[QUOTE=brickbacon]
Are you really this dense? First, I was not trying to create a definitive list of cites to support the fact that their burgers are 100% beef, however I think the three I picked were sufficient.
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I never said I disagreed the patties were beef. Someone referred to your cites as “good”, and I disagreed with that. Hence the “nitpick” part of my post, oh observant one…
[QUOTE=brickbacon]
First, as someone else mentioned, the only people who know for sure is the company itself (which I linked to).
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Indeed. However, when that very claim is what is called into question by the OP, it is no evidence whatsoever to merely repeat the claim, as you effectively did with your third link.
[QUOTE=brickbacon]
It would be a disastrous move for them to lie about what is in their burgers. Not only because of the fines they would incur, but also from the thousands of lawsuits that would result from people with dietary restrictions, allergies, etc. It’s a lose-lose for them. Any idiot knows that, and linking to a FDA web page saying that companies need to not lie about the ingredients in their food is completely unnecessary, and illogical. Just because it is a rule doesn’t mean any restaurant has to follow it. The reason you know a huge chain like McDonald’s does is because it would be completely retarded for them not to do so.
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However, you did not include any of this in your first post. You simply repeated McDonalds claim as to the contents of their food without comment. Some one said “good cite” to that, I disagreed.
[QUOTE=brickbacon]
Second, Morgan Spurlock, the wirter/diector/star of Super Size Me, is as strong a critic of the fast food industry (esp. McDonald’s) as you will find. It is in his financial interest to be as critical of these companies as possible. The man made a documentary depicting how bad their food is for you, how deceptive their advertising is, and how our gluttony is leading to our ruin. Do you really think he wouldn’t take the opportunity to call them on their bullshit if they were lying?
Do you think he hasn’t done the research about what is in their food?
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I know I don’t have to point this out to someone with the sort of advanced perceptive abilities I conceded to earlier, but there are people who might be confused by this portion of your post so:
You do realize that your second link does not lead to Morgan Spurlock’s site, right? It leads to a site put up by a strong critic of his, Fox News journalist and former Cato Institute policy analyst, Radley Balko. Right in my link there it says, “The general purpose of this site is to counter the silly hysteria perpetuated by Morgan Spurlock.”
So your second cite about McDonalds beef content come from a writer who has dedicated his little portion of the internet to making a filmmaker look bad. His link to his Cato institute bio leads to a blank page as he no longer works there. Why this makes him the “go to guy” on hamburger content isn’t clear.
His only reference as to the content of the beef is the same page as your third link, which merely repeats the claim under discussion again. His other links are to old articles about how McDonalds sources the beef they use, which isn’t really relevant to the discussion at hand. No one is wondering if McD’s uses beef at all, only whether it’s all they use. So your second link isn’t very helpful to that at all.
[QUOTE=brickbacon]
So now we have the company itself saying what’s in the burgers, a critic admitting the same thing, and an online encyclopedia echoing the same thing. Not to mention the cites and links (14) within the Wiki article, to reputable news agencies like the AP, CBS News, and Newsweek. If that is not enough for you, then you will never be convinced. I cited the company itself, a critic of the company, and an impartial source, all of whom agree that the burgers are 100% beef.
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There is no indication whatsoever of the bias or lack thereof with respect to McDonalds or their opponents among the anonymous authors of the Wikipedia article. The title, “McDonald’s Urban Legends”, suggests a pro-McDonalds bias in the absence of any other info. There is also no indication of the anonymous authors’ expertise on beef or the practices of the fast food industry. There are six footnote references in the section of the article dealing with the hamburger meat. The first three would appear to reference supporting material on the cost and nutritional value of worm meat. The fourth refers to a Snopes article about the worm controversy (an article which the Wiki article incorrectly cites in at least one place), most of whose sources are other UL gathering references, although Newsweek’s 1978 article on the matter is referenced, separating the Wiki article from its purported source material by two degrees. The fifth cite is an About.com article about a cow eyeball controversy which does not cite its own sources, and the sixth is a newspaper article written in Portugese, whose credibility I am unable to determine, as I don’t read the language.
So in answer to the question, How can I be sure that McDonalds’ hamburger meat is all beef and nothing else nasty added intentionally?, your reply amounts to:
McDonalds uses 100% beef in their patties. Here’s why you should believe it when I say it:
- This random collection of anonymous people who felt like writing about and discussing McDonalds Urban legends over the past four years says the following:
*McDonalds does not use worm meat. We can be pretty sure of this since they provide leads to the price of worms, and the other people who like to write about Urban Legends that they hamfistedly paraphrase seem to have read an old Newsweek article that said they didn’t.
*They also say cow eyeballs are not used, and another Urban Legends writer agrees with them.
- McD’s doesn’t use kangaroo meat, although they don’t really say why we should believe that.
*They don’t use mutant laboratory meat, as it says in a Portugese e-mail, but this English Language encyclopedia page doesn’t have an English language source that backs them up.
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This journalist and self-described Libertarian policy wonk says Morgan Spurlock is a doodyhead and the reason McD’s hamburgers don’t taste good anymore is that they use leaner beef than they used to, although the article he claims backs him up on this actually merely says that McD’s started getting their already lean beef (which is then mixed with fat cuttings from the processor) from overseas due to American shortages.
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Cuz McDonalds says so, that’s why!
WhyNot says “good cites” to that. I don’t. Doesn’t mean that the burgers aren’t all beef, only that your post and cites aren’t sufficient to make the case.
