- McDonald's urban legends
-
There are urban legends about McDonald's, the global United States-based fast food chain. A few examples of such urban legends regarding McDonald's food include:
Contents
Unusual ingredients
Large companies have been the subject of rumors that they substitute unusual or unethical substances in their products, usually to decrease costs. McDonald's is not immune to such claims. The following is a list of the most popular rumors about McDonald's food products.
One common thread that ties many stories like these together is the fact that the stories were not reported to the easily accessible mainstream media, police, medical services, or even government-run food or health inspection agencies, such as the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).[citation needed] These agencies and services are legally obliged to act on such extreme cases.
Earthworms
Dating back to at least 1978, the rumor claims that McDonald's restaurants use earthworms in their hamburgers. Why they would do that is unclear, as earthworms are more expensive than beef.[1][2]
Cow eyeballs
One popular belief is that McDonald's widely uses cow eyeballs in its products, permitting it to brand them as "100% beef".[3] However, the USDA mandates that all beef by-products, including cow eyeballs, be appropriately labelled. McDonald's, has asserted that its products contain "100% pure USDA inspected beef; no additives, no fillers, no extenders." In addition, cow eyeballs are actually more expensive than real beef, due to demand from scientific institutions for experiments.[4]
A related claim is that McDonald's buys its meat from a company called "100% beef", making it possible for McDonald's to call beef by-products and soy products "100% beef".[5]
Mutant laboratory meat
Around March–April, 2000, an Internet rumor spread via e-mail in Brazil claimed that McDonald's meat was actually made from a genetically modified animal maintained in a laboratory. The e-mail stated that "the few who saw it assure it is a very unpleasant sight: they have no limbs or horns, no bones (undeveloped cartilage instead), no eyes, no tail and no fur; its head is about the size of a Baseball; they are fed through tubes connected directly into their stomach".[6]
The e-mail carries on saying that "some irreversible health damage can be done by eating this meat, resulting in diseases who manifest themselves in a way similar to AIDS, and have symptoms related to Alzheimer's Disease" and ends encouraging the reader to boycott McDonald's until it sells actual beef.
The discovery was credited to researchers from the University of Michigan, although there are no official claims from anyone who actually works there, and is yet to actually be proven. It was likely an April Fool's Joke, due to its date of publication. A nearly identical urban legend has long circulated about Kentucky Fried Chicken.
This rumor is a plot point of the science fiction novel The Space Merchants, by Frederik Pohl (w/CM Kornbluth).
Pig fat
There has often been a rumor that McDonald's uses pig fat in its milkshakes, ice cream, and fried potatoes. McDonald's provides complete ingredient lists for all of its products on each of its regional websites: this includes unidentified fats within the ice cream used to make soft serve cones and sundaes.[7][8] McDonald's Australia, however, specifically mentions that "No idea how this one got started, there is definitely no lard and pig fat in the McDonald's Soft Serve or potatoes."[9] This rumor should not be confused with the fact that McDonald's has in the past used beef tallow as its frying oil.[10]
Choko pie
In Australia, a rumour has floated around for years that McDonald's Apple Pies were made of choko and ostrich eggs, not apples.[11] This eventually led them to emphasise the fact that real Granny Smith apples are used in McDonald's pies. Choko are more expensive than the apples supplied to McDonald's Australia.
References
- ^ Snopes: McSquirmies
- ^ Urban legends: Worms as 'Filler' in Fast Food
- ^ Snopes:Cow Eyeballs
- ^ "McEyeballs". Retrieved January 16, 2006.
- ^ Snopes:100 % beef"
- ^ "If you think you're eating something natural". Portuguese article, contains the original e-mail.
- ^ Williams, Ruth (Apr. 20, 2004)."McSalads bring back health". www.smh.com.au.
- ^ Sanghera, Sathnam (Dec. 16, 2005). "McDonald's bid to sugar its image will do it a fat lot of good". FirsTnews.
- ^ Top FAQs section of http://makeupyourownmind.com.au/. Retrieved January 12, 2007.
- ^ McDonald's To Settle Suits On tallow In French Fries
- ^ "‘We must never forget choko’". The Daily Ripper. Australia. December 17, 2004. http://www.dailyripper.com/2004/12/17/we-must-never-forget-choko/. Retrieved 3 September 2010.[dead link]
External links
- Make Up Your Own Mind, a site made by McDonald's, dedicated to clarifying myths and urban legends.
McDonald's People Richard and Maurice McDonald · Ray Kroc · Joan Kroc · Ralph Alvarez · Charlie Bell · Jim Cantalupo · George Cohon · Don Gorske · Jack M. Greenberg · Jim Skinner · Donald N. Smith · Fred L. Turner · Michael R. Quinlan · Al Bernardin · Herb Peterson · Willard ScottCompany Products BeefChickenOtherAdvertising CampaignsSponsorshipsRelated subjectsBurger Wars · Fast food advertisingOtherFranchises Criticism Legal cases Other Annual revenue
US$24.075 billion (2010) · Employees 400,000 (2010) · Stock symbol NYSE: MCD · Website mcdonalds.comCategories:- McDonald's
- Urban legends
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
