I have made strawberry milkshakes at home before. I like them thick, so I use strawberries and ice cream,
sometimes thinning it with a touch of milk. Occasionally, I will add in some chocolate. Other people like to use
yogurts or add sweeteners, like honey to their shakes. Chances are good that no one makes a McDonald's-style shake at
home, though. Why? According to the Guardian,
that shake has 59 ingredients, most of which are verging on unpronounceable and found in the "artificial
strawberry flavoring."
That milkshake probably contains the following: "milkfat and nonfat milk, sugar, sweet whey, high-fructose corn syrup, guar gum, monoglycerides and diglycerides, cellulose gum, sodium phosphate, carrageenan, citric acid, E129 and artificial strawberry flavor."
That flavoring, on the other hand, has:
"amyl acetate, amyl butyrate, amyl valerate, anethol, anisyl formate, benzyl acetate, benzyl isobutyrate, butyric acid, cinnamyl isobutyrate, cinnamyl valerate, cognac essential oil, diacetyl, dipropyl ketone, ethyl butyrate, ethyl cinnamate, ethyl heptanoate, ethyl heptylate, ethyl lactate, ethyl methylphenylglycidate, ethyl nitrate, ethyl propionate, ethyl valerate, heliotropin, hydroxyphrenyl- 2-butanone (10% solution in alcohol), ionone, isobutyl anthranilate, isobutyl butyrate, lemon essential oil, maltol, 4-methylacetophenone, methyl anthranilate, methyl benzoate, methyl cinnamate, methyl heptine carbonate, methyl naphthyl ketone, methyl salicylate, mint essential oil, neroli essential oil, nerolin, neryl isobutyrate, orris butter, phenethyl alcohol, rose, rum ether, undecalactone, vanillin and solvent."
Yum.
Have a taste for more fast food news?
UK
gets bigger Big Mac
The REAL secret menu at fast food
joints
McDonald's and KFC are fattier in
the US
Cakes so amazing they'd be hard to cut into
Fruit juice: An invitation to diabetes?
Morbid thoughts? Have a cookie
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 10)
4-24-2006 @ 8:38AM
Razib Ahmed said...
"that shake has 59 ingredients, most of which are verging on unpronounceable and found in the "artificial strawberry flavoring.""
So this is the secret of great smell and great taste and most people even dont know the secret. Thanks for this post. I am sure after reading it many people will become conscious about this kind of artificial food.
Reply
4-24-2006 @ 10:03AM
Bus said...
Now that I think about it, I can really taste the methyl naphthyl ketone in it.
Reply
4-24-2006 @ 10:47AM
healthily obsessed said...
Well, it can't be any worse than the chicken McNugget (http://www.healthbetold.com/2006/04/23/mystery-meat-of-the-day-chicken-mcnugget/)....or can it? It's really a lesser of two evils I guess.
Reply
4-24-2006 @ 10:50AM
McLovin' It said...
Well, it can't be any worse than the McNugget's ingredients list (http://www.healthbetold.com/2006/04/23/mystery-meat-of-the-day-chicken-mcnugget/).... on second thought, it's really a lesser of two evils.
Reply
4-24-2006 @ 10:51AM
TheMatt said...
Actually, if you ran strawberry...essence through a GC/MS, I'm guessing you'd be able to find many of those esters in the results. Amyl acetate is banana, methyl benzoate is ylang-ylang... I see grape, strawberry, pineapple...
Strawberry, btw, is usually ethyl butyrate, which actually smells more like pineapple to me.
Reply
4-24-2006 @ 11:06AM
B said...
You mean strawberry-flavored partially gelatinated non-dairy gum-based beverages?
Reply
4-24-2006 @ 12:54PM
Hawk said...
I read an article in the Atlantic Monthly a few years back that sort of brush-stroked on the subject of flavor chemistry.
There is a clear liquid which smells exactly like a bacon cheeseburger.
This is why I go to whole foods' hot bar when I eat lunch out. their food appears to be made out of actual *FOOD*, as opposed to food + some weird chemical.
Reply
4-25-2006 @ 2:20AM
Prufrax said...
When I was at school (many moons ago), there was a persistent rumour that McD milkshakes were thickened with microscopic polystyrene beads.
At least its not that bad!?!
Reply
4-25-2006 @ 6:22AM
Kelly P said...
Would you think anything less in this day and age!!!
Reply
4-25-2006 @ 6:36AM
Ingrid Niles said...
I do not drink the milkshake from Mc Donalds, however I feel really sorry for the folks who are drinking and not knowing what they are putting into their bodies.
Reply
4-25-2006 @ 6:41AM
j-lynn said...
So that explains it... the more "ingrediants" they put in it, they could begin to call them "quadriple" thick shakes instead of triple thick>?
Reply
4-25-2006 @ 6:49AM
char said...
IM GLAD I DONT GO TO ANY FAST FOOD PLACES ,NOTHING LIKE A REAL HOME COOKED MEAL...YOU CAN MAKE YOUR SHAKES AT HOME ,ITS A LOT CHEAPER THAN PAYING $4.00 AY MCDONALDS AND YOU KNOW WHAT GOES IN IT ...
Reply
4-25-2006 @ 6:52AM
j-lynn said...
I see...i guess that is what makes the "triple thick" shakes?
Reply
4-25-2006 @ 7:01AM
Keshia Meadows said...
And why is this body poisioning legal?
Reply
4-25-2006 @ 7:04AM
M HAMPTON said...
I THINK THIS SHOULD BE AGAINST THE LAW. THERE ARE TOO MANY HEALTH ISSUES WITHOUT THIS ----. WE ALL WONDER WHY WELL HERE YOU GO THINGS LIKE THIS IS SCAREY. PEOPLE HAVE THEIR RIGHTS AND I FEEL KNOWING WHAT YOU'RE EATING IS ONE OF THEM.........
Reply
4-25-2006 @ 7:05AM
a non drinker said...
If you think the milkshakes are bad don't eat the burgers. At some resturants it is a re quirement to make sure that the meat is not pink anywhere and that there is not any runny blood looking stuff left over either. NOT THERE. I have seen it done. The meat is not done at all when they put it on the tray to put it into the warmer which is suppose to cook it the rest of the way. Untrained crew people grab the fresh cooked meat and put it on the burgers.
mmmm........ can we say Jack-In-The-Box????
Reply
4-25-2006 @ 7:07AM
melissa said...
that is so nasty i "used" to get milkshakes there but not anymore thats just wrong i would like at least a few things that would be healthy at the best fast food resturant in history.
Reply
4-25-2006 @ 7:24AM
Maggie said...
Of course it's McDonald's when are you people going to learn everything at McDonald's is ARTIFICIAL!!
Reply
4-25-2006 @ 7:24AM
Dee said...
As long as we are foolish enough to eat this garbage the fast food industry will continue to sell it to us. Wake up people! What you put into your body is important.
Reply
4-25-2006 @ 7:33AM
Diana Dalton said...
I really read alot on health and one of the things that I remember clearly and I try very hard to stick to is---"Don't put anything in your mouth that you can't pronounce". I really BELEIVE these chemicals are causing alot of disease.
Reply