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MCDONALD’S IS TRYING shed light on its often-criticised food sourcing and processing practices.
In the face of growing consumer demand for transparency, the Big Mac chain has launched social media campaigns in Canada and Australia to answer consumer-submitted questions such as, “Are McDonald’s eggs organic or free-range?” and “Does McDonald’s import beef from other countries?”
McDonald’s has also added a “Your Questions Answered” section to its US website addressing various customer concerns, including the rumored existence of “pink slime” in its meat and information about which egg dishes are cooked in the restaurant and which ones are pre-made and frozen.
Business Insider has selected some of the most commonly asked questions and provided summaries of the company’s responses.
“Our eggs are not organic, nor are they free-range; they are from caged hens,” McDonald’s Australia writes on its website.
Caged hens produce the cheapest eggs, which helps keeps McDonald’s prices low, the company says.
“Our goal is to provide customers with great quality food at great value,” the company’s answer reads.
The cost of organic or free range eggs would raise the price of our food to a point that our customers may not feel they are receiving the value they’ve come to expect from us.
In the US, however, McDonald’s buys a “small amount” of cage-free eggs “as part of a scientific research project McDonald’s is part of to better understand different hen housing systems”.
“In the US, there is no consensus or firm scientific research on whether one type of housing system is better than the other, which leads to a lot of confusion,” McDonald’s USA adds.
“McDonald’s frying oil contains a small amount of an additive called dimethlypolysiloxane, which helps prevent oil from foaming and spattering in our restaurants,” McDonald’s USA explains.
Dimethylpolysiloxane is also used in some non-food products, such as putty, caulks, and cosmetics.
For that reason, “there have been individuals who have erroneously claimed that these items are also in our food,” the company explains.
The company added that scientific names for ingredients can “sound scary” even if they are safe and approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.
“For example, the salt you use to de-ice a driveway is a variation of the salt you use in the kitchen, however they are both sodium chloride,” the company writes.
McDonald’s french fries are made from whole potatoes that are peeled, cut into french fries and then partially fried before they are packaged and shipped to the chain’s restaurants.
A video from McDonald’s Canada explains the process in more detail.
The video shows McDonald’s potatoes being harvested from farms and then sent to a processing plant, where they are washed, peeled and cut.
“Once the potatoes are cut, we push the strips to a blancher to remove the natural sugars from the strips,” Mario Dupuis, the production manager for McCain, a fries supplier for McDonald’s Canada, says in the video.
This will prevent some variation in our color once we re-cook the product.
“Following the blanching process we add a a dextrose solution to have that nice even coat that we see in the restaurants. We also add an ingredient to our strips to make sure that we prevent the graying of our product throughout the process.”
Next, moisture is removed from the strips before they are fried, frozen, and packaged for shipping.
Here are the ingredients in the fries, as listed on McDonald’s website: Potatoes, vegetable oil (canola oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil, natural beef flavor, citric acid), dextrose, sodium acid pyrophosphate (maintains color), salt. Once the fries arrive at the restaurants, they are prepared in vegetable oil (canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil and dimethylpolysiloxane.
Is McDonald’s cheese 1% away from being plastic?
“The major ingredient in our signature slices is natural cheese, so the plastic rumour is just a myth,” says Nicole Thornton, a McDonald’s crew member in Sydney, Australia, in a video.
(TJ Warning: graphic images of blended cheeses. Bleurgh)
Other main ingredients include milk solids, butter and emulsifiers, which are additives used to improve the color and texture of processed foods.
“If you are referring to the smoothness and flexibility of our cheese,” Thornton explains, “that is obtained by blending heated cheeses and other ingredients with emulsifiers and then dispensing it onto a smooth chilled surface, just like some of the processed cheeses you’ll find in the supermarket.”
The ingredients in McDonald’s cheddar cheese slices, as listed on the company’s website, are as follows: Milk, cream, water, cheese culture, sodium citrate, and 2% or less of salt, citric acid, sodium phosphate, sorbic acid (preservative), lactic acid, acetic acid, enzymes, sodium pyrophosphate, natural flavor, color added, and soy lecithin.
This is one of the most commonly asked questions about McDonald's food in Australia, according to Jonathon Pitt, a McDonald's franchise owner in Queensland.
"Absolutely, there is no pig fat in our soft serve — or in our shakes, for that matter," Pitt says in a video on how the frozen yogurt is made.
The only animal products in our soft serve are the dairy ingredients themselves.
That includes milk, cream and milk solids. Sugar is added for sweetness and emulsifiers are used to keep the mixture from separating.
"Vegetable gums are also used to give it a thick, smooth texture," Pitt says. "And finally, a little vanilla flavor is added."
McDonald's does not use whole chickens in its poultry products.
The company uses chicken thighs, breasts, tenders and skin for flavoring, according to McDonald's Canada.
Some of the eggs are cooked fresh, while others are pre-made.
The eggs used for the Egg McMuffin are all freshly cracked right onto the grill in McDonald's restaurants, according to the company.
The scrambled eggs and egg whites are also cooked in the restaurants, but they contain liquid eggs instead of freshly cracked eggs.
The folded eggs and the egg that comes in McDonald's sausage burrito are pre-made in factories, then flash frozen and sent to restaurants, where the dishes are warmed before being served.
"Flash freezing helps ensure the quality and flavor of our burgers when they are cooked in our restaurants," the company says.
Widespread claims that McDonald's uses "pink slime" in its meat are now untrue. The company says it removed the substance from its meat three years ago.
"Lean finely textured beef treated with ammonia, what some individuals call 'pink slime' or select lean beef trimmings, is not used in our burgers. Any recent reports that it is are false," McDonald's USA writes.
The so-called slime refers to lean beef trimmings — what’s left of the meat after all the choice cuts of beef are taken — that is treated with ammonium hydroxide, creating the pink hue. Ammonium hydroxide is used to kill off bacteria, such as E. coli.
The trimmings are banned from human consumption in the UK, but the US Department of Agriculture deems them safe for people to eat.
Stories about McDonald's hamburgers that last years before rotting are frequently cited as evidence that fast food is loaded with preservatives.
McDonald's USA offers another explanation.
"In the right environment, our burgers, fries and other menu items could decompose. The reason our food may appear not to decompose comes down to a matter of simple science. In order for decomposition to occur, you need certain conditions – specifically moisture.Without sufficient moisture – either in the food itself or the environment – bacteria and mold may not grow and therefore, decomposition is unlikely. So if food is or becomes dry enough, it is unlikely to grow mold or bacteria or decompose. Food prepared at home that is left to dehydrate could see similar results.Look closely, the burgers you are seeing are likely dried out and dehydrated, and by no means 'the same as the day they were purchased.'"
Dr. Keith Warriner, the program director at the University of Guelph's Department of Food Science and Quality Assurance gives a lengthier explanation that you can read here.
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Phew, always feel guilt.. Not a sociopath.. Nice 1
Isn’t guilt a feeling just like hate is.
How can hate be felt so?
I’m confused, I’m going out to find a puppy to scowl at.
I agree. she “hated” her dad, but cant “love”? I call shenanigans! :p
With a sociopath hate isn’t actually the same emotion as what we consider hate.
For a sociopath relationships are about what they can take from it. It’s like they’re extremely selfish. They’re good at feigning emotions, because they have watched and learned from others throughout their whole lives – but sometimes their approach will be a little off kilter because they lack the depth of understanding because they do not feel them properly – their brains do not function in the same way.
So for the author of the book, her hating her father could simply be that she didn’t enjoy the way he treated her – there isn’t enough in the article to say why. But she may term something quite minor as hate, the same way she would term something major – such as abuse in the same way.
There’s a difference between being a b*tch and a psychopath, I should know as I’ve had one in my life, they have to be the centre of attention at all cost even by telling wildly outlandish lies. They are also bullies and your only as useful to them as an audience and as someone to massage their egos! There is only one way to deal with them and that’s cut them out of your life altogether, it might be drastic but the more they are around the more damage they cause!
I had the unfortunate experience of having one for a boss, a real nasty piece of work, he really got a kick out of seeing people reduced to tears by his control & he really exerted his power over his subirdinate
Subordinates. Its not nice to see grown adults reduced to tears & in fear from these types of bullies, & nice as pie to his superiors who thought the sun shined out of his arse. The work environment was unbearable & toxic, what with his bullying & then the little lick arses running after him all the time. He tried to move in on me, I told him to go f*uck himself, of course that gave him the ammo he needed to wield his mighty authority over me which resulted in me being sacked, which was fine with me.
Ah, a sadist as well. Push him down a flight of stairs and see if he reacts emotionally (Question #4). If he does, he’s just a sadist. If he doesn’t, then he’s probably a sociopath.
….. And you should run.
The good ole Catholic guilt takes care of that
The people who made you feel guilty are sociopaths. :-)
Guilt. The most powerful emotion in this country just piping the joint seconds of low self worth and shame. Thanks Church and colonial regime.
9/10 ain’t bad
Think of a politician. Then read the questions again. You’ll be surprised.
Isn’t it true that a higher proportion of politicians and businessmen are sociopaths/psychopaths? Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as it means they can focus on the bigger picture rather than basing their policies on every sob story they hear.
Strange Killian but you might be right. I have worked for some ‘A’ types and I have to say they are very effective at their work. However their failings are often cataclysmic.
Absolutely, they can of course be very aggressive and manipulating but, forgive the cheesiness, they can work on the side of the angels.
Actually killian you’re both right and wrong. A very high percentage of directors and higher managerial staff are what would describe to be sociopaths or psychopaths. However they are not goo for company business as they are not pragmatic and able to see through the bull etc but are self serving and self driven. They aim to achieve their own personal goals and take undue risks with the business and staff relations.
Many American company’s have observed this and are attempting to weed out the existing sociopathic personality types amongst a their executive staff and more companies are employing psychologists in interviewing managerial staff not to weed out the weak but to identify and block the sociopaths.
A lot of former politicians and high stake businessmen/women who we know of being involved in crazy deals to further their own personal positions would display classic sociopathic traits including a complete lack of remorse or as we call it ‘a neck like a jockeys bollocks’
Very interesting ieoinu. My comments were just based on stuff I have heard but I don’t really know that much about it so I bow to your superior knowledge.
ieoinu. Your point is well made. And in general I agree. However it is not entirely correct that US companies are seeking to weed these people out. At least not all of them. Certain professions such as Law, Security, politics, are very much objective driven. Often an A type is ideal at least in the short term. In my experience they tend to be high achieving for at least 2 to 3 years before succumbing to the accumulation of their negative behaviour. But by that time they have served their purpose and are quietly ‘removed’. Still, I think its a bad business philosophy. Interesting all the same.
I agree, it very interesting as I think we can all identify someone that fits the criteria. Is it nature or nurture though? Are you born with a lack of empathy and self serving motivation or is it something you can acquire from gaining reward for surpassing your peers.
Ieoniu I think it might be a bit of both, a narcissistic parent, and life experiences from a very early age determine whether an individual is going to a psychopath, studies have shown that if you catch it early enough you may be able to change a child’s psychopathic behavior! The reason I say both is because some psychopaths are born into perfectly loving homes but still turn out this way and others learn from narcissistic or psychopathic parents themselves, there is usually a split in the parental relationship from a young age in the later example and some form of abuse, those kids also seem to be sexually active from a very early age and have ferocious tempers.
So thats 99.9% of Irish politicans then??
Sounds like the board of Anglo (I know, I am really sorry for bringing it up on this thread) but the taking huge risks that are self serving, no foresight, no compassion for the hardship inflicted upon others.. Following the release of the tapes it may be a safe presumption..
“criminally vindictive types whose only motivation is to take advantage of weaker people”
That accounts for 90% of the population.
Sounds more like our government.
Well, one thing sociopaths and psychopaths crave is power. Leadership roles are what they think they are here for, so it’s not unusual to have sociopaths run for office..
How good the population are at spotting them determines whether or not they get elected..
sounds just like my da, bloody knew something wasn’t right with him all these years
My ex through and through.freaked,eek!
what a bunch of silly questions
Im a sociopath. What next. Do I get a prize?
Jesus, I worked for a few of these freeks, wish I’d known and I’d have blown their fking heads off !
What about just asking “are you a sociopath”?
These are also ten questions which determine whether you are a teenager or not.
This is precisely why sociopathic personality disorder, antisocial behaviour disorder and psychopathy are not diagnosed until after 18, sometimes not until the 20s.
The only reason this would be ignored is if the child or teen seems to derive pleasure from harming animals or other people.
Three outa ten ain’t bad!
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