While typically in America food proportions are larger than most countries this may provide a simple solution to why there are more calories in a meal, but fast food chains tend not to vary there portion much if at all. The likely cause of an increased calorie count per item in most likely from the way the food is prepared or the additives that go into the perishable products to keep them fresh longer or to help retain flavor. Burger patties cooked in American McDonalds are cooked in presses to increase efficiency which doesn't allow any fats to escape opposed to other countries where the patties are prepared on open grills making the final product different in taste and nutrition. The differences can be found by looking over the American nutritional facts and comparing them to the Australian nutritional facts.
There are many other possible reasons that could explain the poor nutritional value of McDonald's in America. In the US, fast food restaurants are extremely common and can be found anywhere. This causes a high amount of competition between different restaurant chains that lead to one place trying to undercut the other. The companies then, settle for low quality food supplies to increase their profits. However, in other countries, fast food places aren't nearly as common. This makes competition between the companies in other countries less of an issue which allows the restaurant to purchase higher quality meat products without as much added hormone.
The McDonald's menu caters to the cuisine of their locations, thus making individual culture and standards a factor in the discrepancy between McDonald's in the U.S. and McDonald's in other countries around the world. For example, a few years back you could order a pizza at McDonald's in Canada, or even purchase a beer with your meal in Germany. McDonald's in China and Japan use a variety of different meats in their food; there are less beef options available while chicken, fish and sushi are more readily served. The cuisine eaten by other countries definitely has a huge influence on what is served at McDonald's around the world to make it more appealing to their consumers.
McDonalds has adjusted their meals to suit the American market but at the cost of nutritional value despite the fact that they still try to advertise healthy meal choices. What do you think is the cause of this substantial calorie difference? Does this change in nutritional value bother you, how about the average American? Is it McDonald's fault or the consumers fault for demanding rapidly prepared food at low prices? Does this change your opinion on McDonalds knowing that you can eat the same food but with lower calories but are simply not given the choice?
It is understandable that McDonald's would go for more fatty meat as long as the taste was the same or better and that it was a big enough cost saving measure. What is interesting to me about this move is how unconcerned the American population seems. So to answer your question, "Does this change in nutritional value bother ... the average American?", no. Americans are generally wary of the amount of fat in fast food, but none, myself included, will really care if the amount of fat in a Big Mac is silently and nominally increased.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Paul that the average American does not care about the nutritional value compared to other countries. McDonald's main objective is to make money and the company can do that more efficiently by selling unhealthier foods. I don't think McDonald's is in the wrong at all because their tactics are successful. The problem lies with the public. If Americans really want to have healthier food options they need to stop buying McDonald's products until they offer healthier versions of burgers and whatever else. This, however, is extremely unrealistic and therefore I think people should just accept the nutritional value of McDonald's as it is. If you do not want to consume that many calories, simply find somewhere else to eat.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lauren. I feel like people who eat at McDonald's would not really care about the healthiness of the foods they eat. The fact that they're eating in McDonald's means they probably know that the food they're about to eat won't exactly be healthiest foods out there. I don't think its either the consumers nor the company's fault that the food they serve is low quality. Again, McDonald's is a fast food restaurant and it's not claiming to serve the healthiest foods. Also, McDonald's does not force anyone to eat in their restaurant nor do they force anyone to eat a specific item on the menu. It's completely the consumer's decision whether or not they want to eat healthy. To repeat what Lauren said, if someone wanted to eat healthy, they would simply find another restaurant to eat at
ReplyDeleteLike mentioned in the blog, McDonald's is a business that has to compete with other fast food companies to make a profit. If producing lower quality, cheaper foods helps them lower their prices, while still having people come and eat it, McDonald's will continue to do this. It is up to the public to decide individually if they want to eat this unhealthy food. The choice of McDonald's will always be there as long as there is demand for a low cost meal. But anybody can decide to stop eating at fast food restaurants and pay a higher price for better quality food.
ReplyDeleteDue to the fast paced American lifestyle, I don't think that consumers care that there are more calories in the same foods. I feel that as long as the consumer can get their food cheaply and quickly, they will continue to be a customer at McDonald's. When you are already eating a 500+ calorie burger, a 40 calorie difference isn't going to have a huge effect. This doesn't change my opinion of McDonald's. They are a company trying to maximize their profit just like every other company out there.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Paul, Lauren, and Tony's comments about how American's really just don't care about the nutritional value in the food when going to McDonald's. Obviously it is not the healthiest choice they could make. They could easily go home and make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that is probably much more healthy than the Big Mac. I also don't disapprove at what McDonald's is doing. This is a capitalistic country, and if they don't go about doing things the way they do now, there would be no way they could thrive with all of the competition, as stated in the blog. Everyone has a choice of what they eat from day-to-day, and if they have a problem with the unhealthiness at McDonald's, there is an easy solution... Make your own food, or go somewhere else.
ReplyDeleteI think that McDonald's has adopted a good business model for their world-wide company. That is give the people what they want, and clearly Americans want quickly prepared food, even if the caloric content is high. I feel that if McDonald's gave a choice of both their normally served food and a lower calorie version, then maybe people would choose the Diet Mac instead of the Big Mac. I don't think this changes my opinion of McDonald's because McDonald's and I have always had a love-hate relationship, with my stomach doing most of the hating.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Paul and Lauren that Americans simply do not care or think about the nutritional value of their food when eating McDonalds or other fast food resturants. I found the blog to be interesting as well as believable when suggesting McDonalds in other places around the world to be healthier. It makes sense because America is a pretty unhealthy society and when people see the golden arches, they think about the famous fries and the Big Mac and never think about the nutritional value of what they are eating.
DeleteI agree with Paul, Lauren, Tony's,and Corey comments about how American's really just don't care about the nutritional value.I know I am young and don't care about what I eat as long as it taste good. I figure I will worry about food issue when get older and it matter more to my life. Also McDonald's promotes their food as if it's so good and health but it really not good at all.
ReplyDeleteI agree with a majority of these responses. McDonald's is a highly popular fast food restaurant in America and many other countries, due to their appealing food that is handed to you in a matter of minutes. I feel it can be assumed that fast food will never be completely healthy and if McDonald's finds these methods of producing food financially benefiting the company then that will continue. Personally, I know how unhealthy McDonald's food is and try to avoid it, but frankly Americans are just lazy and do not want to cook their own healthy food. That is why I don't think Americans care about the extra calorie content or nutritional value. If we did, then we would simply not eat there, and choose a different, healthier path. Although, I did find it really interesting that American McDonalds' are more unhealthy compared to Australian McDonalds' even when it's the same meal...proves the stereotypically unhealthy American society.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jared and Daniel. McDonald's is appealing to their consumers, and in order to appeal to the American fast food needs, they have to make these food prepared quicker. When the foods are prepared quicker, they may contain slightly more calories. It is up to the consumer to watch what they eat however. So if a burger has slightly more calories here than in Australia, eat less of the burger.
ReplyDeleteI don't have much to add other than agreeing with everyone. I'm sure McDonald's did studies and found that the majority of consumers would rather eat a cheaper and faster burger than a healthier one. This type of consumer has always been generally known to be McDonald's primary market. There has always been fierce competition among other fast food chains, so McDonald's must do everything possible to be more appealing (by having cheaper and faster food) than its competition.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the idea in the blog, the competition with other fast food companies in America makes McDonalds to find more efficient ways to make money. People make their own choices to choose the food they eat. It's nobody's fault since consumers save their time while McDonalds is making profit as well, it's the appropriate business model. I think that the extra calories that the burgers have doesn't change the thing, maybe McDonalds doesn't take that into account either.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ben; we live a very busy lifestyle. American's clearly care about the nutritional value of McDonald's. It's not unusual for somebody to start complaining about how "bad McDonald's is for you" and "how disgusting McDonald's is." That doesn't change the fact that it's convenient. We live a busy lifestyle, and when it seems like there isn't another way, people typically find the easiest place to get food. Usually, that's McDonald's. It's not that people don't care about the calorie content, it's just that the calorie content doesn't matter when you're in too much of a rush to go find or make anything else. And those people who really care can go ahead and just buy a side salad.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ben and Brittany. In America we are on the go and in a hurry to get things done more so than other countries. In a lot of European countries such as France for example, they can spend one to two hours of their time per meal. In the states people may be willing to spend an hour on one meal a day or a couple meals a week, but for all the other meals we want them as fast as possible. We see McDonald's as sort of like a pitstop to refuel in our race to get through our work and through our days. Seeing this McDonalds can very sucessfully sell high calorie food in America as long as it's cheap and fast.
ReplyDeleteThere are also very noticable differences in the menus overseas, and portions are smaller which would help explain the lower calories per meal.
ReplyDelete