McDonald's Massacre

reply to post by DAZ21

Thanks for bringing that info to our attention Daz.

When I was a kid, I never liked McDonald's burgers, I would only ever eat the Chicken McNuggets. Though I have avoided McD's food completely for a few years now.

In Australia the 'chemical composition' of McD's nuggets is different to the USA (and possibly other countries) but it is still curious what they actually put into their 'food'.

For anyone interested, please read on.

I downloaded the ingredient list from the McD's AU site:
mcdonalds.com.au/our-food/nutrition

and cross-referenced with the food additives list at:
www.mbm.net.au/health/guide.htm

The additives listed in the PDF from McD's are:
1404 (Oxidised starch)
341 (Calcium phosphates)
451 (Sodium and potassium triphosphate)
450 (Diphosphates)
500 (Sodium carbonates)
541 (Sodium aluminium phosphate, alkaline)
551 (Silicon dioxide)
327 (Calcium lactate)

Seems innocuous enough, however, when I checked the description of additive 541, the info at mbm.net.au reads:

541 Sodium aluminium phosphate alkaline
Banned in Australia. Avoid it.
Synthetically produced from aluminium, phosphoric acid and sodium hydroxide. Acidity regulator, emulsifier used in baked goods, cheese products, confectionary, mince meat, frozen fish, stews. A risk to babies, elderly and people suffering from kidney and heart complaints. Aluminium impairs the calcium and phosphorous uptake by the body. Possible link to osteoporosis, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. Avoid it.

Banned?
Not sure if the 541 in McD's ingredient list is a typo. Possible I guess, perhaps an email to McD's might clarify. The only other menu item that contains 541 is the hotcakes.

Also in reference to additive 1404:

Prepared by treating starch with hypochlorite. The starch is partially degraded and oxidised. Thickener, vegetable gum which is bleached with possible sulphur dioxide residue, which is dangerous to asthmatics. High concentrations cause diarrhoea and kidney defects in animals. See 1403. Further testing required

I think the fact we have to research Material Safety Data Sheets to identify what the ingredients in the food we eat actually are, and their effects on living creatures, indicates to me that we are best not consuming the food in the first place.

Hmm I suggest you find a better example for a chemical. Working with chemicals you probably know the properties and hazards of citric acid?

Citric acid safety data sheet

OMG it has a much much lower oral LD50 than your PDMS. It is very likely added in the nuggets too, as a preservative, oh, AND IT IS FOUND IN LEMONS!! HOLY S*** BAN THE LEMONS!!!

And let's not even start talking about sodium nitrite... A very commonly used chemical too.


Of course I'm not saying junk food isn't bad, just need to see things in perspective. Even water is lethal...

You would have thought that by now, one of these global food chains would have cottoned on to the fact that if they changed their crap ingredients for quality ones, also cut out all of the chemical addatives, they would wipe the other competetors off of the racetrack and be the number one fast-food outlet. A small increase in the initial cost of the burgers etc, but the public would swallow it hook line and sinker !

reply to post by blackmetalmist


they might have 100% chicken, but i think what he is talking about is the batter used, the crispy outter part. An anti-foaming agent or something so when they fry the nuggets there's not much sizzle, or foam like when you fry your own foods with homemade batter, there' alot of batter run off.

reply to post by DAZ21

I guess the question is, how many of you are feeding this stuff to your kid's?

Or, maybe the question is, how much guilt are you experiencing for being involved in such a chemical? Is the point of this thread to clear your conscious by alerting the public to this potentially dangerous chemical? I'm just curious how you feel about. Would you feed your children McDonald's chicken nuggets? Are you feeling morally challenged by being involved? Is the money worth it? I'm sure your employer would not approve of you releasing this information. Are you risking your job to tell us this on such a public forum? I have never heard of a chemical being involved with the creation of a food product that required a MSDS sheet. That's pretty wicked stuff!

Thanks for the information, DAZ! I'll think twice about those chicken nuggets next time!

reply to post by OptimusSubprime

Now kick it up a notch and become vegitarian or even vegan... like i did.. then its like BAM.. your 18 again. not ot mention all the animals lives you will save from suffering.. the list goes on.


i think today the MAIN culprit is IGNORANCE!
people who refuse to educate themselfs on whats going on are the ones that are their own worst enemy.
think about it..:
you vote in a shmuck with out research,, you suffer when they pass some idiot law
you put food in your mouth without knowing where it came from or whats in it... you die one day from long term poisoning

just use that concept for everything from buying a lcd tv to drinking your water...how can you trust ANYONE these days...?
people on ATS should know this well.

reply to post by blackmetalmist


Even after seeing nuggets as giant pink toothpaste a while back?
Don't eat food that doesn't rot. It's for your own good.

This is how chicken nuggets are born:

reply to post by detachedindividual

Originally posted by detachedindividual
Wow, a corporation with a sole intention to make profit (through low pay, low food standards, mass sales and anticompetitive practices) uses a dangerous chemical in a product and people are surprised?

Exactly. Why ANYONE - EVER eats fast food (with what we know about it and the information widely available) is a complete mystery to me. Chick-Fil-A and the rest are just as bad. These corporations care about ONE thing. Profit.

But it's not the corporations that are at fault. They are operating under guidelines and regulations that our government puts up. And who lets the government do this? Why, we do, of course. We elect them. We demand a good-tasting, salty, preservative-laden, fast, cheap chicken bit to feed our kids and we give these corporations money to allow us to poison our children and ourselves.

We are at fault! I NEVER eat fast food. It's not "food", it's poison. It's not a massacre, it's suicide.

Originally posted by boncho
Question:

If we assume what you are saying is true without looking into it any further...

If the nuggets contain this chemical, and the chemical turns to formaldehyde upon heating, than would it not turn but then be cooked up by the fryer heat.

BP of formaldehyde is -19c or -2f

I think a fryer is a lot hotter than that. Don't get me wrong, it's interesting that you bring it up. But since you work in a lab why didn't you just take a nugget and do analysis on it to see if it tests positive for formaldehyde.

Test kits are readily available.

Are you sure you are a chemist, or do you work in shipping/receiving?

edit on 16-8-2012 by boncho because: (no reason given)

Ok first off, I don't think you quite understand how it works. Formaldehyde can exist in many different forms, like trioxane for example.

Hahaha, if I was to experiment on a chicken nuggets at work, I think I'd be fired. Even if I tried in secret, we have cctv cameras in every room, so It's impossible.

I guess that's the UK for you.

reply to post by ElOmen


Thanks for the spam.

reply to post by DAZ21


Do you partake in an alcoholic beverage from time to time?

A beer or wine perhaps?

How about tea or coffee?

In fact, anything that will create foam, even a production line of potatoes being washed, will use a defoamer and it's quite often PDMS.

The FDA has a section on Defoaming agents

ate some nuggets the other day, and a whopper from burger king the other day, and...later that nite, barrfff.. Im gonnna stick to my own recipes and make homemade food

It was Dow Corning that kept pushing the FDA to allow the use of PDMS as a food additive. Whether there was an under the table deal or not we will never know.

How much profit do you reckon Dow Corning make? Manufacturing tonnes and tonnes of this particular product and selling to companies like McDonald's, who welcome them with open arms, as it ups their profit aswell.

The fact that a chemical manufacturing company, that has nothing to do with the food industry suddenly sees an opportunity and a way of increasing profits hugely makes you wonder. Is there some sort of agenda? Or was it simply greed and a sinister deal made between several parties?

chicken mcnuggets bad uhhmk. they are poisoning us. they always have been, its on the agenda.

Originally posted by DAZ21

Originally posted by boncho
Question:

If we assume what you are saying is true without looking into it any further...

If the nuggets contain this chemical, and the chemical turns to formaldehyde upon heating, than would it not turn but then be cooked up by the fryer heat.

BP of formaldehyde is -19c or -2f

I think a fryer is a lot hotter than that. Don't get me wrong, it's interesting that you bring it up. But since you work in a lab why didn't you just take a nugget and do analysis on it to see if it tests positive for formaldehyde.

Test kits are readily available.

Are you sure you are a chemist, or do you work in shipping/receiving?

edit on 16-8-2012 by boncho because: (no reason given)

Ok first off, I don't think you quite understand how it works. Formaldehyde can exist in many different forms, like trioxane for example.

Hahaha, if I was to experiment on a chicken nuggets at work, I think I'd be fired. Even if I tried in secret, we have cctv cameras in every room, so It's impossible.

I guess that's the UK for you.

Do you have cctv cameras in your home? Buy some McNuggets and a test kit and do it at home and let us know. As a scientist, surely your ability to do this is not confined within the walls of your work place.

reply to post by dubiousone


Yes it would be a great idea. But who's going to fork out the cash for the equipment? 137 dollars, isn't exactly cheap. Maybe I could in a couple of months.

But would it mean much? Would you even believe me when I give you the results?

Anything fast food = poison.

They contain a lot of addictive ingredients because they are cheap and easy for manufacture.

I am disgusted.. I don't eat fast food as I am vegan, but I don't recall ever eating this before 1990, so I am good. I worry about kids I personally know who crave these nuggets every now and then. While the westernized diet is bad, I have noticed a decline in mental intelligence, learning capability, and an increase in mental disorders.

Watching Food Matters will be a great film to watch.

reply to post by GuidedKill


Ok, what is with the sarcasm?

Seriously, why does ground up chicken parts need an undigestible CHEMICAL in it in the first place? What is it's purpose?

Why do some people get so knee jerk about people pointing out what is in your food!. It is NOT that they are somehow "food nazi's" It is because this stuff has no business in your food!!!!

I remember when folks got all up in arms when there was an awareness campaign about TRANS FATS and everyone started to take them out of thier food and then everyone was like "Oh my food sucks now that it doesn't have TRANS FATS in it" .. yet that was such a lie.

Trans fat was ONLY a man made FAT that was to help increase the shelf life of food. It was NOT healthy for anyone and really didn't do much for the flavor (as thought somehow before the 1900's food really somehow sucked because it didn't have Trans Fats in it, .. I think not).)

People should be out there growing their own food and making their own food and eating as much UNPROCESSED food as possible. Your health and body will thank you!

Originally posted by DAZ21
So, I work in a chemical laboratory, and while creating a new formulation for one of our products, I came across the accusation that this certain chemical is approved for use in food products. One serious offender being McDonald's McChicken nuggets.

This offending chemical is, Polydimethylsiloxane. Let's call it PDMS. Take a look at the Material safety data sheet.

PDMS MSDS

So, here it tells us that PDMS, under section 11: Toxicological effects, has a low ingestion hazard.

So It's low. But It's still there and It's still a risk.

Let's not forget, PDMS was the material originally used for breast implants, but was deemed too hazardous to human health. So, It's not ok to stick it into your breast's, but It's ok to feed it to your kid's apparently.

But check this out. Formaldehyde is a known carcinogenic. Guess what PDMS is degraded to under heat? Well one of the compounds happens to be Formaldehyde. Check out the second part of this link.

FDA Approve PDMS

I guess the question is, how many of you are feeding this stuff to your kid's?

How much heat is required to break it down into formaldehyde? If it's something like 100 celsius, it shouldnt matter. Our bodies reach 97 degrees farenheit or 37 degrees celsius.

I would speculate the poly substance you mentioned , is for presentation purposes only, for the nuggets to hold their shape during or after cooking.
Real food doesn't do that.

They don't care who eats it. It falls under their marketing department , not their non existant nutritional dept.