McDonalds Chicken McNuggets: The Chicken Which Should Be Banned

By Dr. Mercola

When you are cooking up your chicken at home, do you reach into your pantry to grab a dash of dimethylpolysiloxane? How about a pinch of tertiary butylhydroquinone?

These are just two of the ingredients in a McDonalds Chicken McNugget. Only 50 percent of a McNugget is actually chicken. The other 50 percent includes corn derivatives, sugars, leavening agents, and completely synthetic ingredients that no home cook would have in her pantry. Dimethylpolysiloxane is an anti-foaming agent made of silicone. Tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) is a chemical preservative so deadly that just five grams can kill you.

Image: www.nowtheendbegins.com

Organic Authority1 helpfully transcribed the full ingredients list provided by McDonalds:

"White boneless chicken, water, food starch-modified, salt, seasoning (autolyzed yeast extract, salt, wheat starch, natural flavoring (botanical source), safflower oil, dextrose, citric acid, rosemary), sodium phosphates, seasoning (canola oil, mono- and diglycerides, extractives of rosemary).Battered and breaded with: water, enriched flour (bleached wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), yellow corn flour, food starch-modified, salt, leavening (baking soda, sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium aluminum phosphate, monocalcium phosphate, calcium lactate), spices, wheat starch, whey, corn starch.

Prepared in vegetable oil (Canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil with TBHQ and citric acid added to preserve freshness). Dimethylpolysiloxane added as an antifoaming agent."
'McFrankenstein Creations'

There's no doubt about it. Processed food like that from McDonalds is just not part of a healthful diet – in fact, much of it cannot even pass for real food.

After reviewing the above article I am very grateful I can say I have never had a Chicken McNugget from McDonalds. If you can't say the same, at least you can commit to never having another one again. This sentiment was echoed by Federal Judge Robert Sweet in a lawsuit against the restaurant chain back in 2003 when he said:


"Chicken McNuggets, rather than being merely chicken fried in a pan, are a McFrankenstein creation of various elements not utilized by the home cook."
At the time, Time Magazine 2 reported that Judge Sweet "questioned whether customers understood the risks of eating McDonalds chicken over regular chicken." That was almost a decade ago, and I still wonder whether or not McDonalds customers truly understand the risks they take when consuming fast food on a regular basis.

If you missed Morgan Spurlock's documentary “Super-Size Me,” I highly recommend you watch it with your entire family. It's a real-life illustration of just how dangerous – life threatening, in fact – an excessive fast food diet can really be. And "excessive" consumption is likely far less than you imagine. Eating fast foodjust twice a week DOUBLES your risk of developing insulin resistance compared to eating it just once a week, for example. Insulin resistance, as I've discussed on many occasions, is one of THE primary driving factors behind most of the diseases we currently struggle with, from diabetes to cancer and heart disease.

The truth is, a McDonalds fare contains non-food ingredients that can seriously harm your health. 

This shouldn't come as any great surprise. After all, how healthful can something be that shows no signs of decomposing after being left on a counter for more than a decade… which is exactly what happened when a Happy Meal was put to this challenge. Clearly, there are more chemicals in there than actual, real foodstuff.
Chicken McNuggets: 'Made With White Meat'... and What Else?

According to McDonalds, their chicken nuggets are "made with white meat, wrapped up in a crisp tempura batter." But as the article above shows, these chicken nuggets are a far cry from what you might expect, based on that description. About half of it is actual chicken. The rest is a mix of corn-derived fillers and additives (most likely genetically modified), along with a slew of synthetic chemicals, including the two mentioned above:

• Dimethyl polysiloxane, a type of silicone with anti-foaming properties used in cosmetics and a variety of other goods like Silly Putty

• Tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), a petroleum-based product with antioxidant properties

The latter, TBHQ, is typically listed as an "antioxidant," but it's important to realize it is a SYNTHETIC chemical with antioxidant properties – NOT a natural antioxidant3 .The chemical prevents oxidation of fats and oils, thereby extending the shelf life of processed foods. It's a commonly used ingredient in processed foods of all kinds, but you can also find it in varnishes, lacquers, and pesticide products, as well as cosmetics and perfumes to reduce the evaporation rate and improve stability.


At its 19th and 21st meetings, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives determined that TBHQ was safe for human consumption at levels of 0-0.5 mg/kg of body weight. 4 However, more recently, the Codex commission set the maximum allowable limits up to between 100 to as much as 400 mg/kg, depending on the food it's added to 5. (Chewing gum is permitted to contain the highest levels of TBHQ.)
That's quite a discrepancy in supposedly "safe" limits! So, is the safe level zero, or 400 mg/kg? Who knows?
According to A Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives 6, one gram of TBHQ can cause:

• Nausea and vomiting

• Ringing in the ears (tinnitus)

• Delirium

• Sense of suffocation

• Collapse

The good news is that it is not suspected to be a persistent toxin, meaning your body is probably able to eliminate it so that it does not bioaccumulate. According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), based on animal studies, health hazards associated with TBHQ include: 7

• Liver effects at very low doses

• Positive mutation results from in vitro tests on mammalian cells

• Biochemical changes at very low doses

• Reproductive effects at high doses

REAL Food 'Lives' and 'Dies'

I previously commented on the curious ability of McDonald’s food to remain impervious to degradation. It's as if the food has been embalmed to stay "fresh" forever! After sitting on a shelf for 14 years, the hamburger bun has yet to develop a single trace of mold. It's barely even begun to shrivel. Folks, these buns bear absolutely no resemblance to real bread, and when you read the list of ingredients, this mysterious mummification feature becomes less of a mystery.

Always remember that wholesome, health-promoting food is "live" food, and the hallmark of live food is the fact that it will decompose. The fact that these burgers, buns, and fries do not decompose, even after a decade or two, is a clear sign that it's just not real food, and should not be part of your diet. Here are just a few of the “food” ingredients in a McDonald's hamburger bun:

• Calcium sulfate 8 (aka Plaster of Paris)

• Calcium carbonate 9 (Antacid)

• Ammonium sulfate 10 (According to MSDS, “harmful if swallowed”)

• Ammonium chloride11 (Causes irritation to the gastrointestinal tract. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting and diarrhea)

• Calcium propionate12 (Preservative)

• Sodium propionate 13 (Mold inhibitor)

You Are What You Eat...

The bottom line is, if you want to stay healthy and keep your children healthy, you have to avoid fast food and other processed foods and invest some time in your kitchen, cooking from scratch. Reclaiming your kitchen is part and parcel of healthful living, so you know exactly what you're putting into your body.
Ideally, you'll want to consume as much whole, raw, organic and/or locally grown foods as possible. That's one of the major reasons why vegetable juicing works so well – you're consuming living raw food! Most vegetables also have very low carbohydrate levels that minimally disturb insulin metabolism – another important trait of a healthful diet -- but there is something very special about vegetable juicing and eating live raw foods in general.

If you're "hooked" on fast food and other processed foods, please review my recent article about how to wean yourself off fast food in seven easy steps. If you're currently sustaining yourself on fast food and processed foods, this is probably the most positive life change you could ever make.

And if you have children, remember that feeding your children home cooked meals can have far reaching benefits, extending even to your future grandchildren. Yes, that's right! It is now well known that dietary changes can prompt epigenetic DNA changes that can be passed on to future generations. For instance, pregnant rats fed a fatty junk food diet had daughters and granddaughters with a greater risk of breast cancer.

Making wise food decisions can literally "override" genetic predispositions for disease.
Shopping Guidelines for Real, Health-Promoting Food

It is very difficult to control the quality of your food if you’re eating in a restaurant, which is why I recommend that you prepare the vast majority of your food yourself. If you’re going to occasionally dine out, you would be best served to avoid fast food places.

Whether you are grocery shopping or looking for dining options, the table that follows lists criteria to look for in identifying high-quality, health-promoting foods. If the food meets these criteria, it is most likely a wise choice and would fall under the designation of "real food." Optimal health also depends on your eating the right foods for your nutritional type. For a free Nutritional Typing test and information about my optimized Nutrition Plan, please visit this section of our site. Reclaiming your kitchen is part and parcel of healthful living, so you know exactly what you're putting in your body.

Grown without pesticides and chemical fertilizers (organic foods fit this description, but so do some non-organic foods)	Not genetically modified
Contains no added growth hormones, antibiotics, or other drugs	Does not contain any artificial ingredients, including chemical preservatives
Fresh (keep in mind that if you have to choose between wilted organic produce or fresh conventional produce, the latter may be the better option)	Did not come from a confined animal feeding operation (CAFO)
Grown with the laws of nature in mind (meaning animals are fed their native diets, not a mix of grains and animal byproducts, and have free access to the outdoors)	Grown in a sustainable way (using minimal amounts of water, protecting the soil from burnout, and turning animal wastes into natural fertilizers instead of environmental pollutants)

 Source: Mercola.com

New USDA rule allows feces, pus, bacteria and bleach in chicken

(NaturalNews) The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is currently in the process of trying to ram through passage of a new "modernization" rule for conventional poultry production that would eliminate a large percentage of USDA inspectors and speed up the factory production process. And existing safeguards, as minimally effective as they currently are, would also be eroded, allowing for more hidden feces, pus, bacteria and chemical contaminants to persist in conventional chicken and turkey meat.

                                          Image: Leland Swenson

Even though salmonella rates as detected in meat and poultry have been steadily dropping year after year in the U.S., roughly the same numbers of people seem to be getting infected with the pathogen annually. The primary reason for this statistical anomaly appears to be that the current testing methods authorized by the USDA for meat and poultry are wholly inadequate and outdated and actually cover up the presence of contaminants borne on factory farms and in processing plants.

But a whole new set of guidelines being proposed by the USDA will make things even worse by allowing companies to self-inspect themselves, as well as use an even more aggressive barrage of chemicals to treat their tainted meat before selling it to consumers. This is good news for the factory poultry industry, of course, which is expected to cut its costs by about $250 million a year, thanks to its buddies at the USDA, but it's bad news for consumers who will be subjected to all the toxic consequences.

If you have ever seen any of the shocking, undercover footage showing how chickens, turkeys and other animals are treated at factory farms, then you already know the type of filth and abuse to which these poor animals are routinely subjected. Because of their horrific living conditions, factory farm animals are often teeming with harmful pathogens, which is why their meat has to undergo chemical treatments in the first place before being packaged and served on dinner tables -- it is a truly disgusting process, to say the least.

According to documented reports, after the animals are slaughtered, conventional poultry is essentially hung on long conveyor lines and sprayed, bathed and injected with all sorts of chemical solutions, including chlorine bleach, before ultimately being hauled off to the supermarket. These chemical solutions are, of course, carefully designed to kill any bacteria and render the meat "safe" for human consumption, the ultimate "don't ask, don't tell" policy for the factory food industry, if you will.

USDA intends to throw more chemicals, less regulation at poultry industry dilemma

But like all other chemical-based solutions that compliment industrial food production, this process is ultimately failing to subdue and kill pathogens the same way that it used to back in the old days. A cohort of new scientific research recently submitted to the USDA reveals that the routine processes by which the factory food industry covers its frightful tracks are no match to a whole new generation of "superbugs" that resist these chemicals -- and the USDA's proposed solutions only further add to the problem by covering it up with even more chemicals.

"If the new rule is implemented, all chicken will be presumed to be contaminated with feces, pus, scabs, and bile and washed in a chlorine solution," explains ChickenJustice.org. "Consumers will eat chicken with more chemical residue and contaminants. With faster production rates, workers' injuries will increase. They will also face breathing and skin problems from constant exposure to chlorine wash. OSHA will take the next 3 years to study the impact of the faster processing lines on workers, but USDA wants to implement the rule immediately."

To take direct action against this heinous USDA agenda for factory chicken, you can contact the White House by visiting the ChickenJustice.org "Take Action Now!" page: http://chickenjustice.org

Sources for this article include:

http://motherjones.com

http://articles.washingtonpost.com

http://naturalnews.com

http://chickenjustice.org

Source: naturalnews.com

Chicken to be Exported to China, Processed, then Imported Back to the US

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Catching up to this news, which dropped quietly just before the holiday weekend: In a first, the US Department of Agriculture has given permission for chicken products processed in the People’s Republic of China to be sold in the United States without labeling that would indicate where the chicken products came from.

The news was broken by Politico, whose writers obtained USDA documents before the agency released them, and then followed up by the New York Times, with some no-holds-barred analysis by Bloomberg Businessweek.

If you’ve been reading for a while, you’ll know that food safety in China is well below US standards. So it may be a surprise to hear that birds grown and slaughtered outside that country, but cooked and made into products in it, would be acceptable for sale here. Especially since the plants that USDA has approved for sales into the US market will not have USDA inspectors on site.

Here is the USDA notice, in the form of an audit issued by the Food Safety and Inspection Service.

This development fascinates me; it touches so many issues that have been percolating through food production and food safety.

First, there’s the decade of maneuvering between the US and China over meat exports in both directions. China, along with a number of other Asian nations, blocked US beef imports in 2003 after a Washington state cow tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy,  “mad cow” disease. Then in 2004, avian influenza flared in Asia; the US blocked imports of Chinese poultry, and in 2009 China brought a restraint-of-trade action against the US in front of the World Trade Organization. It won in 2010 — at about the same time that it accused the US of dumping chicken parts at below-market prices and slapped American poultry with tariffs of more than 100 percent.

The audit process that approved the Chinese plants began after the WTO decision; the USDA inspected, asked for corrective actions, inspected again, and finally approved the deal on Aug. 30. The audit allows China to sell back to the US only poultry that was raised and slaughtered in the US, or (as the audit documents say) a country “that FSIS determined to have a poultry slaughter inspection system equivalent to the US system.” But the magazine World Poultry notes: “Experts suggest that this could be the first step towards allowing China to export its own domestic chickens to the US.”

Second, there are the most recent moves around ensuring that imported food is safe. Most of the food consumed in the US is overseen not by USDA but by the Food and Drug Administration, which has been struggling for years with guaranteeing the safety of imports. Reports by the Government Accountability Office, the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Pew Charitable Trusts and Center for Science in the Public Interest all found that the FDA could not keep up with the task; estimating that its inspectors were able to lay hands on no more than 2 percent of imported foods. The massive Food Safety Modernization Act tried to revamp the system for policing imports, which make up about 15 percent of the US diet; last July the FDA proposed regulations under that new law which said the best way forward was for companies handling imports to police their foreign suppliers themselves. The FDA rule is not final, but the USDA China audit seems to be following a similar pattern.

Third, there’s the already-contentious topic, “country of origin labeling,” known as COOL for short. The USDA has been implementing COOL for the past few years, requiring that retailers label meats, fish and shellfish, fruits and vegetables, and some nuts if they originated outside the US. Much of the US meat industry has been fighting COOL in court; the most recent hearing (covered by Food Safety News) was Aug. 27. Yet according to the USDA, the Chinese processing allowed under the new audit elides COOL requirements, because — no matter what is done in processing — the chicken meat originated in the US.

Last, there’s how neatly this spotlights the global nature of food production, especially the way that inexpensive transport has changed how food is raised and made. Just to reiterate what’s going to be allowed: chickens raised in the US (or “equivalent” countries), and slaughtered in the country where they were grown, are going to be shipped across the globe to be turned into processed products, and then shipped back to be sold. Developing-world labor, and containerized shipping (so well explained by Rose George in the new book Ninety Percent of Everything), are both so inexpensive that it is cheaper to send a chicken nugget around the world to be ground, formed and breaded than to do all that in the place where the chicken was raised.

Source:

www.wired.com

Source: worldtruth.tv

Most Chicken on the Shelves Pumped With Vaccines and Antibiotics

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Image: Wikimedia Commons

Every second of every day, somewhere in the world the same scene unfolds.

A batch of several hundred eggs, precisely arranged in uniform rows, moves along a conveyor belt, coming to a halt beneath a machine linked to a jumble of tubes.

Once in position, the machine robotically lowers itself and then simultaneously punctures each egg with a rack of hypodermic needles.

Through these needles, a mix of vaccines and antibiotics is injected into the egg — and so into the unborn chick inside, which three days later will hatch out.

If the scene sounds like something from a science-fiction film, then that is hardly a surprise. Today, large-scale poultry production has precious little to do with green fields and ruddy-cheeked farmers.

Every year, more than 40 billion chickens are slaughtered worldwide for meat, the vast majority of them intensively factory-farmed.

The bottom line is profit. All that matters is the volume in which these animals, bred to hit their genetically-modified slaughter weights within 35 days of hatching, can be churned out.

Given the intensity of the production systems (raised in sheds of 50,000 birds, each will be lucky to have the space of a piece of A4 paper in which to live), the dangers of disease are massively magnified.

And so it is to prevent this that the chickens are vaccinated before birth against common diseases.

They are often also dosed up with antibiotics — a preventative measure that is easier and cheaper than dealing with individual illnesses at a later date.


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Sources: Real Farmacy

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