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There are many '''[[urban legend]]s about [[McDonald's]]'''. This is perhaps because of McDonald's very high profile around the world and perhaps also because McDonald's is a focus of the [[anti-globalization movement]] whose more maverick elements regard the corporation as evil.
There are multiple [[urban legend]]s centering around the fast-food chain [[McDonald's]]. These legends include claims about the food and allegations of discrimination by the company.


==Funding terrorism==
==Red and yellow empties seats==

McDonald's restaurants tend to have a "[[red]] and [[yellow]] theme". An [[urban legend]] is that the corporation "[[calculation|calculated]]" that this [[color]] combination would entice people to ''leave'' the restaurant; thus, making room for new customers. However, it should be noted that this is a successful two-colour scheme for many corporations, e.g. [[Shell Oil]] and the British [[Royal Mail]]. It should also be noted that if such a color scheme had such a repulsing effect on some, it is likely those affected by the colors wouldn't come at all.
In the late 1980s, rumors persisted in the [[United Kingdom]] that McDonald's was covertly funding the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army|Provisional IRA]], which was designated as a terror organization, via [[NORAID]]. The source of these rumors was eventually traced to a [[CNN]] talk show in which the company was praised for its generosity in providing funding for employees via [[individual retirement account|Individual Retirement Account]]s, or IRAs.<ref>{{cite news |date=30 November 1989 |title=Topics of the Times - The IRA you say |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/30/opinion/topics-of-the-times-the-ira-you-say.html |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100129181855/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/30/opinion/topics-of-the-times-the-ira-you-say.html |archive-date=2010-01-29}}</ref>


==Unusual ingredients==
==Unusual ingredients==
Many large companies have been plagued by rumors that they substitute unusual and [[unethical]] substances in their products, to save a few cents per serving. McDonald's is not immune to such claims. The following is a list of the most popular rumors about their food.
Large companies have been the subject of rumors that they substitute unusual or [[unethical]] substances in their products, usually to decrease costs. McDonald's is not immune to such claims.

===Confectionery cheeseburgers===
[[File:McDonald's Double Cheeseburger (1).jpg|thumb|A McDonald's cheeseburger]]
One story claims that if McDonald's cheeseburgers did not include pickles as an ingredient, the cheeseburger would be classed as a confectionery item. It stems from the belief that the sugar content in the bun is high, but adding a pickle then keeps the overall sugar percentage below the threshold of what is classed as confectionery. McDonald's have stated that this story is an urban legend.<ref>{{cite web |title=Are McDonald's cheeseburgers counted as confectionery? |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=oWBZCqkJLTE |access-date=5 March 2023 |website=YouTube |publisher=McDonald's |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Are gherkins added to a Big Mac® to offset the sugar content & avoid it being called a dessert? |url=https://www.mcdonalds.com/gb/en-gb/help/faq/are-gherkins-added-to-a-big-mac--to-offset-the-sugar-content---avoid-it-being-called-a-dessert.html |access-date=5 March 2023 |website=www.mcdonalds.com}}</ref>

===Cow eyeballs===
One belief is that McDonald's uses cow [[eye]]balls in its products, permitting it to brand them as "100% beef".<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Mikkelson |first=David |date=15 April 2015 |title=McDonald's: World's Largest Purchaser of Cow Eyeballs? |url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/the-eyes-of-texas/ |access-date=2022-07-05 |website=[[Snopes]] |language=en-US}}</ref> However, the [[United States Department of Agriculture]] (USDA) mandates that all beef by-products, including cow eyeballs, be appropriately labeled. McDonald's has asserted that its products contain "100% pure USDA-inspected beef; no additives, no fillers, no extenders." In addition, cow eyeballs are actually more expensive than the more commonly eaten cow parts, due to demand from scientific institutions for experiments.<ref name=":0" />

A related claim is that McDonald's buys its meat from a company called "100% Beef", making it possible for McDonald's to call beef by-products and soy products "100% beef".<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 January 2011 |title=Are McDonald's Hamburgers 100% Beef? |url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/mcdonalds-100-beef/ |access-date=2022-07-05 |website=[[Snopes]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=FAQS {{!}} Is '100% beef' a company owned by McDonald's (and therefore your beef products are not actually 100% beef)? |url=https://www.mcdonalds.com/gb/en-gb/help/faq/18916-is-beef-a-company-owned-by-mcdonalds-and-therefore-your-beef-products-are-not-actually-beef.html |access-date=2022-07-05 |website=McDonald's UK |language=en-gb}}</ref>

===Earthworms===
Dating back to at least 1978, this rumor claims that McDonald's restaurants use earthworms in their hamburgers.<ref name="snopes-worm">{{Cite web |last=Mikkelson |first=David |date=5 July 1999 |title=FACT CHECK: Is Worm Meat Used in McDonald's Hamburgers? |url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/worm-meat-used-mcdonalds-hamburgers/ |access-date=2022-07-05 |website=[[Snopes]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Taylor |first=Kate |date=2016-01-21 |title=A viral rumor that McDonald's uses ground worm filler in burgers has been debunked |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/debunked-mcdonalds-uses-worm-filler-2016-1 |access-date=2022-07-05 |website=[[Business Insider]] |language=en-US}}</ref> This "worm-in-the-burger" rumor was originally attached to [[Wendy's]] burgers.<ref name="snopes-worm" />

⚫
=== Human meat ===
A claim circulating since 2014, including in a video, is that McDonald's uses human meat in their hamburgers. The claim originates from a satire blog.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-08-24 |title=False claim of human meat in McDonald’s factories stems from old hoax |url=https://apnews.com/article/archive-fact-checking-9233643423 |access-date=2024-07-08 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Lee |first=Ella |title=Fact check: No, McDonald's doesn't serve 'human meat' |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/12/30/fact-check-false-claim-mcdonalds-and-human-meat/9044539002/ |access-date=2024-07-08 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US}}</ref>


===Mutant laboratory meat===
One common thread that ties many stories like these together, is the fact that the near death experiences were not reported to the easily accessible mainstream media, police, medical services, or even government-run food or health inspection agencies, such as the United States [[Food and Drug Administration]] (FDA). These agencies and services are legally obliged to act on such extreme cases.
Around March–April 2000, an internet rumor spread via e-mail in [[Brazil]] claimed that McDonald's meat was actually made from a [[genetically modified animal]] maintained in a laboratory, attributing the findings to the [[Michigan State University]]. The e-mail stated that the creatures kept were "figures without legs and without horns, which are fed through tubes connected to the stomach and which in fact have no bones, but a little cartilage that never develops", and "anyone who has seen them assures them that they are very unpleasant things, because in addition to remaining immobile all their 'life', they have no eyes, no tail and practically no fur; in fact the head is the size of a tennis ball".<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=As coisas da McDonald's: hambúrgueres são feitos de seres geneticamente modificados. (hoax). |url=http://www.quatrocantos.com/lendas/22_coisas_mcdonald.htm |access-date=2022-07-05 |website=www.quatrocantos.com |language=pt}}</ref>


The e-mail carries on saying that "some irreversible health damage can be done by eating this meat, resulting in diseases who manifest themselves in a way similar to [[AIDS]], and have symptoms related to [[Alzheimer's disease]]" and ends encouraging the reader to boycott McDonald's until it sells actual beef. The urban legend has also been attributed to other fast-food chains and animal products, such as [[KFC]] and mutant chickens.<ref name=":1" />
===Hamburgers===
⚫
====Worm meat====
* '''RUMOR:''' McDonald's/Jack in the Box hamburgers are made of [[worm]] meat. This rumor dates back to at least 1978, possibly earlier.
* '''ORIGIN 1:''' One account of the story claims it was dug up by ''[[60 Minutes]]''. The show has never aired a segment on this or any similar theme. Other variants have credited other investigative journalism shows for the "shocker".
* '''ORIGIN 2:''' Some versions of the tale have it being revealed in a talk show chat with company [[CEO]]s. It's unlikely that business people would even be booked to appear on a talk show. CEOs generally aren't interesting enough to be booked and appear on the shows, thus any producer unwittingly booking the executive would have had to be prepared for a rating disaster.
* '''DEBUNKING FACT 1:''' Neither McDonald's nor any other resturaunt would use worms, for the simple reason that worms cost more per unit of weight. To use worms as filler would be more expensive than using actual [[beef]]. In an April 30, [[1992]] issue of ''[[The Times]]'', [[Ray Kroc]] commented that "We couldn't afford to grind worms into our meat. Hamburger costs a [[dollar]] and a half a pound, and night crawlers six dollars."
* '''DEBUNKING FACT 2:''' To set up a case against McDonald's on this, one would have to justify what McDonald's does with the gigantic shipments of meat it regularly orders from [[cattle]] farmers.
* '''DEBUNKING FACT 3:''' If one was to suppose that worm meat was used, one must justify the small proportion of the U.S. population involved in worm farming.
* '''DEBUNKING FACT 4:''' See note on FDA, other authorities.
* '''DEBUNKING FACT 5:''' "At an Atlanta press conference, McDonald's officials, backed by a regional officer of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, denounced the rumors as "completely unfounded and unsubstantiated", and swore that the company's hamburgers contain nothing but beef". From ''Newsweek'', November 27, 1978.
* '''DEBUNKING FACT 6:''' McDonald's released a letter from the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture in [[1982]], attesting to McDonald's burger's pure beef content. It was used as proof in a rebuttal press conference on October 1 of that year, against the rumor.
* '''EVEN IF IT WAS:''' Worm meat is considered very nutritious, and contains no gristle.


====Kangaroo meat====
===Pig fat===
This rumor is that McDonald's uses [[lard|pig fat]] in its milkshakes, ice cream, and fried potatoes. McDonald's provides complete ingredient lists for all of its products on each of its regional websites: this includes unidentified fats within the ice cream used to make soft-serve cones and sundaes. The claim that McDonald's dairy products contain pig fat has been denied by the company on several occasions.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kelly |first=Debra |date=2020-07-16 |title=The Untold Truth Of McDonald's Ice Cream |url=https://www.mashed.com/227375/the-untold-truth-of-mcdonalds-ice-cream/ |access-date=2022-07-05 |website=[[Mashed.com]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2004-04-20 |title=McSalads bring back health |url=https://www.smh.com.au/business/mcsalads-bring-back-health-20040420-gdirqt.html |access-date=2022-07-05 |website=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |language=en}}</ref>
* '''RUMOR:''' McDonald's/Jack in the Box hamburgers are made of [[kangaroo]] meat. Origins and details are similar to the above rumor about worm meat.
* '''PRESUMED ORIGIN:''' Kangaroos are regularly killed en-masse in [[Australia]], they are considered a [[pest]], and their carcasses are essentially useless. Anyone to find a purpose for their meat could easily profit.
* '''DEBUNKING FACT 1:''' The cost of setting up a major operation to transport this meat thousands of [[kilometres]] from Australia would theoretically be astronomical, and would be represented in the consumer's final price for purchasing the burger at a McDonald's/Jack in the Box restaurant.
* '''DEBUNKING FACT 2:''' To set up a case against McDonald's on this, one would have to justify what McDonald's does with the gigantic shipments of meat it regularly orders from cattle farmers.
* '''DEBUNKING FACT 3:''' If one was to suppose that kangaroo meat was used, one would have to question why there aren't obvious bulk quantities of kangaroo meat coming into the US from Australia.
* '''DEBUNKING FACT 4:''' See note on FDA, other authorities.
* '''DEBUNKING FACT 5:''' Kangaroo steak is available for human consumption (at least in Australia), is lean and tasty, but costs considerably more than beef.


===Beef tallow in french fries===
=== Pink slime ===
Around 2014, a photo of "[[pink slime]]" or "pink goop" was widely shared and claimed to be what [[Chicken McNuggets]] were made of.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Behr |first=Felix |date=2020-11-09 |title=Don't Believe These Myths About Chicken Nuggets |url=https://www.mashed.com/275839/dont-believe-these-myths-about-chicken-nuggets/ |access-date=2022-07-05 |website=[[Mashed.com]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mikkelson |first=David |date=2015-01-28 |title=Pink Slime and Mechanically Separated Chicken |url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/legal-separation/ |access-date=2022-07-05 |website=[[Snopes]] |language=en-US}}</ref> This has led to McDonald's Canada releasing a video showcasing how Chicken McNuggets are actually made in response.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-02-06 |title=McDonald's Shows How Its McNuggets Are Made: No 'Pink Slime' |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/mcdonalds-shows-how-its-mcnuggets-are-made-no-pink-slime-n23706 |access-date=2022-07-05 |website=[[NBC News]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Tuttle |first=Brad |date=2014-02-05 |title=McDonald's Made the Right Move in Response to Gross 'Pink Slime' |url=https://time.com/4680/mcdonalds-made-the-right-move-in-response-to-gross-pink-slime/ |access-date=2022-07-05 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |language=en}}</ref>
* '''RUMOR:''' There has long been a rumour (to the horror of [[vegetarian]]s and [[Hindu]]s) that McDonald's [[french fries]] are fried using [[beef tallow]].
* '''FACT:''' Traditionally, McDonald's indeed uses beef tallow to make french fries. However, McDonald's switched to using vegetable oil instead in [[1989]], in an attempt to market its french fries as being healthier than in the past. However, it retained beef extract as a flavoring ingredient; thus, the french fries are ''not'' vegetarian; McDonald's did not publicize this fact. Vegetarians and Hindus were indeed disappointed as this information became known, as they felt the company had implied the fries were vegetarian.


==Racism==
It should be noted that in most non-U.S. markets McDonald's does not use any beef extract.
{{main|Seriously McDonalds}}
Rumors in 2011 proclaimed an image shows a McDonald's sign announcing a $1.50 surcharge for African-American customers. This was proven to be a hoax.<ref name="CBS">{{cite news|last=|first=|date=15 June 2011|title=McDonald's racist Twitter message was hoax|work=|publisher=[[CBS News]]|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/06/15/earlyshow/leisure/gamesgadgetsgizmos/main20071227.shtml|url-status=dead|access-date=29 July 2012|archive-date=3 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120503003115/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/06/15/earlyshow/leisure/gamesgadgetsgizmos/main20071227.shtml}}</ref>


==Drugs==
Also of interest is that [[Burger King]] still uses animal fat to make french fries in the [[United States]], and accordingly places signs informing customers about this fact.
Since 2015, [[fake news website]]s have purported that McDonald's restaurants in Colorado are converting children's playgrounds to lounges for on-premises [[cannabis consumption]]. The story was started on the fake news website [[Now 8 News]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-04-18 |title=NOT REAL NEWS: McDonald's not adding pot-smoking centers |url=https://apnews.com/article/0780444bcc40456aa31b43a6f471f0da |access-date=2022-07-05 |website=[[AP News]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Evon |first=Dan |date=2015-10-08 |title=McWeed |url=https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/mcdonalds-marijuana-smoking-pods/ |access-date=2024-07-08 |website=Snopes |language=en}}</ref>


== Big Mac conspiracy ==
===McFlurry rumor===
The rumour says that the [[hamburger button]] is actually a Big Mac that McDonald's has planted around the Internet to advertise the burger on multiple websites. The designer behind the hamburger menu item, [[Norm Cox (designer)|Norm Cox]], has not confirmed this claim.<ref>{{Citation |title=The Icon - Truth About the Hamburger Menu |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYlyB0j6DzQ |access-date=2024-03-13 |language=en, fi}}</ref>
* '''RUMOR:''' One rumor circulating on the Internet claimed that a girl suffered a near death experience after eating a [[McFlurry]]. The rumor claimed that the girl was highly allergic to bird feathers. The family traced back the origins of all the food the girl had recently eaten. On phoning McDonald's head office, they were told what was in the dessert.
* '''FACT:''' It is true that McFlurry can cause allergies on some customers. However, the allergen is not bird feather, but [[peanut|peanuts]]. In fact, the small print on the McFlurry cup says: "May contain peanuts".


⚫
== References ==
McDonald's provides complete ingredient lists for all of its products on each of its regional websites.


=== Citations ===
==Exception legends==
{{reflist|30em|refs=
It is sometimes claimed a particular location is the only place where a McDonald's has closed down, due to lack of business. This claim has been made for several occasions. In fact it is not very rare for particular branches of the franchised chain to close, particularly after McDonald's poor financial performance in [[2002]].
<!--<ref name=howell>{{cite thesis|type=Ph.D. |last=Howell |first=Gwyneth Vernoica James |title=Using the Informational Processing Paradigm to Design Commercial Rumour Response Strategies on the World Wide Web |publisher=The University of Western Australia |year=2006 |url=https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/files/3232988/Howell_Gwyneth_Veronica_James_2006.pdf}}</ref>-->
}}


==No McDonald's Here==
=== Bibliography ===
{{refbegin}}
In 2002 British Foreign Office Minister [[Denis MacShane]] claimed that [[Sarajevo, Bosnia]] and [[Pyongyang|P'y&#335;nyang]], [[North Korea]] are the only two world capitals lacking a McDonald's. In fact McDonald's operates in just 119 countries, and now does have a branch in Sarajevo.
* {{cite journal|last=Fine |first=Gary Alan |author-link=Gary Alan Fine |title=The Kentucky Fried Rat: Legends and Modern Society |journal=Journal of the Folklore Institute |publisher=[[Indiana University Press]] |volume=17 |number=2/3<!--, Special Double Issue: The America Theme in American Folklore--> |date=<!--May - Dec., -->1980|pages=222–243 |doi=10.2307/3813896 |jstor=3813896}}
* {{cite book|last=Koenig |first=Frederick |author-link=Frederick Koenig |title=Rumor in the Marketplace: The Social Psychology of Commercial Hearsay |place=Dover, MA |publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group|Auburn House]] |year=1985 |pages=<!--1–180--> }}, 180pp
{{refend}}


==See also==
==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20061005001717/http://www.makeupyourownmind.com.au/ ''Make Up Your Own Mind''], a site made by McDonald's, dedicated to clarifying myths and urban legends
*[[McLibel case]] - A case in which McDonald's fought the distribution of a pamphlet containing multiple rumors about the corporation; while many were proved false, others were proved to be true. This, and the negative publicity given to McDonald's methods of fighting the case, made it a [[Pyrrhic victory]] for them even though they technically won the case.
*[https://www.snopes.com/tag/mcdonalds/ Articles tagged with McDonald's] at [[Snopes]]


{{McDonald's}}
⚫
==References==
{{Urban legends}}
* ''McDonald's Yugoslavia''. 2003. http://www.mcdonalds.co.yu/
* McDonald's country website index, ''McDonald's'', 2003, http://www.mcdonalds.com/countries/index.html


{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcdonald's Urban Legends}}
[[Category:McDonald's]][[Category:Urban legends]]
[[Category:McDonald's|Urban legends]]
[[Category:Urban legends|McDonald's]]

Revision as of 08:41, 8 July 2024

There are multiple urban legends centering around the fast-food chain McDonald's. These legends include claims about the food and allegations of discrimination by the company.

Funding terrorism

In the late 1980s, rumors persisted in the United Kingdom that McDonald's was covertly funding the Provisional IRA, which was designated as a terror organization, via NORAID. The source of these rumors was eventually traced to a CNN talk show in which the company was praised for its generosity in providing funding for employees via Individual Retirement Accounts, or IRAs.[1]

Unusual ingredients

Large companies have been the subject of rumors that they substitute unusual or unethical substances in their products, usually to decrease costs. McDonald's is not immune to such claims.

Confectionery cheeseburgers

A McDonald's cheeseburger

One story claims that if McDonald's cheeseburgers did not include pickles as an ingredient, the cheeseburger would be classed as a confectionery item. It stems from the belief that the sugar content in the bun is high, but adding a pickle then keeps the overall sugar percentage below the threshold of what is classed as confectionery. McDonald's have stated that this story is an urban legend.[2][3]

Cow eyeballs

One belief is that McDonald's uses cow eyeballs in its products, permitting it to brand them as "100% beef".[4] However, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) mandates that all beef by-products, including cow eyeballs, be appropriately labeled. McDonald's has asserted that its products contain "100% pure USDA-inspected beef; no additives, no fillers, no extenders." In addition, cow eyeballs are actually more expensive than the more commonly eaten cow parts, due to demand from scientific institutions for experiments.[4]

A related claim is that McDonald's buys its meat from a company called "100% Beef", making it possible for McDonald's to call beef by-products and soy products "100% beef".[5][6]

Earthworms

Dating back to at least 1978, this rumor claims that McDonald's restaurants use earthworms in their hamburgers.[7][8] This "worm-in-the-burger" rumor was originally attached to Wendy's burgers.[7]

Human meat

A claim circulating since 2014, including in a video, is that McDonald's uses human meat in their hamburgers. The claim originates from a satire blog.[9][10]

Mutant laboratory meat

Around March–April 2000, an internet rumor spread via e-mail in Brazil claimed that McDonald's meat was actually made from a genetically modified animal maintained in a laboratory, attributing the findings to the Michigan State University. The e-mail stated that the creatures kept were "figures without legs and without horns, which are fed through tubes connected to the stomach and which in fact have no bones, but a little cartilage that never develops", and "anyone who has seen them assures them that they are very unpleasant things, because in addition to remaining immobile all their 'life', they have no eyes, no tail and practically no fur; in fact the head is the size of a tennis ball".[11]

The e-mail carries on saying that "some irreversible health damage can be done by eating this meat, resulting in diseases who manifest themselves in a way similar to AIDS, and have symptoms related to Alzheimer's disease" and ends encouraging the reader to boycott McDonald's until it sells actual beef. The urban legend has also been attributed to other fast-food chains and animal products, such as KFC and mutant chickens.[11]

Pig fat

This rumor is that McDonald's uses pig fat in its milkshakes, ice cream, and fried potatoes. McDonald's provides complete ingredient lists for all of its products on each of its regional websites: this includes unidentified fats within the ice cream used to make soft-serve cones and sundaes. The claim that McDonald's dairy products contain pig fat has been denied by the company on several occasions.[12][13]

Pink slime

Around 2014, a photo of "pink slime" or "pink goop" was widely shared and claimed to be what Chicken McNuggets were made of.[14][15] This has led to McDonald's Canada releasing a video showcasing how Chicken McNuggets are actually made in response.[16][17]

Racism

Main article: Seriously McDonalds

Rumors in 2011 proclaimed an image shows a McDonald's sign announcing a $1.50 surcharge for African-American customers. This was proven to be a hoax.[18]

Drugs

Since 2015, fake news websites have purported that McDonald's restaurants in Colorado are converting children's playgrounds to lounges for on-premises cannabis consumption. The story was started on the fake news website Now 8 News.[19][20]

Big Mac conspiracy

The rumour says that the hamburger button is actually a Big Mac that McDonald's has planted around the Internet to advertise the burger on multiple websites. The designer behind the hamburger menu item, Norm Cox, has not confirmed this claim.[21]

References

Citations

  1. ^ "Topics of the Times - The IRA you say". The New York Times. 30 November 1989. Archived from the original on 2010-01-29.
  2. ^ "Are McDonald's cheeseburgers counted as confectionery?". YouTube. McDonald's. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  3. ^ "Are gherkins added to a Big Mac® to offset the sugar content & avoid it being called a dessert?". www.mcdonalds.com. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  4. ^ a b Mikkelson, David (15 April 2015). "McDonald's: World's Largest Purchaser of Cow Eyeballs?". Snopes. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
  5. ^ "Are McDonald's Hamburgers 100% Beef?". Snopes. 24 January 2011. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
  6. ^ "FAQS | Is '100% beef' a company owned by McDonald's (and therefore your beef products are not actually 100% beef)?". McDonald's UK. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
  7. ^ a b Mikkelson, David (5 July 1999). "FACT CHECK: Is Worm Meat Used in McDonald's Hamburgers?". Snopes. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
  8. ^ Taylor, Kate (2016-01-21). "A viral rumor that McDonald's uses ground worm filler in burgers has been debunked". Business Insider. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
  9. ^ "False claim of human meat in McDonald's factories stems from old hoax". AP News. 2020-08-24. Retrieved 2024-07-08.
  10. ^ Lee, Ella. "Fact check: No, McDonald's doesn't serve 'human meat'". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2024-07-08.
  11. ^ a b "As coisas da McDonald's: hambúrgueres são feitos de seres geneticamente modificados. (hoax)". www.quatrocantos.com (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2022-07-05.
  12. ^ Kelly, Debra (2020-07-16). "The Untold Truth Of McDonald's Ice Cream". Mashed.com. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
  13. ^ "McSalads bring back health". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2004-04-20. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
  14. ^ Behr, Felix (2020-11-09). "Don't Believe These Myths About Chicken Nuggets". Mashed.com. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
  15. ^ Mikkelson, David (2015-01-28). "Pink Slime and Mechanically Separated Chicken". Snopes. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
  16. ^ "McDonald's Shows How Its McNuggets Are Made: No 'Pink Slime'". NBC News. 2014-02-06. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
  17. ^ Tuttle, Brad (2014-02-05). "McDonald's Made the Right Move in Response to Gross 'Pink Slime'". Time. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
  18. ^ "McDonald's racist Twitter message was hoax". CBS News. 15 June 2011. Archived from the original on 3 May 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  19. ^ "NOT REAL NEWS: McDonald's not adding pot-smoking centers". AP News. 2018-04-18. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
  20. ^ Evon, Dan (2015-10-08). "McWeed". Snopes. Retrieved 2024-07-08.
  21. ^ The Icon - Truth About the Hamburger Menu (in English and Finnish), retrieved 2024-03-13

Bibliography

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