You know those Big Macs that you eat almost every Saturday? And those Oreo and M&M McFlurries that you always get when you go to McDonald’s? Well, a lot of people say that McDonald’s is bad for you and that you should never go there unless you really have to. A lot of people also say that McDonald’s is the best place ever to go eat! So since this whole debate has been going for like 30 or 40 years now, I decided to investigate and find out what’s the real deal with McDonald’s.

There’s a lot of different meals, drinks, and desserts at McDonald’s that people usually get. Like Big Macs. From the movie Super Size Me, a guy, on his first day at McDonald’s, bought 9 Big Macs! He says that Big Macs are 95% of his meals every day, and that he usually eats 3 or 4 a day since the Macs are getting smaller and smaller. Another “regular” menu item is, the national side of the USA, French fries. French fries has been around for a long time at McDonald’s, and a lot of people like the crispy, fried potatoes for their delicious taste and their own little spot on the value menu. The double cheeseburger has also made its own way up to the top of the “regular item” list. The juicy, cheesy, mouth-watering burger has also been a very competitive menu item that many burger selling joints, such as Hardees and Wendy’s, has been trying to beat. And nobody can forget the tender, crunchy Chicken McNuggets that everybody loves. These chicken nuggets has also been a very competitive menu item to beat, and very popular. Now I know what you’re thinking. What about dessert? Well, the creamy, chocolaty Oreo and M&M McFlurries and the Hot Baked Apple Pies has also been very popular and delicious desserts at McDonald’s.

Even though there’s a lot of great things to eat at McDonald’s, there’s still some other ingredients that has to go into them to make them “taste good”. You know those Big Macs we were talking about earlier? Well did you know that they had calcium sulfate: used as a fertilizer, ammonium sulfate: also used as a fertilizer, and guar gum: used to thicken and stabilize processed food? And that’s just the Big Mac bun! Just imagine what else is in the bun, sauce, and patty! It sounds unbelievable! And those crispy French fries, has sodium acid pyrophosphate: used to maintain color, dimethylpolysiloxane: used as an antifoaming agent, which is obviously not only potatoes, salt, and oil. Even though the only troubling ingredient in the double cheese burgers is just the pasteurized, processed cheese slices and the only troubling ingredient in the Chicken McNuggets is just dimethylpolysiloxane: used as an antifoaming agent, doesn’t mean that the McFlurries and the Hot Baked Apple Pies are off the hook. The McFlurries have carrageenan: a carbohydrate made from seaweed, and cellulose gum: a chemical used in plastic. And the Hot Baked Apple Pies have sorbitol: plant alcohol used as a sweetner, apple powder: dehydrated apples and citric acid, beta carotene: coloring, artificial flavoring, and more! But if you think this was bad, just imagine the nutritional facts about them! Probably outrageous right?

What’s even worse than the ingredients, is the weight you gain from them every time you eat them. For example, Big Macs. Each Big Mac has 540 calories, 260 calories from the fat, and 29 grams of fat. Each double cheese burger has 540 calories, 210 calories from fat, and 23 gram of fat. Each batch of small French fries has 230 calories, 100 calories from fat, and 11 grams of fat. Totally unheard of right? But I’m not done yet. Those 6 piece Chicken McNuggets have 280 calories, 160 calories from the fat, and 17 grams of fat; the Oreo McFlurries have 580 calories, 170 calories from fat, 19 grams of fat, and the M&M McFlurries have 710 calories, 230 calories from fat, and 25 grams of fat; and the Baked Hot Apple Pies have 250 calories, 110 calories from fat, and 13 grams of fat. Well, since you now know some of the nutritional dangers of some of the popular menu items, now you know some of what’s the real deal with McDonald’s.