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McDonald's Axes Cruel Caging Practices For Pigs

Susannah Chen — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:06:58 PST

Just a few months ago, McDonald's was under serious fire after it was discovered that its main egg supplier was committing severe animal cruelty violations. Now the Golden Arches is taking a step in the right direction by announcing its plans to handle its pigs in a more humane and sustainable way.

Yesterday, McDonald's said that it will require pork suppliers to stop using gestation crates, cages that keep individual sows in very close quarters while they're pregnant. McDonald's is one of the world's biggest buyers of pork, which is used to make bacon, ham, sausages, and McRib sandwiches.

No doubt, McDonald's is bowing to increased pressure from animal rights activists. PETA's fully supportive of the decision, as is the Humane Society, which calls it "important and promising."

The pork industry, on the other hand, is up in arms over the fast feeder's decision, defending the stalls as a "conventional" practice. Where do you stand? Since McDonald's is modifying its animal treatment practices, are you more likely to make a trip there?

Most Unhealthy Deal Ever: LivingSocial's $13 For 5 Big Macs, 5 Large Fries

Emily Co — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 11:26:10 PST

If you're willing to clog up your arteries, there's a great McDonald's deal going on at LivingSocial today: $13 for five Big Macs and five large fries. That's 50 percent off the normal value of $26.

You can take a bit of time mulling over whether you should purchase it because you still have 15 hours to decide and the deal is capped at one million voucher booklets. The best part about the deal is that there is no expiration date. Even if you eat at McDonald's once a year, you'll still be able to make good use of it as long as you remember to use it. Keep in mind that although this is a really great deal value-wise, it's up to you to decide if the cost to your health is worth it. Are you buying this deal?

Leading Egg Supplier Under Fire For Health Violations

Susannah Chen — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 12:18:40 PST

Have you always pooh-poohed those cage-free, organic eggs sold at the supermarket? Well, read ahead, because a new story may have you thinking twice.

A 20/20 special airing today on ABC shows workers at Iowa-based Sparboe Farms - the fifth-largest shell egg producer in the US and main supplier for eggs at McDonald's - burning off the beaks of young chicks; dead, rotted hens being pulled out of cages; and live chicks being thrown into plastic bags to be suffocated. The footage, caught undercover by animal rights group Mercy for Animals, was powerful enough for McDonald's to announce today that it's broken ties with Sparboe Farms for good.

The FDA also issued a warning letter to Sparboe yesterday, citing 13 violations that could potentially contribute to salmonella contamination. McDonald's has issued a statement maintaining this controversy is "not a food safety issue for our menu items," but it's likely this egg exposé will be one for the books. If you have the stomach to watch the video, tell me: does it surprise you?

Top Chef, No Reservations Among 2011 Emmy Nominations

Susannah Chen — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 10:03:43 PDT

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced its 2011 nominations for Primetime Emmy Awards this morning, and, as usual, a number of food programs were included.

On the exhaustive list of Emmy nominees were Top Chef for Outstanding Reality Competition (among other nominations); and Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations for Outstanding Nonfiction Series, with a number of additional nods for the series's post-earthquake Haiti episode.

Top Chef and No Reservations were in good company: McDonald's, also a nominee, has been acknowledged in the Outstanding Commercial category. If you were in charge of the awards, which TV shows would you nominate?

Photos courtesy of Bravo

5 Indulgent Fast-Food Frozen Treats Under 300 Calories

Leta Shy — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 17:23:59 PDT

The frozen yogurt trend has given us so many more options than calorie-rich ice cream, but sometimes you get the kind of craving that only a cheap fast-food frozen dessert can fix. Calorie-wise, a soft-serve cone is usually the best option (a reduced fat vanilla ice cream cone at McDonald's, for example, is 150 calories and 3.5 grams of fat).

If you're looking for something more indulgent, however, there are a few options that'll satisfy any bored sweet tooth. And no, they're not 800-calorie shakes - check out five fast-food frozen treats that are under 300 calories after the break!

Taste Test: McDonald's Frozen Strawberry Lemonade

Susannah Chen — Thu, 26 May 2011 13:33:21 PDT

Who's ready for summertime? McDonald's is. Just ahead of Memorial Day, it's added a new Frozen Strawberry Lemonade to its McCafé lineup. "It's a little bit of brrrrrrrrrr mixed with a whole lot of mmmmm," the fast food chain called out. Of course, on the warmest of Spring days, we couldn't resist giving this new product a whirl.

Here's how the frosty beverage comes together: McDonald's starts with a lemonade base (made with, among other things, lemon juice, orange juice, and lemon oil), then pulverizes it to order with ice and strawberry syrup (consisting of ingredients such as strawberry purée and artificial flavor and color).

At $1.59 plus tax and 210 calories for a 16-ounce cup, it doesn't do too much damage to your calorie bank - or your real one. But what about your taste buds? Find out right this way.

Yummy Links: From Earth Day Drinks to Royal Recipes

YumSugar — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 10:30:31 PDT

Toast to Earth Day with five eco-friendly cocktails. - Huffington Post Food
Expect prices at McDonald's to go up very soon. - Bloomberg
Five Guys and In-N-Out lead a better burger revolution. - NPR
Meet Google Offers, the latest Groupon clone. - Eater
Watch the likes of Heidi Montag open an eatery on VH1's Famous Food. - Slashfood
Guess what? Table-to-farm is the new farm-to-table. - AP
A week in the life of Mario Batali. - Grub Street NY
Just in time for the royal wedding: recipes fit for kings. - Saveur

Would You Rather Eat McDonald's or Wendy's Fries?

Susannah Chen — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 03:08:30 PDT

Burger King isn't the only fast food chain hoping to run away with a chunk of McDonald's sales; so is Wendy's. After overhauling its fry recipe for the first time in 41 years, Wendy's is claiming its newly reformulated natural-cut fries with sea salt have beat out McDonald's in a nationwide taste test. According to a statement from Wendy's, 56 percent of consumers taking the test chose Wendy's, compared to 39 percent who selected McDonald's. Are you inclined to believe the results of this survey?

Source and Source

Taste-Off! Burger King vs. McDonald's Chicken Nuggets

Susannah Chen — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 06:40:28 PDT

"Crispy. Tender. New," the Burger King website declares of its latest menu item, BK Chicken Tenders. Funny: they might've been new on the BK lineup, but we could've sworn we'd seen them somewhere. Oh, right, on the menu at every McDonald's worldwide for the last three decades as Chicken McNuggets.

Much like the BK Breakfast Muffin was to the McDonald's Sausage McMuffin, the BK Chicken Tenders are near-carbon copies of their Golden Arched counterparts. (When asked to comment, Burger King remarked, "We don't provide details on our secret recipe.")

McDonald's sells its nuggets in packages of four, six, and 10; Burger King's are available in boxes of four, eight, and 20. In our taste test, we learned that just about everything, right down to the packaging, is identical - except, we discovered, with regards to taste. To see how fast food's top two stacked up against each other in a chicken nugget faceoff, read more.

Grading the Latest Angus Third Pounder From McDonald's

YumSugar — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 03:28:20 PST

When McDonald's first launched its Angus Third Pounders to much fanfare, we couldn't wait to try them out, and the consensus was that the chain's Bacon & Cheese Third Pounder came out on top. The golden arches must've known they were on to something, because now they've expanded their line to include an Angus Chipotle BBQ Bacon & Cheese Third Pounder.

The new offering - which also comes wrapped in a tortilla as a Snack Wrap - has a proprietary chipotle BBQ sauce. Did the smoky spiciness that chipotle is known for bring a new dimension to the Angus Third Pounder? Slashfood was on a mission to find out. For the verdict, read the full story at Slashfood.