Why do people love to sneer at McDonalds so much

[FinnyStory]

And blame them for obesity?

A Big Mac has 508 calories, a lot but not excessive if that's your lunch once in a while. A Costa Brie and Bacon panini has 517 calories, a no more satisfying or nutritionally valid choice surely?

In Prezzo, their hummus starter has over 600 calories! They have mains at over 1000 calories and their menu is similar to many other restaurants more acceptable to MNetters, which is why I looked them up, not because I have anything against Prezzo.

At least in McDonalds you can choose a salad or a lighter wrap if you want it, very many coffee shops and cafes don't even offer those things.

IMO McDonalds have made far more effort on these things than most and yet as soon as people talk about obesity, it won't be long before families who frequent McDonalds are vilified, although a gastropup or more upmarket restaurant chain seems to be considered OK?

OP mentioned hummus. Yes, it can be very high in calories, but surely eating 600 calories worth of hummus is so much healthier than having a BigMac at 508 calories.

The question is, which one tastes better. Most likely BigMac, so
I do understand why people would choose it instead of hummus.

My mum always said they provided an admirable public toilet service (she was a right food snob but liked the odd coffee and donut from them).
The UK menu is much better than in many countries where even the same items have many more additives to bulk out crap meat etc. Equally work conditions and all are better than in many places.
They do buy most meat and veg and other ingredients from the UK, which is also good - need a market for those non-prime bits of beef!

@FinnyStory

Fancy restaurants (vegan health food establishments aside) are the worst for salt and fat, watch celebrity chefs! And an upmarket burger chain (circa £10 for burger and chips) has bigger portions which = more calories. I did like Byron though, had good beer.

@popcornlover

Because of the people it attracts. And because the food is cardboard.

The food is most definitely not cardboard!!

Every meat item can be traced right back. The beef is 100% Organic flank, the chicken (inc nuggets) are 100% organic breast. The bread is always fresh (& again, Organic) and the fries are always the same variety of organic potato. The eggs are free range and again ORGANIC!

I used to work there in my teens and the hygiene is second to none! An alarm goes off every 10 mins to signal hand washing and every night at midnight the ovens/grills/fryers are DISMANTLED and scrubbed with specific brushes for every. Single. Component!

They have to do it like this, it's the only way the Big Mac tastes the same in every single McDonalds globally

🙄🤦🏼‍♀️

They've brought out the double quarter pounder with cheese again,had one the other day and it was epic.As long as its not a regular occurance it doesn't matter.

I love a Maccy D's. And if I got overweight from guzzling chips & burgers that would be entirely my fault. I am prepared to own it. (Especially as I like extra cheese on my quarter pounder)

On a side note - where do they source their cheese from? It's like one of the world's best kept secrets! I have found it literally impossible to recreate a Macdonald's at home. Where does the cheese come from????

@Emmmie

FinnyStory of course everyone uses fats and salt. What differs are the types of fat, and the amounts of both fat and salt being used in preparation 😊

It does indeed.

Big Mac:

Calories 508
Fat 15g
Salt 0.46g

Pizza Express Ceasar Salad

Calories 894
Fat 42.49g
Salt 2.9g

@FatCatThinCat

McDonald's breakfasts are the mutts nuts. Sausage and egg Mcmuffin and hash brown. Mmmmmmm.

Tesco now sell the breakfast sausage. Over lockdown I had no muffins, only brioche and I can tell you Sausage & Egg Brioche Buns are actually even better than the McMuffins. Still cant get anything like the hash browns at home though.

I love McDonalds. During lockdown it has been my favourite takeaway😋😋

@Alwaysinpain I think you've misunderstood- no organic produce is used in McDonald's UK.
The meat is from intensively farmed animals. The chicken is 100% breast meat, all of it, but it ain't from organically farmed sources!

I do agree that UK based McDonald food is healthier than the US one. I found this comparison between the fries (US vs.UK)

I get a quarter pounder without the cheese. The cheese is vile. The meat has very little in the way of fillers, the bap is just bread, and the pickles are of very little consequence in terms of unhealthy eating. I don't regard it as intrinsically unhealthy. Add a salad and I think it's pretty good.

It's snobbery.

FinnyStory A pizza express caesar salad is not my idea of healthy eating. Just because something is called a salad it does not mean it is healthy overall. Sure, it has healthy elements to it (veggies) , but it can be smothered in ranch dressing or caesar salad dressing which makes it more of an indulgence than a healthy meal.

I should have included the saturates @Emmmie

Big mac 3.8g, Pizza Express Ceasar Salad 8.2g

I thought the cheese was just standard processed burger cheese slices, available in all supermarkets?

The sausage patties are also available from Iceland, Aldi and Asda. I do mine with a thin omelette and brown sauce in a muffin because I don't like cheese with meat or fried eggs.

@bookmum08

I do know that Wimpy's were around then, as I remember driving past one once (Oh we were living the high life back then!) but there wasn't one near me.

I am just reporting the conversations that I remembered hearing when mums were chatting at the school gate or at parties. It may not have been logical and may have been tied up in anti-Americanism, or something else, but some people just didn't like the concept.

McDonalds were also conspicuously a source of litter - there was always more litter outside the McDonalds when you walked along the high street. I think the whole 'Keep Britain Tidy' campaign came along around the same time.

@Emmmie

FinnyStory A pizza express caesar salad is not my idea of healthy eating. Just because something is called a salad it does not mean it is healthy overall. Sure, it has healthy elements to it (veggies) , but it can be smothered in ranch dressing or caesar salad dressing which makes it more of an indulgence than a healthy meal.

Of course and none of these places are ideal for eating in regularly, but if you're going to sneer at the fat and salt content at McDonalds, where exactly would you eat in preference?

The cheese slice is:
51% vegetarian cheddar water, vegetarian cheese (9%), whey powder, butter, emulsifying salts, milk proteins, natural cheese flavouring, salt, colours, anti-caking agent.

That's the great baffling question. Why does McDonald's attract a disproportionate amount of criticism when there's all manner of other outlets serving food with similar provenance and nutritional content that in comparison barely get a mention.

I've had loads over the years. But tbh I think it's crap food.

My friend found a chicken nugget and macdonalds bun weeks after the kids had eaten it in the car. The food hadn't gone mouldy. Apparently it just never goes mouldy. Which speaks for itself.

It's processed crap. It's full of fat, salt and sugar. There's no nutritional value in it. The deserts are also crap.

The Chip quality is inconsistent. It's either salty and crisp and warm (the best but never seem to come like this)

Or they are floppy and pale.

The burgers are often cold.
I've had hit chocolates from there so many times and got home to tasteless brown water.

They also get our order wrong

But occasionally we have them and it's nice not to have to cook.

I prefer burger king for taste and quality. But that's eqaully as bad for you ....

Also if I have a sausage and egg muffin in stuffed until teatime. It's the only food that means I won't want dinner.

Cheap win for snobs isn't it? The good thing is, it tells you a lot about the person doing the sneering, and then you can have a happier life without them in it!

You've just assumed that's for one person when it could've been for 2/3

It is possible, but the presence of one fries makes it less likely that it was intended for multiple people, I explained that inferrence in the post. The point of the whole post was that it's down to what the consumer orders, not what is offered on the menu. You can order a salad and water for 250 calories or order multiple items beyond 2000 calories. McDonalds is no different to any other source of food in that regard.

People are snobs because they think maccys is unhealthy? You won't get your five a day but it's fine as a treat. Feed your children it every few days and they will get unhealthy. It's not an issue eating it until your kids are overweight and never eat vegetables and home cooked meals without loads of added salt and things.

Can't say macdonalds are as tasty as a home cooked burger. I buy the pack of four fresh mince burgers. Not the frozen skinny ones. I put cheese, lettuce, tomato and sometimes coleslaw in it. Not that healthy but so yummy. I'd rather eat that over a macdonalds but I'm not a snob and have eaten loads of takeaways over the years.

FinnyStory Personally, when I decide to eat out I don’t care about the fat, or salt or sugar content. I am there just to enjoy my food whether I am eating McDonalds, sushi, fried chicken or whatever. I eat out at a variety of different places, only not very often. I think that moderation is the key.
McDonalds food is affordable, convenient and it tastes good. As I said earlier, it is easy to overindulge and it is easy to overdo it.