Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Fast food follies

The column, "Stomach not happy with Happy Meal" was inspired by a nasty #3 meal, whatever that was, which I was eating while writing.

To add some value to the column, unlike my worthless "value meal," here are some useful links:

* "Exiling the Happy Meal," by the Wall Street Journal

Here's the video (messing up the layout of this page) that goes with that story





Here are some links to "Nutrition Facts," which are facts, indeed, but I'm not so sure about the "nutrition" part.

* McDonald's numbers are listed on its web site, but for the ingredients, you have to go to this almost misleading page.

Why "almost misleading"?

Because the first listing is of hamburger ingredients, which are "100% Beef Patty, Regular Bun, Ketchup, Mustard, Pickle Slices, Onions." But scroll down and the bun's ingredients are listed:

"Enriched flour (bleached wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), water, high fructose corn syrup, yeast, soybean oil, canola oil, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, contains 2% or less of each of the following: sesame seed, salt, wheat gluten, calcium sulfate, ammonium sulfate, monocalcium phosphate, ammonium chloride, calcium carbonate, baking soda, soy flour, dough conditioners (may contain one or more of the following: distilled monoglycerides, DATEM, ascorbic acid, azodicarbonamide, enzymes, ethoxylated mono- and diglycerides, sodium stearoyl lactylate, guar gum, mono-and diglycerides, calcium peroxide), calcium propionate & sodium propionate (preservatives), soy lecithin. CONTAINS: WHEAT AND SOY."

Ingredients for the Big Mac Sauce are equally disturbing.


* Burger King has a "Big Book of Nutritious Facts" which list more ingredients a single brain can handle, much less a stomach.

* Wendy's ("it's waaaay better than fast food") is fast food, nonetheless. And just as nasty. Here is a link to Wendy's "nutrition facts."

Here and there:
* Notice how all Web sites promote "healthy" activities, hence the surfer in the online version of the column, taken from McDonald's main site.
I added the burger to add flavor.



* I wonder who actually goes online to read fast food nutrition sites, other than humor writers.

* And just what in the world constitutes "Natural Flavors"?

Cow juice?