Fast food, becoming a ripoff ?

[Blue Hills]

But its good for washing, getting warm, loads of coffee, charging electrical kit and toilets. If you are touring or ultra racing there is also that satisfying feeling of familiararity and normality, regardless of where you are in the world.

you forgot shooting up drugs.
(judging by the lighting in the one by Westminster Cathedral and a few other ones)

The familiarity I can kind of understand but that plus faded after an inter-rail trip in my teens - yes we sought out macdonalds in strange cities as you could just point at pictures/speak the international MacD language to get what you needed - and we were on a very very restricted daily budget. But I think it was that trip which taught me that they were poor value - they don't fill you up or fuel you much in any real way. Better to take your chances with the Naples streetfood/pizza slices etc.

 

[Pale Rider]

Most of the foodstuff at McDonald's is 'RSPCA Farm Assured'.

Probably better than the cheaper stuff in supermarkets who, for example, still offer caged hen eggs.

https://www.rspcaassured.org.uk/whe... only uses free-range,use of the entire range.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Can you pass on the secret of their unique variation on the concept of bread?

I hardly think that's unique, check-out burger buns from most places...

 

[Blue Hills]

I hardly think that's unique, check-out burger buns from most places...

well it's he rubberiest stuff I've ever pushed in me - only stuff that I've had that comes close is the cheapest worst things I sometimes buy deep-discount yellow stickered from the supermarket to freeze for toast. No fibre/body at all.

 

[Pale Rider]

Another plus for McDonalds is their full compliance with Covid regulations.

I've been to two branches in the last couple of months.

Both were properly enforcing an 'only two customers inside at a time' rule, and there was a pleasant and helpful staff member to greet me and tell me what was expected.

If only some other hospitality businesses took their responsibilities so seriously, instead of spending their time squawking for government hand outs.

 

[steveindenmark]

you forgot shooting up drugs.
(judging by the lighting in the one by Westminster Cathedral and a few other ones)

The familiarity I can kind of understand but that plus faded after an inter-rail trip in my teens - yes we sought out macdonalds in strange cities as you could just point at pictures/speak the international MacD language to get what you needed - and we were on a very very restricted daily budget. But I think it was that trip which taught me that they were poor value - they don't fill you up or fuel you much in any real way. Better to take your chances with the Naples streetfood/pizza slices etc.

I agree with the quality. But its just the ease I find appealing occasionally. When Im at home and not touring, its burger king every time. I dont use Mcds in Denmark.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Oh come, I know we would all defend a good employer (and they are that) but your oft repeated protests on McDonald's being "real food" are transparent shilling.

It's crap, sugary, syrupy sweet crap at that, and highly calorific junk food. Yes I know it's real beef, real coffee beans, real potatoes... (but it's a sad company who needs to assure people that its beef comes from cows and its chips come from potatoes). Tellingly It's also real sugar, from sugar cane, and real fat, from animals, and lots of it, in both cases.

A *medium* big mac meal is over half the calorie intake of what a human needs in a day, and people have that for lunch, not their main meal. Go large and you're at the threshold of that being all you're allowed, (unless you like wearing size 22 dresses as a matter of course).

Yes, you eat it occasionally and yes, it won't kill you occasionally, but the constant queue of people at every "I can't even be arsed to get out of my McCar" McDrive is testament to the fact that for many it's far from occasional. It's a long term habit.

Its terrible, sugary, highly calorific crap which is helping lazy Brits become ever more obese and lazy, and shame on you for defending it.

I'm not going to pursuade you different, but to come back on a few points.

I am not employed (nor ever have been) by McDonalds or similar.
Yes a McMeal is a meal and interestingly there are calorie constraints on their meals, you may not like where the bar is set, but that's the case.
The Nutritional values of all its products are available in-store and online.

A quarter pound of beefburger in bread for lunch is never going to be a great start wherever you buy it from. The beef is very good quality. I find it funny that people denigrate McD but are happy to by god knows what from greasy Joe's van around the corner - Or most take-aways with food of unknown provenance.
The Fries are just that, potatoes fried in vegetable oil, just like people may do at home. And from my experience far less oily than certain frozen fries that are oven baked. Nothing special there, fries are unhealthy whether from Harbour View chippy, McD or home.
If you buy a full fat coke, shake or Ice-cream no shoot-sherlock, they are full of sugar and fat, that's what these things are wherever you buy them from. Coke is a crappy fizzy drink that some people like, it's not my choice (I'd ban them) but hey it's not my world.

I am happy to defend the Mc products that I have experience of because from what I have seen they are made from consistent good quality materials from long-term sourcing partners, the traceability is second to none. The standards of hygiene, manufacture, quality control and food safety are world-class.
Is it perfect? No, but it's far, far better than given credit.


The rest of your post however is not about the Mcfood or its quality, but about people's dietary choices and that is primarily a very complex socio-economic issue that urgently needs to be tackled. To blame McD and it's ilk is a simple knee-jerk by those that do not have a grasp of the problem.

 

[Fab Foodie]

yep - the fondness of some cyclists for them puzzles me. I don't think one of their rubbery bunned burgers would power me over many miles. Am even more amazed in the current hell at seeing folks standing in long queues to get into one. So they are not even fastfood.

Well as stated upthread, they are quite high in calories and protein so should keep you powered for a while

 

[jowwy]

Iceland are doing a 12oz Big Daddy sirloin steak for £5.
The rest is a relatively small amount, £2 for 2 stir fry packs, £1 for the sauce, pennies for the egg noodles.
Fine value for good food.

i though you said fine meal and then you said steak from iceland.........think i would stick with the mcdonalds

 

[Fab Foodie]

I agree with the quality. But its just the ease I find appealing occasionally. When Im at home and not touring, its burger king every time. I dont use Mcds in Denmark.

I prefer a Whopper to a Big Mac, but McNuggets to BKs past offerings. Danish McNuggets are actually made in Denmark :-)

 

[Pale Rider]

I prefer a Whopper to a Big Mac

Same here, and Burger King fries are nicer.

However, the handful of Burger Kings I've visited have been a bit grubby and tatty around the edges.

 

[si_c]

A bacon roll is one of the finest foods known to man (if you don't fubar it with brown sauce). Seek out the mobile shacks parked near builders merchants. They are the experts.

Sir, I beg to differ! A bacon roll cries out for brown sauce!
Edit: Builders merchants are amateurs to be honest - in my experience the best food shacks are found near transportation hubs where lorry drivers pass with frequency.

That being said McDonalds has high calorie counts in it's burgers as it's three main ingredients are bread, meat and cheese. Not exactly low calorie food items. 200kcals of the big mac are probably from the bread alone.

It's also probably surprising to most people but McDonalds (and by implication KFC and BK) serve very fresh food - despite what you might think. I doubt many preservatives or artificial additives are used at all these days - they weren't 20 years ago when I worked for them and consumer expectations have changed since then too. They have relied on a just in time delivery system for decades - stores order just enough to last them til the next delivery. Bread is baked and is delivered fresh to the stores from regional bakeries and most of the products are fresh - the only preserved items used with frequency are the sauces such as the Ketchup.

People oft quote those pictures of burgers that never go stale but fail to contextualise - how were they preserved? Sealed glass jars? That and they are often not particularly recent and nearly always from the US where food standards are very different. In the UK and Europe they have had to abide by the same food standards as everyone else.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I'd rather go in a spoons - have got me through some long rides - longest about 16 hours I think. Nice memories of a couple of strong porters and a reduced price mixed grill in a Bury one before pressing on for more hills.

McDs are 24 hr (in normal times). It transformed audaxes, such as 400km Easter Arrows that go through the night. The routes would be designed to stop at McDs in the middle of the night. Quite a change to sitting outside on bags of charcoal at a 24hr garage somewhere as the rain comes down.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Not as good a a Pork Pie though.

A McPie? My desire for pork pies varies. Sometimes I’m all over them. Other times I want something else.

 

[Drago]

Into town early yesterday, to hopefully miss the crowds, fancied a snack mid morning, popped into MacDonalds for a sausage bacon and egg McMuffin and a couple of hash browns.
Tea later that day cooked a 12oz sirloin (cut in half, enough for both of us), 2 packs of stir fry, some egg noodles and a couple packs of stir fry sauce.

McDonalds cost for a snack, £9.95 iirc.
Steak and stir fry, a proper enjoyable meal, circa £8.25.

Dont get me wrong, I like a McDonald once in a while, but the prices seem to be getting silly.
My wife reckons I'm getting tight.

And the value of your time and labour to do all that? Add that in, and its a far more expensive proposition than a Mickey D's box of slop.

Take out the cost of McDonalds preparing cooking and putting it in a sick bag and youre left with the cost of raw materials, which is less than 50p for a typical 'meal'. For for what they do to present you with hot, ready to eat 'food" for the price they do is still far better value than you doing it yourself. Not necessarily cheaper because of it, but definitely better value.