To think McDonald's isn't actually That bad...it's not cardboard and cows ears as people seem to think?

[WittiestUsernameEver]

Looking at the ingredients in most of it, it's fine??

They use organic milk, free range eggs, burgers are meat and salt, probably better quality stuff than the likes of Harvester burgers etc.

People talk about it like you're feeding your kids arsenic, rats piss and pig shit...

I don’t think we’d ever use the bread fast enough otherwise!
it would be stale and mouldy before we even open it.
over lockdown I got a bread maker and then put on loads of weight as fresh bread is so blimmin delicious 🤣

Mc Donald's buns are like those bread rolls that last about three weeks though, so even worse than regular upf bread. Also, many people buy supermarket bakery bread which has fewer ingredients.

I love the breakfasts, I wish they did them until midday. The burgers don't taste as filling as they did in the 80s, they seemed to be made with more care back then even though they were pre made and the buns were lightly toasted, now as a previous poster said they are limp, cold and tasteless.

I take the kids there about once a month as it's so handy for a quick happy meal if you're out and about, but I prefer a Burger King burger.

YANBU. It’s not healthy food - it’s high in fat and salt but it’s not full of non-food, and they use organic milk and high welfare produce (I know farmers who sell to them, they pay farmers better than the big dairies).

credit where credits due - they’ve lead the way in getting rid of plastic. It was an easy switch to plastic straws, but ditching plastic on McFlurries required a total change in the way they are produced.

What would you consider to be low nutrition foods?

Well, definitely not meat, bread and potatoes!

To me, low-nutrition foods are things like sugary cereals, sweets or cream cakes - stuff that has pretty much no health benefit.

That's not to say I don't eat them - just that I know there's no real beneficial nutrition in them.

People saying 'it's just bread' are wrong. There is traditionally-made bread, and there is industrial bread, and they are nutritionally miles apart.

Nobody is trying to say it's super nutritious though, just that it's no different to most of the processed bread you can get in the supermarket.

McDonald's are still open in Amsterdam.

It's up for debate whether the upf bread bun or the sauces should be classed as food. The burger itself is food I would say.

Up for debate by who, exactly?

its still ultra-processed - depending on what you eat, some more than others. Filet is lovely but why do you immediately want another one afterwards? Because it’s so ‘easy’ to eat and not filling. If you make w filet at home with a wholemeal bun with decent fishfingers and lettuce/mayo and had it with homemade chips you would not be craving another. That is the issue.
I can’t speak for the burgers as I don’t eat red meat, but I’m sure it’s not ‘just’ beef, there will be additives and the bread is just cake-like. The nuggets also won’t be ‘just’ chicken as you have the coating for starters.
Thsts before you get to the oil part.

It's Iceland that no longer has a McDonald's.

That’s true actually: I do remember they were toasted.

MN is full of posters who read one Michael Mosley book and started ranting about "food-like substances" 🙄 They do their argument no favours at all, just make themselves look (organic, UPF-free, homemade spelt) crackers as well as sneery.

I can’t speak for the burgers as I don’t eat red meat, but I’m sure it’s not ‘just’ beef, there will be additives

According to their ingredient list, nothing is added to the burger patty but salt and pepper to season. However, that's little use when everything else going into the bun, and the bun itself, is full of UPF.

I'm sure McD know exactly what they're doing; this means they can legitimately advertise the burger as 100% pure beef which will give it an aura of wholesomeness, while keeping all the UPF in its accompaniments in the standard small print of ingredients.

I actually don’t want another. I have that “ what have I just done?” feeling after eating it.

I join in if and when we get it as a family ( usually on a long trip), but it isn’t something I’d be tempted by on my own.

But although I don’t personally like it much, I don’t in all honesty think it’s much worse than the sorts of things many people eat much of the time. I don’t use ground mince much. I’d rather have a proper cut of meat and make a vegetable based meal the following night to spread the cost. But plenty of people eat burger patties, processed bread etc from the supermarket. You can taste McDs is less unhealthy than the competitors. I think they came under such scrutiny as the big player in the fast food industry that they had to lower salt etc ( and you can taste that). I think they have done well to keep their market position, more or less. I also think it seems less expensive than certain others.

Mcdonalds is addictive, they adds suger to freaking fries (they call it dextrose) and their chicken nuggets are 45% chicken...it is bad ultra processed food.

Oooh well that’s gross …

It's just a turn of phrase, but there's long been discussion about additives, preservatives, flavour enhancers etc etc.

The term 'UPF' is new but the debate isn't.

Loads of info online if you are not aware of the discussion.

I agree. A McDonald's meal a few times a year will likely do no harm.

It's the food that we eat on the other 360 days that we need to pay attention to. Our everyday diet is the one that influences our health and wellbeing.

But that's a really low bar.

I agree it is no more or less crap than the crap in the supermarket.

Well, that's just daft. It clearly is food, whether you'd eat it or not!

I genuinely don't understand why it is 'snobbery' to state some food is healthier than other food.

Everyone can eat what they like, I eat all sorts of things myself, I don't get offended if I read they are unhealthy.

I genuinely don't understand why it is 'snobbery' to state some food is healthier than other food.

That's not what people are doing, though.

They're claiming McDonald's is some kind of weird franken-food when in reality it's no different to most of the stuff you can buy in a supermarket.

But that's a really low bar.

Is it? Given that it's the kind of thing most people eat every day without even thinking?

MN is very unusual in its' attitude to food and UPF's - most people just eat whatever's available in their local Tesco without really thinking any further.

I go there about once a month with teen DS who finds it cool. I don't like that is has lots of calories but I am hungry again just a few hours after. I never buy any frozen food in the supermarket except for frozen vegetables and sometimes ice cream.

The stuff in the supermarket is crap too.

Lots of people eat crap food - me included!

It's snobbery to look down on people for doing it, it is just stating facts to say the food itself is unhealthy.