What Oercentage Fat Is Mcdonalds Beef
EATING WELL
EATING WELL; Fast Food Chains Try to Slim Down
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April 11, 1990
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AMERICA'S fast-food chains are hardly paragons of nutritional virtue, but they are beginning to respond to criticism by health professionals that they are nutritional wastelands. Those in search of low-fat meals, who have stayed away from chains like McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Hardee's and Roy Rogers, convinced there was nothing there they could possibly eat, are in for a surprise.
All these chains offer at least one salad, and some have even more interesting low-fat alternatives to double cheeseburgers. An analysis of fat in the smallest hamburgers sold at outlets of five chains found that all were well within the range most nutritionists would find acceptable.
But National Heart Savers Association, a nonprofit organization that concentrates its efforts on the hazards of a high-fat, high-cholesterol diet, does not think the chains have done enough to reduce the amount of fat in their food.
Last week, Phil Sokolof, the president and sole underwriter of the association, assailed McDonald's, the largest of the hamburger chains, in full-page newspaper advertisments in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and 21 other major newspapers. Under the headline ''The Poisoning of America,'' the ads accused McDonald's of serving food with too much fat and cholesterol.
In 1988 and 1989 Mr. Sokolof, a successful businessman, paid for similar ads criticizing food companies for using highly saturated tropical oil in their cookies and crackers. The impact was swift: companies began to reformulate their products to remove coconut and palm oils. Whether Mr. Sokolof will be as successful this time is not so clear, but he certainly made McDonald's angry.
Melissa Oakley, a supervisor of communications for the McDonald's Corporation, called the ad ''reckless, misleading, the worst kind of sensationalism.''
She also said there were inaccuracies in the ad, citing the claim that the amount of saturated fat in a double hamburger with french fries is 25 grams; she said it is actually 15 to 19 grams.
Mr. Sokolof said he stands by his figures, which were based on tests done for him. But he added: ''What difference does it make whether it's 19 grams of 25 grams? Either figure is astronomical.'' The ad also said a precooked McDonald's hamburger contains 21.5 percent fat. In its response yesterday, McDonald's countered that it used ground beef that contains 17 percent to 19.5 percent fat. Whatever the real number, once the meat is cooked the fat content changes and what matters most is what the customer consumes.
Measuring the Fat
Health Professionals Wouldn't Be Upset Laboratory tests conducted for The New York Times by Certified Analytical Labs of Corona, Queens, found that McDonald's cooked hamburgers contained an average of 21.2 percent fat, but ranged from 20.28 percent to 22.5 percent. The cooked patties, each a little over one ounce, contained an average of seven grams of fat.
But most health professionals would not be too upset about a hamburger that was less than 30 percent fat and 7 grams of total fat. Dietary advice today, whether from the Surgeon General, the American Cancer Society or the American Heart Association, recommends a diet with 30 percent fat or less.
This reporter had hamburger patties from five chains analyzed for their fat content. At the suggestion of the laboratory, the patties were purchased without bread, which would absorb some fat.
A small amount of the fat could not be measured because it adhered to the containers in which the patties were placed by sales clerks. The burgers were then immediately transferred to plastic bags.
The hamburgers were bought last Friday and Saturday at three restaurants of each of five chains: McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Roy Rogers and Hardee's. At each stop, three burgers of the smallest type available were purchased.
The average percentage of fat did not vary significantly from chain to chain. It was lowest, though not by much, at McDonald's - 21.2 percent - and highest at Roy Rogers - 23.7 percent. The average at Hardee's was 21.4 percent; at Burger King 22.5 percent and at Wendy's it was 22.8 percent.
But the size of the smallest hamburger available made an important difference in the amount of fat consumed.
The Roy Rogers hamburgers, which were quarter-pounders, weighed an average of 2.66 ounces after cooking. They were more than twice as large as the McDonald's (1.14 ounces) and Hardee's hamburgers (1.13 ounces). So, the smallest Roy Rogers hamburgers contained almost 18 grams per patty, while the smallest at McDonalds' and Hardee's's had 6.8. and 6.9 grams.
At Wendy's, the smallest burgers available weighed an average of 2.56 ounces and contained 16.5 grams of fat. Burger King's burgers were in between, weighing 1.39 ounces with 8.9 grams of fat.
The Bigger Picture
How About Fries And a Milkshake?
Although they were not tested, larger burgers supply much larger amounts of fat. A Burger King Whopper, according to the company's nutrition brochure, contains 36 grams of fat, and Wendy's says its Big Classic Double has 39 grams of fat.
The McDonald's nutrition brochure says a Quarter Pounder contains triple the amount of fat of a plain hamburger, and Big Macs may have five times as much.
Including an order of french fries - even the smallest serving - to these sandwiches adds another 12 grams of fat to the meal. A milkshake adds 10 more grams. Because these foods are meat and dairy products, and the fat used to cook the french fries is partly beef tallow, the cholesterol count is also high.
McDonald's fries are cooked in a mixture of beef tallow or fat and vegetable shortening, as they are at Burger King, Roy Rogers and Wendy's. Hardee's uses only polyunsaturated vegetable oils.
McDonalds said it has begun experimenting with cooking its french fries in an all-vegetable oil mixture. On May 1, it will introduce a lower-fat milkshake mix, low-fat frozen yogurt and orange sorbet.
Hardee's has just agreed to buy the Roy Rogers chain from the Marriott Corporation and plans to switch its acquisition to all-vegetable oil. Roy Rogers has used a combination of vegetable and animal fat.
Alternatives to Fat
Salads and Chicken Among the Burgers That vast nutritional wasteland nutritionists once saw is showing signs of greening. Responding to pressure from consumer-health organizations like the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer health advocacy group in Washington, and from the public, the chains have been broadening their menus. So, among the fried and the fat, the cheese and the milkshakes, there are low-fat alternatives.
''We're giving consumers what they want instead of what we want,'' said Cori Zywotow, director of publicity for Burger King.
Each of the chains visited for the test offers at least one salad; some have two or three. A chunky chicken salad at Burger King used fresh ingredients and was quite acceptable. Each chain had a reduced-calorie salad dressing. Some Wendy's and Roy Rogers have extensive salad bars.
Wendy's has salad bars in almost all of its restaurants, and what it calls super salad bars, which include some hot items, in about 60 percent of them. Baked potatoes at Wendy's are well cooked, but in order to keep the fat down, they must be eaten plain.
Wendy also says it is testing an all-vegetable oil for french fries, a lower fat content for its dairy desserts and a grilled chicken sandwich.
The roast beef sandwich at Roy Rogers is another good choice because it is low in fat.
The very best tasting of the alternatives, however, was Burger King's grilled chicken sandwich, the B. K. Broiler in an oat-bran bun. Ask for it plain, without the ranch dressing and use mustard and ketchup. Without the dressing, the six-ounce sandwich has eight grams of fat.
Since its introduction in February, it has turned out to be a winner. The company's best seller, the Whopper hamburger, sells two million a day, Ms. Zywotow said. The B. K. Broiler is already selling one million a day.
Hardee's also has a grilled chicken sandwich, which is quite acceptable in taste. It is 3.75 ounces and has 4 grams of fat without the mayonnaise.
In many of these fast-food outlets, it is also possible to order orange juice in place of a soft drink and 2 percent milk in place of whole milk.
McDonald's is experimenting with cereal and fat-free apple bran muffins for breakfast, a pleasing a change of pace from biscuits, sausage, eggs, and Danish pastries.
Nutrition Information
A Group Charges Promise Was Broken One area where progress is not so evident among the chains is in making nutrition information easily available to the consumer. In 1986, Burger King, McDonald's, Wendy's and Kentucky Fried Chicken agreed to provide customers with nutrition and ingredient information at all of their outlets in New York, California and Texas. Signs were to be posted alerting consumers to the availability of the pamphlets.
Last month, the Center for Science in the Public Interest charged that the companies that had agreed to provide the information ''have largely stopped doing so.'' Shortly after the charge was made public, New York City's Department of Consumer Affairs conducted an informal survey of the chains and found pamphlets in 4 of 12 Burger Kings, 3 of 11 Wendy's and 12 of 13 McDonald's.
In each of the restaurants visited by this reporter, a nutrition brochure was requested. They were available at two of the three McDonald's, at two of the three Burger Kings, at two of the three Wendy's, and at none of the Roy Rogers or Hardee's. Employees at the latter two chains said they knew nothing about brochures.
Neither Hardee's nor Roy Rogers were parties to the 1986 agreement. Hardee's said through a spokesman that nutrition pamphlets are available at all of its outlets.
Roy Rogers requires consumers to call 1-800-638-6707, extension 85177, to receive the information.
Despite the vehemence of Mr. Sokolof's ad, he acknowledged in an interview yesterday that the companies are making progress in providing healthful alternatives.
''I think the Burger King B. K. Broiler is great,'' he said. ''I look forward to the day McDonald's has a grilled chicken sandwich. I am all for fast-food companies offering milkshakes with less saturated fat. I feel they have responsibility to come up with better foods.''
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/11/garden/eating-well-fast-food-chains-try-to-slim-down.html
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