To think there’s nothing wrong with a McDonald’s once in a while?

[Eyebagsandcoffee]

I went on a day out today with a friend and kids and stopped at a services along the way to get some lunch. DD(4) saw the McDonald’s sign and excitedly shouted ‘ooh McDonald’s can we go there for lunch please?’

My friend was mortified and snapped at me ‘she’s 4 how does she know the McDonald’s sign? my DS (he’s 4) has never been and doesn’t even know they exist, we’re not going anywhere near it, I can’t believe you’ve fed her that crap’

She’s usually quite level headed but was outraged, are parents really like this? DD doesn’t have one every week but occasionally will, it’s usually at a services or similar. A few nuggets once in a while won’t kill them! The friend will happily give her kid chips whilst out at a farm cafe or similar.

AIBU to think she was being precious and her kids will probably binge on cheeseburgers at the earliest opportunity?

Dammit, come back to this thread and now want a McDonalds

I'll have a Diet Coke and a Chicken Legend with BBQ sauce please.

Ironically, your friend is the unhealthy one here!

Eating McDs sometimes = healthy approach to food that will the typical person no harm

Having a disproportionate adverse reaction to food that could be damaging to health if eaten to excess = an unhealthy attitude to foodwhich if allowed to develop unchecked could readily turn into a clinical food disorder.

God I used to be one of these pretentious arseholes, I told DD it was called 'The M shop ' (in the days before she could read) and she's only eat a fruit bag and some milk if we went through a drive through (closest one is 45 mins away). I REFUSED to even walk in the store. I called it that ridiculous name so she never told anyone we went to MacDonalds 😒
Then I got a fucking grip, got over myself and she has a happy meal occasionally. She 's a perfectly healthy kid and has a good diet now just need to crack the sleeping.

@Camomila McDonald's buavent done a deli sandwiche for about five years. It's wraps now.

And nothing is added to the chips. It's just potato, oil and maybe dextrose which is used to ensure they taste the same. I can post a photo of the box if anyone feels like arguing.

@chasingsushi

There's nothing added to the food to make it more addictive. All of the ingredients are listed on the website. Please go and look at them then come back and tell me what magic addictive ingredients have been added.

People spreading misinformation like this really annoy me.

1. McDonald's make the best coffee
2. A cheeseburger stuffed with fries is worth an early death.

Case closed.

Really Shampooeeee? Guess it depends where you go, but just checking Itsu's website and the health and happiness box (which I believe is one of their best sellers) seems reasonable in terms of salt and sugar volumes - not low but by no means high compared to recommended intakes - www.itsu.com/menu/sushi/health-happiness/

This is probably quite irrelevant to the discussion though - I don't know many kids who like sushi!

Having watched 'supersize me' and knowing that if you only ever ate McDonalds it would actually kill you, I don't believe it is in any way good for anyone to eat. But still - occasionally probably fine

I watched that film too - and it struck me that you could say exactly the same about any high end restaurant. Imagine if you dined at a Heston Blumenwhatsit place for every meal, eating everything off the menu and accepting everything you were offered. Foie gras. Creamy sauce. Another glass of wine, madam? Can we interest you in some artisan cheese? With a glass of vintage port? Etc. You'd be pretty fat and sick in a month as well.

I'm not a fan of McD, but I don't have strong views about it. Interestingly, I got my DDs some chicken nuggets from Burger King one evening over the summer when we stopped at a service station and they were hungry. We went to a pretty naice country pub for a meal a couple of days later and my smaller DD ordered the chicken bites from the children's menu. I swear that they were exactly the same. So unless you're a 100% cook from scratch type who never eats in a restaurant where the food is less than £50 a head, it seems a bit daft to be snooty about the odd fast food trip. Plus, as a pp said, is it that much worse than Pizza Express/cake in Costa type thing?

People spreading misinformation like this really annoy me.

This in spades.

Yes at one time in the past they had a reputation for serving unhealthy fast food. In the past 20 years they have made such enormous strides to use the best ingredients and serve food which is healthier. None of the food at McDonalds in inherently unhealthy but people live in the past and it's still go the reputation.

I cannot name any other food place which does as much for local communities and charities.

I would also be hard pressed to find a company who put their hands up to admit they made poor choices in the past which they have now rectified.

In my opinion it is just sanctimonious bullshit that McDonalds is unhealthy and crap. Anyone who spouts such nonsense is clearly a sheep who easily brainwashed and cannot think for themselves.

When I were a kid in the nineties we actually had birthday parties in McDonalds , they were great!

I must admit, I didn’t take my DC in there until they were at least 3/4 because I did feel a bit ‘off’ willingly giving it to a tiny toddler. Now I’d say they have it every 1-2 months. It’s hard because they are so fussy and if McDonald’s get the order wrong (which does happen fairly often) they won’t eat it so I just find it a bit of a waste.

They tried reducing the salt on McDonald chips. Too many complaints though lol!

I take my two once every 10 days ish. They eat healthy balanced diets so it is absolutely fine.

I take a friend shopping near the local Maccie Ds every fortnight or so. We could go to Pain Quotidien and pay upwards of €20 each for lunch, or take advantage of the two Big Macs for €5 on a Thursday. McDonald's wins mostly!! Unless one goes to Burger.be for artisan burgers, or Quick, which is a horrid Belgian burger chain, then it's the golden arches for a quick lunch. Quick has been taken over by Burger King, but I haven't seen any of the stores rebranded or selling Whoppers as yet.

I don't really like Maccy Ds because I'm veegie, but getting a Happy Meal for DD every now and again is alright with me. As long as you don't live on the stuff, a healthy attitude to having a bit of what you fancy in the context of a decent diet overall is nae bother, really.

Burger King fries are better tho.

Really fancy a burger and fries now. Eaten with greedy paws and washed down with Chemical Shitstorm Zero.

DS has a happy meal once a week after his swimming lesson, it doesn’t finish til half 7 by which time he’s tired and hungry so a happy meal on the way home is his treat. He’s perfectly fit and healthy, it’s only bloody fish fingers and chips - can’t get that worked up about it!

It's snobbery, plain and simple.

Nothing wrong with McD now and then, kid or adult. Everything is wrong with smug arseholes who want to feel better about themselves/their parenting by putting other people down.

I think fuck off to McDonalds snobs.

Eat it and love it.

I have never taken my DD to MacDonald's but at 5 she knew about them and other brands.When she was a bit older she went to birthday parties held there as I didn't reckon it would kill her,she only liked the chips but had a good time.
I go to MacDonald's in other countries just to get a British style cup of tea.

I find this snobbery about mcds really strange. I have friends who think nothing of taking their children to high street "family restaurants" where their dc will often have burger/nuggets/fish fingers and chips (although in fairness there are usually peas/carrots too) followed by ice cream and fail to see that mcds is the same thing, in essence.

You can ask for fries unsalted (though they will never be entirely salt free as the thing they get tipped into (technical term there!) obviously has salt on.

I'm of the view everything in moderation where food is concerned and we probably have one a week, dc are in good shape and very active.

It's really rude to berate someone for their food choices, it's fine to raise an issue in a kind way if you are concerned about someone in relation to health but that's not what was going on with the op's friend is it?!

A friend berated me for having a KFC on the way to a festival at which she smoked like a trooper and took drugs?!?

She's deluded if she thinks her 4 year old doesn't know what MacDonalds is! Lol
I would also love to be able to fast-forward to when her child's a teenager, off the maternal leash!
We had friends where she was like that, we'd gone to visit for their daughter's birthday and friend was holding forth about food, her children loved raw-food (it was the fad then), she never bought processed etc etc. Her husband came up from the cellar with a big box of Birds Eye burgers ready for the barbecue and she still carried on pontificating.

@Almostthere15

Well they should actually be salt free. If you ask for them without salt, the staff are meant to clean a section of the fry station and fry scoop.

Having watched 'supersize me' and knowing that if you only ever ate McDonalds it would actually kill you, I don't believe it is in any way good for anyone to eat

Ridiculous comment. If you only ate cheese, it would kill you, does that mean cheese it not good for anyone to eat? Or lettuce. Or apples, or takeout chinese, or pizza, or.....