Sat, Aug-23-03, 01:15
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Registered Member
Posts: 85
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Plan: Atkins
Stats: 277/223/180
BF:
Progress: 56%
Location: California, USA
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And here's what McDonald's Customer Satisfaction department replied (complete with grammatical goofs and ducking the trans-fatty acid carcinogen issue) to the letter I sent in my original post in this thread.
"Thank you for contacting McDonald's with your comments. I appreciate this opportunity to share some information with you about our menu items.
Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is a flavor enhancer which heightens the flavor of food ingredients without imparting a flavor of its own. While sometimes added directly to food products, MSG is, in many cases, naturally present in foods. MSG is not a food preservative since it does not prevent or slow the deterioration of food. The U.S. Government has determined that MSG is safe for use in food products.
The following food products on McDonald's standard menu which contain added monosodium glutamate (MSG) as a flavor enhancer are: Breakfast Burrito, Breakfast Sausage Patty and those sandwiches containing sausage which would include the Sausage Biscuit, Sausage Biscuit with Egg, Sausage McMuffin, Sausage McMuffin with Egg, the grilled chicken patty, soups (all) including chili, and our Spanish Omelet Bagel Sandwich. Please be assured that if we ever added MSG to one of our menu items, we would clearly state this ingredient in our "McDonald's Nutrition Facts" brochure and on our web site at: http://www.mcdonalds.com/food/allergens_sensitivities/index.html . You feedback however is very important to us and will be shared with our Menu Management team for on going evaluation.
Once again, thank you for contacting McDonald's and I hope you have found this information helpful.
McDonald's Customer Satisfaction Department
*and here's what I replied in turn to the above* To: McDonald's Customer Satisfaction Dept. I think you're missing the thrust of my original letter. Just because the government says a certain ingredient is "safe" doesn't mean it's healthy nor nutritional. MSG and sugars aren't healthy, and certainly not nutritional. Yet, your company chose salad ingredients which contain this... you're not honestly trying to imply that all your competitor's salads contain MSG, or so much sugar, are you? You'd be wrong if you tried stating such. Furthermore, I noticed how you conveniently ducked my raising the issue of your including trans-fatty acids in the form of numerous (I counted up to five) partially hydrogenated oils, which are known carcinogens as demonstrated by government and non-government medical testing. Again, this is not something all your competitors include in their salad. I once again encourage McDonald's to do a serious re-think of their ingredients in their salads, or at least to cease and desist their marketing efforts in falsey portraying these salads as being a healthier alternative for consumers to choose from. They aren't. And it's ethically wrong of you to claim otherwise in either your marketing ads or your customer satisfaction replies. I realize you're just a pawn in the chessboard of a larger corporation, Linda, but you're part of the problem if you play the denial game - and ultimately, play with people's health by pretending to provide something you do not: health-conscious salads. Angered at my intelligence being insulted from your deceptive reply, xxx
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