PropertyValue
?:author
?:datePublished
  • 2011-01-23 (xsd:date)
?:headline
  • Are McDonald's Hamburgers 100% Beef? (nl)
?:inLanguage
?:itemReviewed
?:mentions
?:reviewBody
  • Distrust of large corporations (which are thought willing to do just about anything to increase profits) and unease with what might have been deliberately incorporated into food not prepared by our own hands have served to create product rumors about inferior or even yucky ingredients being slipped into the fast foods we routinely ingest. Being the largest of the fast food giants, McDonald's serves as the focus for a number of them, including the belief the company uses worm meat in its hamburgers or chicken feathers in its shakes to cut costs. Another rumor attached to McDonald's asserts the company gets around truth in advertising laws regarding the meat it uses in its burgers by purchasing that commodity from a misleadingly named company. In different versions of the rumor we've encountered, the complicit business entity is named 'The All-Beef Company,' '100% Beef,' '100% Beef Company,' or even (in the versions told Down Under) '100% Australian Beef.' This legal fiction supposedly enables McDonald's to continue to advertise its burgers as using 100% pure beef even as they incorporate the meat of other animals or soy products into the patties: While this is a fascinating premise, there's nothing to it: McDonald's hamburger patties in the U.S. are made with 100% USDA-inspected beef. They are cooked and prepared with salt, pepper and nothing else; no preservatives, no fillers. McDonald's of Australia's Make Up Your Own Mind web site said the following of the rumor in its Top FAQs section: Those who continue to harbor doubts about the 100% beef claim should examine the ingredient lists on McDonald's web site. All of the chain's hamburgers are made from 100% beef patties; furthermore, they define beef patty as being 100% pure USDA inspected beef; no additives, no fillers, no extenders. In 2018, McDonald's announced they would be using fresh (rather than frozen) beef in their hamburgers: It's not as easy to get around truth in advertising rules in the U.S. as rumor would suggest. In the realm of legend a legal fiction such as a company titled All Beef might suffice, but in the real world the Federal Trade Commission wouldn't stand for it. Under the Federal Trade Commission Act, that government entity is empowered to prevent persons, partnerships, or corporations from using unfair methods of competition in or affecting commerce, and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce. Consumers have legal remedy available to them against corporations that have deceived them through certain provisions of the Lanham Act. Rumor usually positions the fictional All Beef or 100% Beef company as a meat supplier, but some variants post something a little different: In a related version of the rumor, a different target (Birdseye) takes the place of McDonald's: The All Beef rumor matches stride with another false tale about an entity's deliberately labeling its consumables in misleading fashion to facilitate the hoodwinking of consumers into thinking they're getting better products than they are. In that other tale, Diet Coke and/or Diet Pepsi supposedly contain far more calories than claimed, but their manufacturers get away with the deception simply by paying a yearly fine. (en)
?:reviewRating
rdf:type
?:url