmers Association of America” spoof. Now, the fast food chain is running a campaign to get customers to submit a video with a “legendary” creation story of the McRib sandwich. The winner will receive $10,000 dollars and a trip to Germany. The fact that McDonald’s is making fun of the nebulous origins of its food is borderline offensive to anyone who would like there to be some transparency in our food chain.

Well, OK, McDonald’s, we’ll tell you where the McRib comes from: an enormous factory farm. A giant shed with a floor covered in feces, where tens of thousands of pigs will be born without ever having enough space to turn around in and most will never see daylight. Let’s remember that, unlike a chicken, a pig has fairly advanced mental capacities, much like your pet dog. Because these pigs live in such tight quarters, they tend to develop bizarre behaviors due to stress. The animals, taken away from their mothers shortly after birth, nibble on each other’s tails because they are not allowed to wean. The pig having its tail nibbled is too apathetic to fight or object, but the chewed tails are likely to be infected. The solution? All the pigs get their tails cut off at birth. I’ll spare you a description of a slaughter. A typical slaughterhouse kills up to 1,100 pigs per hour, according to PETA.

Let’s consider the meat itself. Is it really meat from the rib? No. “Primar­ily, it’s shoulder meat,” explains Rob Cannell, director of McDonald’s U.S. supply chain in a 2009 interview. “The McRib is made in large processing plants—lots of stainless steel, a number of production lines, and these long cryogenic freezers. The pork meat is chopped up, then seasoned, then formed into that shape that looks like a rib back. Then we flash-freeze it. The whole process from fresh pork to frozen McRib takes about 45 minutes.”

Translation: mechanically separated meat. Remember the pink goo chicken nuggets are made from? It’s the piggy version. Just check out the two photos of the grayish meat inside the “rib patty” snapped by the team at foodfacts.info. The texture looks like something that’s been chewed up and spit out.

I’ll conclude this story of origins with a few nutritional facts, which of course you can find via McDonald’s website, although they bury it in a downloadable PDF. A single McRib sandwich contains 490 calories, 220 calories from fat. The sauce contains high fructose corn syrup. In addition to pork, the “McRib patty” also contains salt, dextrose, citric acid, butylated hydroxyanisole, and TBHQ, which in high doses is a carcinogen.

Before!!!! Was, bits and pieces of a pig

After!!!  Now it is, The Famous McRib, Yum...Yum...Tasty

McChicken, Real or Not Real "Chicken"

Say hello to mechanically separated chicken. It’s what all fast-food chicken is made – things like chicken nuggets and patties. Also, the processed frozen chicken in the stores is made from it.

Basically, the entire chicken is smashed and pressed through a sieve — bones, eyes, guts, and all. it comes out looking like this.

There’s more: because it’s crawling with bacteria, it will be washed with ammonia, soaked in it, actually. Then, because it tastes gross, it will be reflavored artificially. Then, because it is weirdly pink, it will be dyed with artificial color.

But, hey, at least it tastes good, right?

Origins:   Mechanically separated meat (MSM) and mechanically separated poultry (MSP) are terms used to refer to products created by mechanization which allows meat processors to recover edible meat tissue from the carcasses of animals. Prior to themid-20th century, a good deal of meat scraps and tissue from food animals such as cows, pigs, chickens, and turkeys went to waste because

processors had no efficient means of separating it from the bones after the rest of the meat had been removed from carcasses. This recovery process was largely done manually (when it was undertaken at all) until the development of machines in the 1960s that automated the process, making it faster, cheaper, and higher-yielding.

Mechanically separated meat is a paste-like or batter-like meat product created by forcing unstripped bones under high pressure through a type of sieve to separate edible meat tissue (including tendons and muscle fiber) from the bones. Contrary to what is claimed above, the process does not involve the grinding up of entire animal carcasses (“bones, eyes, guts, and all”) into one large, amorphous glob of meat; it is a technique for removing what is left on the bones of a carcass after all other processing has been completed. (Also, although meat packing plants typically use anhydrous ammonia for refrigeration purposes, with ammonia leakages having on occasion caused contamination issues at such plants, and sometimes introduce additional ammonium hydroxide into meat as an antibacterial agent, poultry processors do not routinely “soak” MSP in ammonia.)

MSM is typically used in cheaper meat products (such as hot dogs, chicken nuggets, and frozen dinners) which need not retain the appearance, shape, or texture of “regular” meat. In order to satisfy consumer preferences, food producers may utilize additives in MSM-derived products in order to alter their color, taste, or texture. (Although McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets are typically offered as an example of a popular MSP-based food, since 2003 that product has been made with all white meat rather than MSP.)

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), mechanically separated poultry is safe to eat and may be used without restriction, however in commercial food products it must be labeled as such:

Mechanically separated poultry (MSP) is a paste-like and batter-like poultry product produced by forcing bones, with attached edible tissue, through a sieve or similar device under high pressure to separate bone from the edible tissue. Mechanically separated poultry has been used in poultry products since the late 1960′s. In 1995, a final rule on mechanically separated poultry said it was safe and could be used without restrictions. However, it must be labeled as “mechanically separated chicken or turkey” in the product’s ingredients statement. The final rule became effectiveNovember 4,1996. Hot dogs can contain any amount of mechanically separated chicken or turkey.

However, due to concerns over the spread of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (commonly known as “mad cow disease”), the sale of MSM-derived beef products for human consumption in the U.S. was banned in 2004:

In 1982, a final rule published by FSIS (the Food Safety and Inspection Service) on mechanically separated meat said it was safe and established a standard of identity for the food product. Some restrictions were made on how much can be used and the type of products in which it can be used. These restrictions were based on concerns for limited intake of certain components in MSM, like calcium.

Due to FSIS regulations enacted in 2004 to protect consumers against Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, mechanically separated beef is considered inedible and is prohibited for use as human food. It is not permitted in hot dogs or any other processed product.

Mechanically separated pork is permitted and must be labeled as “mechanically separated pork” in the ingredients statement. Hot dogs can contain no more than 20% mechanically separated pork.

Bush Gardens, Tampa Florida, 2012

For Christmas my family and I received a 1 year pass. This was my wife's first trip to Bush Gardens. She loved it.  My wife Tatiana and my son Adam also rode there first Roller Coaster. the Chita Hunt.  Good Times. But they will never rife another. It was too fast and scary. But for me. I can ride over and over again. The Bush Gardens zoo was also very nice. they had many animals.