Our Decision To Boycott McDonalds

Several years ago, I read the book and watched the film Super Size Me, was horrified at the outcome and vowed and declared we would never go to McDonald's again. Time goes on, life goes on, kids keep nagging and I gave in.

We never went back to being regular eaters but we did occasionally go there for a treat. Well since going gluten - free we have not been there. There is absolutely nothing for Dani and I to eat, except for the garden salad. So we were avoiding it simply because it was not a gluten free option.

Rebekah of course, missed the playground. So the other day Rich being the good daddy that he is, took her to McDonalds to play on the playground. While he was there he bought her an icecream. She went absolutely nuts. For the next three hours we were ready to give her away or at least loan her out.

So we decided to look a little more intensely into the menu options of Australia's favourite take away.

The fries, which are gluten free, are not just potatoes. Don't fool yourself into thinking it doesn't matter. If you are trying to eat less chemicals then avoiding the fries is a good way to go. The ingredient list: states that they contain potato, canola oil and sunflower oil, dextrose, mineral salt, anti-oxidant OR potato, canola oil blend, antioxidant, food acid, anti-foam and dextrose. So firstly are you getting extra sugar or are you getting anti-foam and then they cook this mix in canola oil and add salt. Plus just the small fries have 1070 kj's.

Next have a look at their burgers. Every one of them contains preservative 282 which is the biggest reactor for hyperactive children around. It is one reason not to buy cheap bread and it proves that the bread at McDonald's is just that, cheap bread. Yes the beef is 100% beef but everything else is filled with sugar, emulsifiers and junk. One thing I have come to believe is that an emulsifier is what they use when they are using cheap alternatives to real food. Even worse is the fat contents of 26.9g for one Big Mac.

Let's have a look at the dreaded ice cream that sent my daughter around the twist. It contains milk, milk solids, cream, glucose (from wheat or maize), sulphar dioxide (bad news for asthmatics), emulsifiers, vegetable gums, and the dreaded flavour. Now the cone contains, wheat flour, antioxidants, water, soy lecithin, salt, mineral salt, colour 110 (bad for asthmatics as it contains sulphites). Plus there is a potential nut contamination. The fat is 4.5 g and the enegy is 613 kj. This is just the icecream.

The only salad option that is just a salad is the Garden Salad. Here is the ingredient list for the Seared Chicken Caesar Salad. It contains salad ingredients, which are fine. However the chicken contains chicken, water, thickeners, salt, yeast extracts, flavours, sugar, chicken fat, spices, dehydrated vegetables, hydrolised vegetable protein (wheat, soy), chicken broth (contains milk), mineral salts, colour, dextrose, maltodextrin, anti-caking agent, flavour enhancers, wheat, gluten and vegetable gum. Please do not fool yourself into thinking this is a healthy alternative. It has four servings of MSG for starters.



Of course I could go to McDonald's and buy a Garden Salad but honestly if I am going to spend $5.00 or whatever it is, on salad I will make it myself and make sure it is exceptional.

Nearly everything that is sold at McDonald's is loaded with fat, sugar and chemical enhancers. What is sold there is not food. Any nutritional content is outweighed by the rubbish that is packaged up and sold as food. This stuff is poison and while I know how easy it is to be pushed into the consumer mind set of just having it every now and then, don't fall for their tricks.

There is great food available but we have to get back into the mindset of early hunters and gatherers or the woman from Proverbs 31. We need to go out and find our food. It is not something that should be down the list of our priorities. It should be one of our major priorities and as such, what we produce and eat should be nutritionally sound, allergen free and not something that will produce adverse affects in our children.

McDonald's is not the only fast food company but it certainly the largest and it is not possible for them to not be aware of what they market. If you look at their website, they give the impression that what they are offering is fresh food. Yes the salad ingredients are good and the beef is great but the rest of the menu is rubbish and if all you can eat is a hamburger patty and a salad it makes more sense to cook your own. By the time you drive or walk to McDonald's and order you could have a burger grilled and a salad made.