I was traveling the other weekend and had limited choices for food. I decided to stop at Wendy's for a burger. I remembered they've had these commercials where "you know it's real", so I thought I could get some real food there, right? I ordered a double hamburger and went on my way.
Later, I decided to check their website and see if I did get some real food. First, I checked the ingredients for the burger:
Hamburger Patty: Ground Beef. Seasoned with Salt.
Okay, so far so good. Next, I checked the bun:
Bun, Sandwich: Enriched Flour (wheat flour, malted barley flour, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, niacin, iron, folic acid), Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Vegetable Oil (contains one or more of the following: soybean, cottonseed, canola), Yeast, Salt, Wheat Gluten, Contains 2% or less of the following: Dough Conditioners (contains one or more of the following: sodium stearoyl lactylate, calcium stearoyl-2-lactylate, ascorbic acid, azodicarbonamide, mono and diglycerides, DATEM, enzymes), Yeast Nutrients (may contain one or more of the following: monocalcium phosphate, calcium sulfate, calcium carbonate, ammonium sulfate), Turmeric, Paprika, Annatto, Natural Flavor, Calcium Silicate, Calcium Propionate (preservative). CONTAINS: WHEAT.
Wow, that's a lot of ingredients for a simple hamburger bun. But did you notice the third ingredient in the list? High-fructose corn syrup. So they are basically putting sugar into their bun. I have read McDonald's puts sugar in their french fries, but it never occurred to me that restaurants would put sugar in a bun.
I would have to say that there's nothing real about this bun. I don't even know what half the ingredients are.
Next, I wanted to check some other fast food restaurants and see what they put in their food. Taco Bell seemed like it would be a good subject, so I checked their website. Here's what they put in their beef:
Seasoned Ground Beef:
Beef, Water, Seasoning [Isolated Oat Product, Salt, Chili Pepper, Onion Powder, Tomato Powder, Oats (Wheat), Soy Lecithin, Sugar, Spices, Maltodextrin, Soybean Oil (Anti-dusting Agent), Garlic Powder, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Citric Acid, Caramel Color, Cocoa Powder (Processed With Alkali), Silicon Dioxide, Natural Flavors, Yeast, Modified Corn Starch, Natural Smoke Flavor],Salt, Sodium Phosphates. CONTAINS SOYBEAN, WHEAT
A lot more than just beef! They add the sugar right in with the beef. Their tortilla shell has sugar in it, too, but the list of ingredients is too long to post here.
Finally, I decided to check Subway. They market themselves as healthy fast food. Here's what's in their beef:
Roast Beef:
Roast beef, water, salt, dextrose, corn syrup, sodium phosphates, and spice extractive. Coated with: salt, dextrose, caramel color, pepper and garlic powder.
Dextrose, corn syrup, more dextrose – it's all added sugar. Some of their breads have sugar added as well.
Overall, this is just what America needs: more sugar!
Actually, according to Lustig’s video/presentation on youtube, McDonald’s puts HFCS in just about everything, with the exceptions being fries, hash browns, chicken mcnuggets, and coffee (not sure if I’m missing any). But it’s interesting to look at that list and realize the majority of people add sugar/hfcs to those foods (ketchup for the fries and hash browns, dipping sauces for the mcnuggets, sugar for the coffee).
Perhaps the title of your post should be “Sugar Booger”, because the ingredients were about as appealing as one.
I agree, it’s just gross. No wonder Americans are so fat. I try to avoid fast food if I can for just that reason. Thanks for visiting my blog today.
Another reason why it is so difficult to get kids off the sugar and the HFCS. I’m having trouble getting the (wife’s side) grandparents on board and the stuff is damn insidious. Too bad the general public are too concerned with SFAs and skin cancer to notice all the sugar that’s really killing them.
Actually, there is very little bread that’s made without HFCS, sugar or another sweetener like honey. Yet another reason to avoid bread.
Actually, there is very little breads that’s created without HFCS, sugars or another sweetener like baby. Yet another purpose to prevent breads.