McDonald's Fries

Man, that is bad news for a lot of people...

"jay" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

MickDonald's does it to you again.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/diet.fitness/02/15/mcdonald.s.fries.ap/index.html

OK, so how exactly does noting that the flavoring agents used
contain wheat and dairy DERIVATIVES automatically
equate to "the fries aren't gluten-free?"

Bob M.

"jay" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

MickDonald's does it to you again.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/diet.fitness/02/15/mcdonald.s.fries.ap/index.html

The dietary issues are the least of your problems when you eat those.
McDonald's insists on absolutely perfect potatoes from their suppliers. None
of those little dark spots that you and I would just eat around or cut away
at home.

Guess how they get those perfect potatoes?

"Doug Kanter" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
snip

Quoted message said:

Guess how they get those perfect potatoes?

I'll bite, how?
Janet

Doug Kanter said:

"jay" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

MickDonald's does it to you again.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/diet.fitness/02/15/mcdonald.s.fries.ap/index.html

The dietary issues are the least of your problems when you eat those.
McDonald's insists on absolutely perfect potatoes from their suppliers. None
of those little dark spots that you and I would just eat around or cut away
at home.

Guess how they get those perfect potatoes?

Witchcraft...?

I give. How do they get those perfect potatoes? I bet it's going to be
some sinister plot...

Pastorio

jay said:

MickDonald's does it to you again.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/diet.fitness/02/15/mcdonald.s.fries.ap/index.html

Oh, [censored]. Read the whole thing. They can say it's gluten-free
because there's no protein component to the flavoring agents which are
*derivatives* of wheat and dairy.

Has there been a massive outbreak of allergic reactions to their fries?
A sudden run on epipens? And where's the media when huge stories like
this break...

The bastids...

Pastorio

"Bob (this one)" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Doug Kanter said:

"jay" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

MickDonald's does it to you again.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/diet.fitness/02/15/mcdonald.s.fries.ap/index.html

The dietary issues are the least of your problems when you eat those.
McDonald's insists on absolutely perfect potatoes from their suppliers.
None of those little dark spots that you and I would just eat around or
cut away at home.

Guess how they get those perfect potatoes?

Witchcraft...?

I give. How do they get those perfect potatoes? I bet it's going to be
some sinister plot...

Pastorio

I guess it depends on what falls under your definition of sinister. Really,
it's an astounding variety of pesticides & fungicides, applied almost
constantly throughout the growing season. Way beyond what's used on most
other crops. Some farmers won't eat the potatoes they grow for McDonald's.

MickeyD's does absolutely nothing to me, again. Why? Because I don't eat
there. Hard to fathom how an NG like this spends so much time discussing
stuff we don't eat, and would never dream of eating. OK, I'm eliteist.
So sue me 😉

Jo

Doug Canter said:

Quoted message said:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/diet.fitness/02/15/mcdonald.s.fries.ap/index.html

The dietary issues are the least of your problems when you eat those.
McDonald's insists on absolutely perfect potatoes from their suppliers. None
of those little dark spots that you and I would just eat around or cut away
at home.

It seems a little ironic to me that McDonalds would insist on perfect potatoes where
their food is so far from perfects. I realize that they sell billions of burgers, but
mass appeal, especially with their special appeal to children and teens does nothing
to enhance my view of their products. I will take those roughly chopped fries from a
chip truck over the golden arches fries any day.

Henhouse said:

MickeyD's does absolutely nothing to me, again. Why? Because I don't eat
there. Hard to fathom how an NG like this spends so much time discussing
stuff we don't eat, and would never dream of eating. OK, I'm eliteist.
So sue me 😉

Jo

Alright Jo. If you don't hear from my lawyers soon, call me. 🙂

I must agree. Don't eat there -- probably never will. -G

I guess you could say there's a sort of perfection in all categories,
even when the category is [censored].

Doug Kanter said:

The dietary issues are the least of your problems when you eat those.
McDonald's insists on absolutely perfect potatoes from their suppliers. None
of those little dark spots that you and I would just eat around or cut away
at home.

McDonalds uses a sophisticated electronic visual inspection
process. The fries go through a conveyor and the video system
identifies fries with blemishes. The video system then calculates
trajectory and blows the offending fry off the conveyer with a
carefully directed blast of air from a robotic air gun.

Quoted message said:

Guess how they get those perfect potatoes?

They grow them?

-sw

Doug Kanter said:

I guess it depends on what falls under your definition of sinister. Really,
it's an astounding variety of pesticides & fungicides, applied almost
constantly throughout the growing season.

Like this is any different than another other commercial farm? It
ain't.

-sw

Doug Kanter said:

it's an astounding variety of pesticides & fungicides, applied almost
constantly throughout the growing season. Way beyond what's used on most
other crops. Some farmers won't eat the potatoes they grow for McDonald's.

Here McD's has refused GM spuds.
<http://www.biotech-info.net/decisions_fastfood.html>

Here, Australian farmers are threatening to boycott McD's if they don't
buy more potatoes. <http://tinyurl.com/9ffwo>

"If the McDonald's made a deal long ago to help Ray Kroc's personal
friend expand the production of his potato farm, in turn for loyalty to
sell to McDonald's, then that is totally fair (speaking of Simplot of
ID). Even if, McDonald's pays 2 cents more per potato now. You see, the
potato farmer is reaping the rewards for helping Ray Kroc in the
beginning; build the McDonald's brand name."
<http://readerfeed.com/branding/29872.html>

Hmmm. Here's a story that supports your contention.
<http://www.mcspotlight.org/media/press/potatoes.html>

This story says the potatoes aren't perfect.
"Scalding steam explodes brown skins. Workers with stubby knives gouge
out black spots. [...] High-pressure water blasts potatoes at 35 mph
through a pipe into brass blades arranged in a quarter-inch grid. [...]
Laser-guided knives whack imperfections from the raw shoestring fries."
<http://tinyurl.com/7bjdd>

This story says that while russets require more fertilizer and
pesticides, production is heading into other varieties.
"The predominant variety for many decades, both for processing and fresh
markets, has been Russet Burbank, which accounted for 65% of the western
U.S. potato acreage in the early 1980's but less than 50% in 2004. [...]

"Russet Burbank produces oblong to long, russet-skinned tubers with
moderately high solids, has long-storage dormancy, and produces
excellent baked and processed products. Despite these strengths, Russet
Burbank has serious weaknesses. Russet Burbank is susceptible to
Verticillium wilt, early blight, late blight, most potato viruses
(including leafroll net necrosis), and some physiological disorders
including hollow heart, brown center, internal brown spot, blackspot
bruise, and dark-end fries caused by sugar accumulation in tuber stem
ends when the crop is stressed. It is much more susceptible than most
modern varieties to knobs, off-shapes, and internal and external defects
associated with uneven growing conditions caused by fluctuating
temperature and moisture. Serious quality reduction due to small tuber
size and internal disorders aggravated by high temperatures is not
uncommon for this variety.

"Russet Burbank requires a high level of management, requiring more
fertilizer, water, and pesticides than are required for varieties such
as Bannock Russet, Alturas, and GemStar Russet - recent releases from
the Northwest Tri-State Potato Variety Development Program."
<http://tinyurl.com/c32jr>

It seems that Russets take more care, but it seems that they return more
than other varieties. It's that same kind of mixed blessing that so many
other food sources generate. It falls under the "water balloon
principle" I formulated years ago. When you squeeze a water-filled
balloon, it bulges out somewhere else. So solve this problem, but create
a new one over there somewhere.

What John Campbell who was one of the great editors said: "You can't do
just one thing."

Who knew there were so many varieties of potatoes?

Pastorio

In article <[email hidden]>,

Bob (this one) said:

Here McD's has refused GM spuds.

Admirable of them. :-)

I've been avoiding products made with yellow corn meal for the same
reason.

Even Taco Bell avoided yellow corn, their tortillas were made with only
white corn for ages!
--
Peace, Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

"Doug Kanter" <[email hidden]> hitched up their panties and
posted news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Guess how they get those perfect potatoes?

Oh Gawd. How?

--
“It requires a certain kind of mind to see beauty in a hamburger bun.”
_Ray Kroc, creator of the McDonald's franchise

"Dave Smith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

It seems a little ironic to me that McDonalds would insist on perfect

potatoes where

Quoted message said:

their food is so far from perfects. I realize that they sell billions of

burgers, but

Quoted message said:

mass appeal, especially with their special appeal to children and teens

does nothing

Quoted message said:

to enhance my view of their products. I will take those roughly chopped

fries from a

Quoted message said:

chip truck over the golden arches fries any day.

Actually, their food DOES come very much closer to
"perfect" *for what it is supposed to be* than any of
their competitors. Note, however, that in this context,
"perfect" doesn't at ALL have to equate to "good" in terms
of taste, nutrition, etc..

I had the good fortune to be sitting next to a McDonald's exec
on a trans-Pacific flight once; he was on his way to Australia
and New Zealand to work out some deals with meat suppliers
their for their Asian operations. Learned a lot about what
Micky D's is all about, and you can basically sum it up in
one word: consistency. McDonald's never is going to make the
absolute best hamburger or whatever in the world, but
they know that and that isn't really what they're shooting for.
The point is to make a product that the public will buy, and
then to make sure that that product is absolutely the same no
matter what McDonald's you happen to walk into. And at
least in my experience, in THAT sense they're the best in
the world. No matter where I am - and I get around quite
a bit on business - if I HAVE to go for "fast food," either
due to a time crunch or just because I have no "known good"
local options, I am likely to go to McD's. I never expect
to have a "great" burger or whatever there, but I am always
absolutely certain that whatever I DO get will be exactly the
same in, say, Taipei as it is in Denver. And I can tell you from
(bad) experience that a lot of their American-type competition
in those same locations can't say the same thing.

In that light, their demanding that their suppliers provide
potatoes (or whatever) to some pretty tight specifications
is very understandable.

Bob M.

Quoted message said:

Bob Myers said:

"Dave Smith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

It seems a little ironic to me that McDonalds would insist on perfect

potatoes where

Quoted message said:

their food is so far from perfects. I realize that they sell billions of

burgers, but

Quoted message said:

mass appeal, especially with their special appeal to children and teens

does nothing

Quoted message said:

to enhance my view of their products. I will take those roughly chopped

fries from a

Quoted message said:

chip truck over the golden arches fries any day.

Actually, their food DOES come very much closer to
"perfect" *for what it is supposed to be* than any of
their competitors. Note, however, that in this context,
"perfect" doesn't at ALL have to equate to "good" in terms
of taste, nutrition, etc..

I had the good fortune to be sitting next to a McDonald's exec
on a trans-Pacific flight once; he was on his way to Australia
and New Zealand to work out some deals with meat suppliers
their for their Asian operations. Learned a lot about what
Micky D's is all about, and you can basically sum it up in
one word: consistency. McDonald's never is going to make the
absolute best hamburger or whatever in the world, but
they know that and that isn't really what they're shooting for.
The point is to make a product that the public will buy, and
then to make sure that that product is absolutely the same no
matter what McDonald's you happen to walk into. And at
least in my experience, in THAT sense they're the best in
the world. No matter where I am - and I get around quite
a bit on business - if I HAVE to go for "fast food," either
due to a time crunch or just because I have no "known good"
local options, I am likely to go to McD's. I never expect
to have a "great" burger or whatever there, but I am always
absolutely certain that whatever I DO get will be exactly the
same in, say, Taipei as it is in Denver. And I can tell you from
(bad) experience that a lot of their American-type competition
in those same locations can't say the same thing.

In that light, their demanding that their suppliers provide
potatoes (or whatever) to some pretty tight specifications
is very understandable.

Bob M.

You are not wrong. The thing about Maccas is that no matter where you are you know exactly what you're getting, with very little risk of food poisoning thrown in for free. The traditional Aussie burger at its best is superior to a Big Mac, but you can be sadly disappointed a lot of the time.

Have you heard of the practice of using the price of a Big Mac relative
to the average wage as a guide to a country's prosperity?

Christine

Bob Myers said:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/diet.fitness/02/15/mcdonald.s.fries.ap/index.html

OK, so how exactly does noting that the flavoring agents used
contain wheat and dairy DERIVATIVES automatically
equate to "the fries aren't gluten-free?"

Bob M.

Whey and casein, which are milk derivatives, will send my husband to the
bathroom faster than you can count to 5.

It matters.