McDonalds

[beatie]

Not that I ever go there but I just found this in yesterdays Guardian ....

"You know the new-style healthy Happy Meals - the ones that were going to woo the Jamie Oliver-loving middle classes back into McDonald's? Well, it transpires that to keep the carrot sticks crunchy, they will have been sprayed with hydrogen peroxide (once deployed as rocket fuel, now more commonly used for hair-bleaching products). And fruit portions will have been bathed in citric acid to prevent browning. Is any of this a surprise? Is this actually more harmful for health than dipping things in mayonnaise or tomato ketchup? Who knows? But McDonald's has responded with the promise that all carrots on sale in their restaurants will have been harvested no more than three days earlier. So that's all right, then. "

It's so nice what they're allowed to do with food. I wonder if the ready chopped veg you buy in Supermarkets has been treated with the same delightful er, ingredients!

Yup - my friends mum collected them in sets - and you can't take em out of the bags and play with them, or their value drops.

Oooh, and with regards to fimbles pasta etc... It was actaully cheaper than the heinz spaghetti hoops the other day!!!!

saying that... the other month I listed some of the Aladdin stuff as dd had quite a few doubles. Strangely enough the opened set sold and the sealed set didn't! Go figure!

DD's a fan of the 'Sabrina' pasta shapes at the moment... guess why... the tin is PINK!

Bozza - at my house a treat is a home made (with them) pudding usually with dark chocolate but not always... or home made ice cream. I am no saint and I will occasionally buy low salt crisps though this not even a monthly occasion... People think I am mean to my kids, I am not ... DS asked that I make carrot soup for his packed lunch tomorrow... I did, he tasted it and said it was super yummy! The same was for the fish pie I made (Jamie Oliver's recipe... LOVELY!

I can't help but think why we consider junk food a TREAT??? I mean think about it !!!!!

Fast food is that FAST and "convenient" not a delicious dinner....
Wine (which I drink) is not so much a treat as it is a drink to "relax" I know that is weird too!!!! LOL

Wine's a treat to me, but that is due to having sod all pennies to spend on wine or Macdonalds!!!

If I had the pennies, then it would be "normal drink"!!!!

It's tricky isn't it? I think many years ago, when I was young, a treat was a treat when it was something my parents couldn't afford to do very often.

As people have larger disposable incomes these days, it really is a case of laying down your own ground rules, because it is easily affordable for my dd to have massive amounts of sweets, everyday of the week. She's only 2 and hasn't had sweets but you see my point.

So really, what is a treat? I'm not sure wine is even a treat. We could afford to drink a bottle a night if we wanted to. For me cakes are treats, ice creams are treats, trips out to the pub are treats I think I personally have difficulty calling McDonalds a treat because I despise the low quality of the food. A hamburger and fries may well be a treat but there are 'healthier' places to eat these things.

If you're going to have an ice cream or a beer or a lovely, creamy cake as a treat, you opt for the most delicious tasting. In comparison to other hamburgers and chips, McDonalds is substandard in that department (IMHO) and I do believe, for children, it does become all about the toys.

I think the problem with their 'healthy options' is that they are paying lip service to being healthy. If they really, really cared about health, they'd make their regular offerings more healthy.

Beatie - that is my point... how can you call a treat something that has too much salt, too much unhealthy fat....
A jacket potato in a pub is for me a treat.... a "reasonably" healthy meal in a restaurant is a treat.... McD is cheap convenience.
DS went once to McDonalds with friends but DH was along and he did not buy him a ready meal so that he would not get the toy.... DS knew of McD before (impossible to ignore even Jamie Oliver proved it with anm entire class knowing the logo before he had even turned the paper it was printed on!!!) and was keen to try it.... he hasn't asked to go again...
McD for the kids is mainly the toys and the crap food is the bonus

I don't know enough about the hydrogen peroxide thing and the citric acid thing to comment, but I do know that Macdonakds sugar coat their chips prior to frying to ensure they are nice and brown and crispy!!!!!!!!!
IMO thats a good enough reason to visit very seldomly just because it shows a complete lack of caring about what they are doing to the food as long as it sells!!

Super size me is a great film, would recommend it to anyone!

Yes, I think that is the big problem. McDonalds tamper with their food so much that the food is so far removed from natural food and they do show a complete lack of disrespect for the food they serve.

Whilst pub lunches and meals out are often 'unhealthy' (all that cream in sauces!)it's just not the same thing to me.

It's perfectly understandable that parents want to give their children the warm and fuzzy treat experiences associated with McDonalds. But most people don't know what makes up McDonald's food and once you do know, (plus learn about their unethical corporation as a whole) it is difficult to revisit.

If my dd were ever invited to a party at McDonalds, of course I would not stop her going, but on a day to day basis or for a treat,I just couldn't bear to take her to eat someplace where I personally would not eat.

Why would I worry about the citric acid on the apples (after all, I rub lemon juice on the ones I cut at home) when they come with caramel sauce? That seems like a much bigger issue.

Caramel sauce??

Well, they do in the US. The apples are called "apple dippers" and come with a dish of caramel sauce (like the stuff they put on toffee apples? Thick sugar syrup, basically.) Or that's what the New York Times says, I haven't actually checked. What're the odds the carrots come with high-fat and high-sodium dressing to dip them in?