McDonald's Breaks Promise On Dangerous Trans Fatty Acids

[JPZenger]

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/10757625.htm
Jan. 28, 2005, The Dallas Morning News

Excerpts:

"Two years after McDonald's' own deadline for reducing trans fats, the french fry has thus far snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
McDonald's had announced with fanfare that the amount of trans fats in its cooking oil would be cut almost in half by February 2003. After that, a more ambitious goal: McDonald's planned to eliminate this form of disease-causing grease, right down to the last McNugget.

Today, however, an order of fries remains as trans-laden as ever, leaving consumer advocates with a supersized disbelief.

"It's astonishing," says Michael Jacobson of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. He and many other nutrition experts now feel burned for their accolades in September 2002, when McDonald's announced its intention. The new U.S. Dietary Guidelines, released just this month, urge Americans to keep their trans-fat consumption as close to zero as possible.

The problem is that trans fats have a singular ability to harm the heart and blood vessels. Both saturated fat and trans fat raise the level of LDL, the form of cholesterol that contributes to heart disease. But trans fat also lowers the level of HDL, which protects against heart disease.

Plano-based Frito-Lay has now removed trans fats from all its products, as have many other major food manufacturers."

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. My remedy...don't eat there

[AP]

2. People here defend McDonalds by saying, "people know what they're getting

into when they eat fast food."

Uhm, McDonalds told customers they were taking this stuff out and they never did. Furthermore, nobody would have realized this stuff was in their food if some consumer group hadn't made a lot of noise about it in the late 90s.

[Goldom]

3. I agree that lying like that is wrong,

but even without those in their food, their stuff is still awful for you, and 99% of customers know that. And they do it anyway. We all do.

[AP]

11. I think most people assume that if the food were so bad for you, the gov't

or the courts would have stopped them from selling it.

I know that I presume that if something is on sale in America, the FDA or some other government agency, or in-house lawyers have probably made some kind of attempt to ensure that it's safe.

I even remember when I thought that a big mac was a protein-rich part of growing child's healthy diet.

[soleft]

4. Thanks to my gallbladder I haven't eaten at McDonalds in years

I could have it removed so I could go back - but I'm thinking - nah

[musiclawyer]

6. Do a liver flush

your gallbladder will be happy happy

[HereSince1628]

9. I just looked up liver flush on google.

You expanded my world (but not my common bile duct) a bit today.

[hector459]

5. Just taking a cue from the Commander-in-thief. Lying to the public is ok.

So long as you do it often, loudly, and unrepentantly.

[Melynn]

7. What a surprise

A big corporation lying to the public, who would have thunk it?

At least nowadays we have websites like DU to get the message out. Back in the days before the world wide web, companies like McDonald's would have gotten away with their lies.

[hunter]

8. They also put meat "flavoring" in their fries, and claimed they didn't.

Many vegetarians, especially people who are vegetarians for religious reasons, were very upset.

"Don't eat there" is probably the best answer.

If I'm craving fatty food, I go to a real Mexican restaurant where they cook everything in lard. The food tastes better than anything McDonald's makes, and it's better for you, if you don't over-indulge.

If I'm craving vegetarian food (really, it happens!) I go to restaurants run by vegetarians.

While travelling it's very easy to stop at chain restaurants like McDonalds where you know the food won't kill you (not immediately, anyways) but more and more when I'm on the road, I find myself stopping at grocery stores to buy real food.

[Vinca]

10. McDonald's food is horrible with or without trans fats and

the amount of calories in a typical, large burger meal with fries is nearly a day's worth of calories for some people. It's not cheap, either. I can make homemade bread and a week's worth of homemade soup for the price of a lunch at Mickey D's. (Today's menu was multigrain bread and split pea with ham.:7 )