9 Nasty Truths About Your Favorite Foods
Famous Death Row Last Meals
Photo: Time.Deering, Flickr
Joann Bruso, whose website is called BabyBites.com, left a Happy Meal (a product primarily eaten by children) out for one year...that's right a whole year. The horrifying results? She alleges that the food did not change at all.
"It sat on my shelf for a year as a silent witness to our fast-food industry. It never smelled bad. The food did not decompose," she wrote.
McDonald's issued the following statement: "No preservatives are added to the beef patties in McDonald's hamburgers." It went on to trumpet McDonald's commitment to sanitation and freshness.
It may be true that there are no preservatives in the meat, but what they shrewdly omitted is what goes into the buns, lettuce, cheese and sauces.
On the McDonald's website over a dozen ingredients are listed for a Big Mac bun including azodicarbonamide. (Maybe they should include that in the little ditty listing the ingredients: Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese and onions on an azodicarbonamide sesame-seed bun!) The cheese has something called calcium disodium EDTA, to protect its flavor, and the fries have sodium acid pyrophosphate. Even the pickle slices contain preservatives. After reading the Dr. Seuss-like list of ingredients one could hardly describe it as a paragon to freshness (it barely even resembles food).
SLIDESHOW: Tattoos That Go Way Beyond Your Average Tramp Stamp
Rodents Run Amok at Upstate New York Walmart
PHOTOS: Most And Least Christian States In America
What Happened When Alex Kenjeev Paid His Student Loan in Cash
America's 10 Highest-Paid CEOs of 2011 (and How They Earned It)
VIDEO, PHOTOS: Man Who Chewed Off Victim's Face ID'd
What's a Realistic Retirement Age?
Carrie Underwood's Grunge Rock Past: 'I Was All About Pearl Jam'
America's 10 Best National Parks
I'm A Successful Entrepreneur But Might Get Deported
Farmers Hit the Jackpot in Kansas Oil Boom
Yale Student Killed In Crash Days After Graduating
Mary J. Blige, Charity Lawsuit: Singer's Foundation Sued for Failing to Repay $250K Loan
Beyonce 60-Pound Weight Loss: Queen B Flaunts New Figure During Comeback Concert Series
LOOK: Inside Honduras' Deadly Prisons
Editorial: Despite shaky 48 fps Hobbit preview, high frame rates will take off
PHOTOS: Nicole Scherzinger Almost Reveals Too Much
Will You Be My Facebook Friend? No.
'Cannibal' Attack: Naked Man Shot Dead In Miami 'As He Chewed Victim's Face' (VIDEO, PICTURES)
Eight-Year-Old Upset After Teacher Gave Her The Biggest 'Catastrophe' Award
NSFW PHOTOS: A Little Too Much Of A Rear View
VIDEO: 'The Guy Was Tearing Him To Pieces With His Mouth'
Boy Locked In Filthy Coal Bunker Every Night For A Year
Blood Found In Missing Girl's Bedroom
FREE FALLING
Another Deadly Northern Italian Earthquake
MSNBC Host Says He's 'Uncomfortable' Calling Soldiers Killed In Action 'Heroes'
PHOTOS: Americans Honor Troops On Memorial Day Weekend
Police Arrest Parents Of Six Children Killed In Derby House Fire
60 Recipes For Pie Lovers
Travel + Leisure: PHOTOS: America's Worst-Dressed People
NYPD May Search Landfill For Etan Patz's Body
3-24-2010 @12:50PM gjb said... Don't care! Luv McDonalds! They donate a considerable amt of money to charities. They are also the cleanest of fast food places.
Reply
3-24-2010 @12:55PM Darby said... Honey...this test was done a while back. Have you seen the movie "Supersize me?" Well, Morgan Spurlock (the man who did the 30 day McD's diet) put french fries from several different restaurants into glass jars and calculated their change over a few weeks. One jar contained steak fries, once contained home made fries and of course, one contained the infamous McD's fries. Needless to say, the McD's fries were the ONLY fries that did not..I repeat..Did not mold, rot or decay at all. Makes you wonder what their fries are really made out of?? I know that If I kept a potato in my pantry for a while, it starts to smell and grow eyes. So how come these french fries that are made out of "potatoes" do not do the same? Even though these bad boys taste fantastic, it kinda makes you wonder what you're ingesting.
Reply
3-24-2010 @2:30PM Tom said... Uh, excuse me but, the nutritionist mentioned lives in DENVER. Hello...our climate is considered High Plains Desert. The reason for this is, our humditiy averages below 50% most of the time and further has been known to drop to 1-2% for extended periods. Great place for preserving almost anything. By the way, we got around 12" of snow last night and the humidity in my house at this exact moment is 25%. Go figure...
Reply
3-24-2010 @4:45PM Shannon said... When is our Government going to step in and make it illegal for companies to use so many chemicals on and in our food?
What our meat and other foods contain is the primary reasons for most cancers now days, cancer is higher than ever and our foods more terrible additives than ever.
Cook for your self and for your family and omit fastfood and boxed meals!
Reply
3-24-2010 @1:16PM Juliann said... My heavens GOBO get over yourself.
Reply
3-24-2010 @1:20PM dogcow said... Interesting phrasing actually..."nothing added to the beef patties?" Not "nothing added to the beef".
Reply
3-24-2010 @1:25PM BERNIE said... Mexican food handlers are much more of a food illness risk than preservatives.
Reply
3-24-2010 @1:33PM vicki said... Years ago I dished out some ice cream, ate some and set the dish with the rest in the sink.... When I went to wash the dishes, the ice cream was still intact.. yech... That's what this story reminded me of...
Reply
3-24-2010 @3:10PM John Foote said... This is stupid. All pickles have preservatives, What do you think pickling is. Go to the store and buy buns and sliced cheese and it all has something in it to help keep it fresh. I don't go to Mc Donalds but why pick on them ,it is all over and if you had no preservatives your food costs would go through the roof. this article is B.S.
Reply
3-24-2010 @1:48PM Dean said... A lot of people miss the point that the government requires some of these ingredients to stop illness.Plus you don't HAVE to eat McD's!
Reply
3-24-2010 @2:05PM Equal and diverse said... If you support equal opportunities and diversity in our US culture and oppose prejudicial racial favoritism and pandering, regardless of your race, you might be willing to do something to oppose it.
BOYCOTT McDONALDS FOREVER
365black(com)
Reply
3-24-2010 @2:11PM B Fox said... Funny how aol like to let morons comment on hamburgers.. yet they seem to like to keep opinions at bay regarding obama's health care fiasco.
Reply
3-24-2010 @2:20PM Cedric said... Read the book "Fast Food Nation.....The dark side of the All-American Meal" by Eric Schlosser. I practically DARE you to read this book. It was the reason the movie "Food Inc" was made. If you can read that book and still come away with your "food is safe" mentality...then you truly get what you deserve. There is so much crap in what we eat--no wonder cancer and other terminal illnessess can't be eradicated. No wonder we are an obese, diabetic nation. Every country where a McDonalds or other fast food chain opens up--obesity and health problems follow. No coincedence there. Our grandparents and great grandparents lived healthy, Natural lives for the most part. Why are we so stupid that we didn't follow their examples? We reap what we sow.
Reply
3-24-2010 @2:34PM Jeff said... Gee whiz, is anybody really surprised about all this controversy? Did the article or anyone in this blog tell you or say anything that you didn't already know. Take a look at tribes of other nations, whose diets consist of fresh meats, fish, fowl, fruit, vegatables, and you will see that they live far better lives than do most of us. Most are trim and in good health. Why are people so shocked at the fact that there are preservatives in McDonald's food? Are candy bars good for you if eaten to excess? Are donuts good for you if eaten to excess? Is anything that is processed good for you if eaten to excess? Are cigarettes good for you? Do you really need someone to do a study like the woman in the article to tell you what you should already know? Come on people, whatever happened to responsible adults and common sense? It all boils down to choice. You choose to be ignorant or you choose to eat poorly. You should not be surprised by the outcome. Americans should be ashamed of themselves. We are the fattest country on the planet. We actually have eating contests, all while some countries have millions of people starving. Shame, shame.
Reply
3-24-2010 @2:50PM Darlene said... We have an oriental couple from China who are very friendly and even grow a garden behind our yard since they live 4 houes down. His name is Tod and told us that in China and most other oriental countries, they use any type of meat hey can get, including dogs which they enjoy more than any ther meat. No doubt MacDonalds uses dog meat since people cannot tell the difference. I also heard that Michael Vick always sold the dogs he killed during dog fights to a local restaurant.
Reply
3-24-2010 @3:02PM Mike Sanders said... Why in the world, would McDonalds french fries, require a preservative?
A typical order of large fries, contains over 1/2 cup of NaCl (sodium chloride). Why they use so much salt, has been a mystery for decades. That much salt, is enough to preserve the large fry for 7 to 10 years, AFTER the sodium acid pyrophosphate, has broken down.
I am going to re-escalate this matter, immediately! Every decade, I continue to hope that the synthetic preservatives, will be removed... No luck, so far. I've been monitoring the "salty fries" issue, since the early sixties.
Some say, that the salt content is continuing to rise, but a much longer study will need to be performed, before we can declare a "long-term" NaCl-increase. Most scientists, now agree though, NaCl-increases in McDonalds fries, do not involve any potato-issues. Rather, it is now clear, that this increase is due to "human activity," clearing the potato-substrate, from suspicion.
Reply
3-24-2010 @3:09PM John said... OK MIke , Do you have a Grand father named Harlin?
3-24-2010 @3:26PM Joann Bruso said... The international attention crashed my site...3 times. I'm up and running now. Because I was so hard to find, some gave the wrong link.
For your readers to find my Happy Birthday to My Happy Meal go to http://www.BabyBites.info
Reply
3-24-2010 @4:17PM robyn said... Did yall know besides the perservatives there is also ammonia in their burgers! Yes ammonia!!!! they use it as a filler. Just to save 1 cent on every pound.Maybe that is why it is so cheap to eat there. ammonia is very bad to injest. so the next time ya eat a burger from there and you start not feeling well a couple hours later thenya get the running poops. Remember you ate at mc donalds. Dont get me wrong I was a hugh fan of Mc Donalds till i discovered this fact and put it to the test myself.
Reply
3-24-2010 @3:45PM mezl said... if all this fast food is so bad for people, along with smoking, drinking and other stuff, how come we're at 6 billion people now? seems like no matter how many "killer" things, including fake food, are out to get us, our population just keeps expanding. the human race is like the cock roach race - NOTHING can kill us off as a whole. so why are people worried over a little fake food? and besides, most people don't eat fast fake food every day. some people mix it up a bit. mcdonald's one day, burger king the next, white castle the next day.... ;)
Reply