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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] 15 Horrifying Reasons to Never Let Anyone You Love Near a McDonald's
  • Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 13:55:52 -0600


15 Horrifying Reasons to Never Let Anyone You Love Near a McDonald's
http://www.ecosalon.com/
By Sarah Irani, EcoSalon. Posted August 15, 2009.

Erectile dysfunction, the truth behind the "special sauce," and a burger from
1996. Keep reading if you dare.


The Golden Arches: the ultimate American icon. Super Size Me taught us that
fast food culture brings obesity, heart disease, hypertension and a whole
slew of other problems. How bad do you really want that Big Mac? Here are 15
reasons you’ll never let anyone you love get near those Golden Arches.

1. Real food is perishable. With time, it begins to decay. It’s a natural
process, it just happens. Beef will rot, bread will mold. But what about a
McDonald’s burger? Karen Hanrahan saved a McDonald’s burger from 1996 and,
oddly enough, it looks just as “appetizing” and “fresh” as a burger you might
buy today. Is this real food?

2. You would have to walk 7 hours straight to burn off a Super Sized Coke,
fries and Big Mac. Even indulging in fast food as an occasional treat is a
recipe for weight gain…unless you’re planning to hit each treadmill in the
treadmill bay afterwards.


3. Containing less fat, salt and sugar, your pet’s food may be healthier than
what they serve at McDonald’s.



4. In 2007, the employees of an Orlando-area McDonald’s were caught on camera
pouring milk into the milkshake machine out of a bucket labeled “Soiled
Towels Only.” That particular restaurant had already been cited for 12
different sanitary violations. Though McDonald’s proudly stands by its safety
standards, and not every restaurant has such notorious incidents, the setting
of a fast food restaurant staffed with low-paid employees at a high turnover
rate arguably encourages bending the rules. (McDonald’s isn’t alone in this,
of course – Burger King is actually ranked as the dirtiest of all the fast
food chains.)



5. McDonald’s supports the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. Much of the
soy-based animal feed used to fatten fast-food chickens is grown in the
Amazon. Are those chicken nuggets really worth acres of irreplaceable trees?
(Especially considering how important carbon sinks like the rainforest are to
halt global warming!) Fast food supports a completely unsustainable system of
agriculture. It’s cruel to animals, unhealthy for humans, and bad for the
planet.


6. Even Prince Charles, while touring a diabetes center in the United Arab
Emirates, commented that banning McDonald’s is key to health and nutrition.
Don’t let the salads and chicken breasts fool you. The “chicken” at
McDonald’s, by the way, comes with a whole lot more than chicken.



7. As if feeding children high-fat, high-sodium, low-nutrition “food” weren’t
bad enough, some Happy Meals in 2006 contained toy Hummers. It’s as if
McDonald’s was encouraging a whole generation of kids not only to guzzle
food, but to guzzle gas as well. Would you like a few barrels of petroleum
with that?



8. The processed fat in McDonald’s food (and other fast food) promotes
endothelial dysfunction for up to 5 hours after eating the meal. Endothelial
tissue is what lines the inside of blood vessels.



9. For those who enjoy sex, take note: erectile dysfunction is connected to
endothelial dysfunction. Morgan Spurlock of Super Size Me commented that his
normally healthy sexual function deteriorated in just one month when he ate
only food from McDonald’s. Even his girlfriend commented on camera that “he’s
having a hard time, you know, getting it up.”



10. How many cows does it take to keep the world loaded with Big Macs? I had
to do a some research and a little math, but according to a brief video
inside one of McDonald’s 6 meat processing plants, about 500,000 pounds of
beef is processed per day, per plant. If an average beef cow weighs 1,150
pounds, that means 2609 cows a day are turned into burgers. That’s 952,285
cows per year. And that’s just in the United States. Eating a hamburger may
not be worse than driving a Hummer, but it’s bad. One hamburger patty does
not necessarily come from one cow. Think about that. You’re eating bits of
hundreds of cows.



11. Maybe you just pop in for an inexpensive latte. Watch out for the caramel
syrup (Sugar, water, fructose, natural (plant source) and artificial flavor,
salt, caramel color (with sulfites), potassium sorbate (preservative), citric
acid, malic acid) or the chocolate drizzle (Corn syrup, water, hydrogenated
coconut oil, high fructose corn syrup, glycerin, nonfat milk, cocoa, cocoa
(processed with alkali), food starch-modified, disodium phosphate, potassium
sorbate (preservative), xanthan gum, artificial flavor (vanillin), salt, soy
lecithin). Please don’t put that stuff into your body. Eat healthy cheap food
instead – you can be well and still save cash.



12. Are you a vegetarian with a French fry craving? You better skip
McDonald’s because their fries actually contain milk (and wheat) and though
they’re fried in vegetable oil, the oil is flavored with beef extract.
(McDonald’s famously misled customers for years.)


13. Do you want high blood pressure? Hit the drive-through. Eating a
McDonald’s chicken sandwich (any of “˜em, take your pick) will give you about
2/3 of the recommended daily amount of sodium. And if you actually do have
high blood pressure, that’s way more than you really need.



14. Finally unveiled: the secret of the Big Mac’s “secret sauce.”

Soybean oil, pickle relish [diced pickles, high fructose corn syrup, sugar,
vinegar, corn syrup, salt, calcium chloride, xanthan gum, potassium sorbate
(preservative), spice extractives, polysorbate 80], distilled vinegar, water,
egg yolks, high fructose corn syrup, onion powder, mustard seed, salt,
spices, propylene glycol alginate, sodium benzoate (preservative), mustard
bran, sugar, garlic powder, vegetable protein (hydrolyzed corn, soy and
wheat), caramel color, extractives of paprika, soy lecithin, turmeric
(color), calcium disodium EDTA (protect flavor).



Yum. Cheap oil and cheap syrup. Many people depend upon cheap food such as
the sort offered at McDonald’s, whether due to the economic conditions we
currently face or low incomes. So shouldn’t we be examining regulations that
subsidize corn syrup but consider fruits and vegetables – the building blocks
of a healthy body and green planet – to be “speciality” crops? Shouldn’t we
be promoting urban gardening, community gardens and spreading information
about low-cost farmers’ markets and CSAs? And focusing on the abundant
choices of cheap food that are tasty and green?

15. Still not convinced? Maybe this 1970s trip through McDonaldland will give
you enough nightmares to keep your loved ones away forever.





  • [Livingontheland] 15 Horrifying Reasons to Never Let Anyone You Love Near a McDonald's, Tradingpost, 08/15/2009

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