Right, McD’s is cleaner than almost any kitchen. There’s nothing wrong at all with McD’s food. Just like there’s nothing wrong with a Balony sandwich on Wonder bread with a large bag of chips. The fact that the McD’s food laster longer is a Good thing, means it was prepared in a cleaner environment.
The problem with either is that they are bad for you if taken to excess. Fast food once a week is Ok, once a month is no problem, every day will kill you, especially if you eat too much at a sitting, which they encourage you to do… md2000 notes about portion size is right on.
I could make up an entirely vegan diet that would kill you as fast- let us start with partially hydrogenated corn oil, iceberg lettuce and macadamia nuts.
Preservatives and a non-“natural” outer casing, I suspect. They’re well-cooked already, and maybe the sealed outer casing didn’t provide much of anything palatable to whatever might have floated into the Ziploc before it was sealed.
Addition to the “vegan diet that’ll kill you” - is adding rhubarb leaves (poisonous, while the stems are yummy) cheating?
That’s an interesting point about the portion sizes; since Jim and I have been counting calories, when we go out for fast food, I eat something small to fit it into my daily budget. A big burger and large fries blow my whole calorie budget for the day in one meal. I hadn’t thought about how portion sizes had changed there over time.
And Torie would be the Mythbuster volunteering for that experiment.
I went into a house that had been unoccupied for 5 months and found a loaf of bread that had no mold on it.
The other statement that I have heard is to put a food item on the ground. If the ants don’t eat it, it’s not “real food”. I am happy to report that a few drops of a chocolate milk shake from Burger Street were very rapidly surrounded by hundreds of ants. The edges of the milk shake drops were black with ants.
Has anyone else noticed that the term “nutritious” has been changing in meaning? It used to have something to do with the chemical composition of a substance, but now it has more to do with… morality or… something.
I’ve noticed people using the term “macros” to refer to macronutrient ratios, which is just as well since different people want food with different ratios.
But we could really use a new word that means “having a lot of a variety of micronutrients”.
Yeah, but we’ve gat a good head start on the europeans…
It’s kind of ironic that Disney World’s ride where people sat in little boats that were towed through the display - they had to raise the water level recently because 4 adults would often cause the boat to run aground nowadays… name of the ride? “It’s a Small World After All”.
Another problem is this - we spend so much less on food. It used to be a few generations ago, the biggest items in the family budget were food and lodging. While mortgages have kept their place it’s mainly because of rising expectations - houses are so much bigger and fancier than 50 years ago; food, OTOH, cost so little it’s probably less than your technology bill. Add up Cable TV, cell service, internet, regular phone line, and long distance; plus any other fancy memberships like for your video games online - you’re probably paying almost as much or more for communications tech as you are for food.
(Not one nod to that yet. Not a one. You’re slipping, Dopers … )
To add my own tale of “why I believe McD’s food isn’t what it appears”, potatoes upset my stomach. Don’t know why, but they do. I usually abbreviate that to everyone (including my wife and kids) as “I’m allergic to potatoes” (even though that’s false, have not been confirmed as allergic to anything by a doctor yet). Don’t get me wrong, I like several kind of potatoes, I find perogies very hard to resist, and scalloped potatoes are simply mouth-watering nummy, but I do pay for it shortly after with a VERY unhappy tummy. (And yes, I am the only person on the planet who CAN “eat just one Lays” as it takes only about 2 or 3 chips for my stomach to voice its disapproval - hmmm, maybe I should win a few bets with that … )
Anyways, somewhat TMI done with, but necessary for the crux of my post. Since potatoes upset my stomach, I never order fries when I go out to eat in fast food restaurants except at McDonald’s. During my teen years (so, we’re talking late 80s here) my stomach never complained about McDonald’s fries, but it would for any other restaurant’s fries. This leads me to be convinced that, at least at that time, McDonald’s didn’t use potatoes for its fries. (At least by my evidence, this is no longer the case, as McD’s fries upset my stomach as much as anyone else’s, and I have to avoid their fries as well (just as well, I found them far too salty anyways)) My sister’s ex used to work at McDonald’s, and he said they used turnips (but he was always a bit of a fancifier that one.)
I would have thought it a safer conclusion (if one must be jumped to at all) that they just process them in some way different to everyone else (or at least all the others you tried).
That one is raving bullshit, just like the patties-made-of-worms myth. Turnips are generally more expensive than potatoes. (Apart from which, it’s almost impossible to prepare turnips to resemble potatoes - they’re nowhere near starchy enough).
Considering how much bad publicity is to be had from food poisoning, and the loss to be had from spoilage, I would assume that restaurants use very strict processing, handling, and cooking methods. This would result in a nearly sterile end product. All the condoments are naturally anti-bacterial (ketchup, mustard, pickles). Once the thin meat patty and white bread dry up a bit, there will be little chance for a sizable microbial colony to develop.
You’re potato intolerant - I was feeling sorry for myself for being newly lactose intolerant, but I can take a pill and eat dairy (I’ve already tried it - no problem!), but I don’t think there’s a pill to help you digest potatoes. You have my deepest sympathy.
