McDonald’s has decided to stop serving Heinz ketchup in its stores after 40 years.
McDonald’s said it would drop the ketchup after Bernardo Hees, the former head of rival Burger King, took over as Heinz’s chief executive.
“We have decided to transition our business to other suppliers over time,” the world’s biggest fast-food chain said.
In February, Heinz was purchased in a $28 billion takeover.
McDonald’s has decided to stop serving Heinz ketchup in its stores after 40 years
The company said that it would work with Heinz “to ensure a smooth and orderly transition of the McDonald’s restaurant business”, which has 34,000 restaurants around the world.
Bernardo Hees took over after Heinz was bought by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and Brazilian investment fund 3G Capital. Burger King is controlled by 3G Capital.
McDonald’s uses Heinz ketchup at many stores around the world, though only in Pittsburgh and Minneapolis inside the US.
“As a matter of policy, Heinz does not comment on relationships with customers,” the ketchup-maker said.
McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson has claimed he lost 20 lbs in weight, despite eating from the chain’s menu every day.
Don Thompson said he regularly worked out at a gym to lose the pounds but did not stop wolfing down the fast food meals whenever he could.
But his claims were met with skepticism on Twitter with some branding it the “McDiet” and asking him to “prove it”.
Last week McDonald’s unveiled its most unhealthy item ever, the Mega Potato, which is a double size portion of fries. At 1,142 calories Mega Potato is more than half the recommended daily calorie intake for a woman.
Don Thompson said he shed the weight over the course of a year by getting up early in the mornings and going to the gym.
The fast food boss insisted he still ate at McDonald’s ‘every single day’, although he did not specify what he chose from the menu.
He admitted that despite McDonald’s trying to rebrand itself as healthier, its salads make up only 2-3% of sales.
But the McDonald’s CEO claimed the company was making efforts to include more vegetables in its meals.
Don Thompson, who has been on the job for less than a year, was responding to a question about how the company is adapting amid growing concerns about obesity when he pointed out his slimmer frame.
McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson has claimed he lost 20 lbs in weight, despite eating from the chain’s menu every day
He said that he lost the weight by getting active again and noted that it’s rare to see Europeans that are “very, very heavy” because they walk a lot.
“And so I think that balance is really important to people,” he said.
“I don’t see salads as being a major growth driver in the near future,” Don Thompson told investors in New York this week, according to Bloomberg News.
It’s no wonder the salads have failed to lure health conscious diners when they are often as fat-laden as a Big Mac and boast names such as Bacon Ranch and Southwest Crispy Chicken.
In comparison to poor salad sales, the restaurant’s Dollar Menu generates 13-14% of U.S. business, he said.
However, Don Thompson claims the company isn’t giving up on selling fruit and vegetables. For instance, some of McDonald’s new McWraps have tomato, cucumber slices and shredded lettuce inside, he said.
McDonald’s first added tossed salads to its U.S. menu in 1987.
Bloomberg News reported earlier this month that it is considered ditching Caesar salads after it already got rid of Fruit & Walnut salads from its menu this year.
McDonald’s shares fell more than 2.2% to close at $98.28 on Wednesday, after the announcement. At one point they declined as much as 2.9% for the biggest intraday drop since October 19 and they continued to fall on Thursday.
The shares gained 15% this year through to Tuesday. In comparison, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index advanced 16%.
The chain announced it was axing its Fruit & Walnut salad in March after competitors Burger King Worldwide Inc and Wendy’s Co began closing the gap with McDonald’s.
McDonald’s, the world’s biggest hamburger chain for years, held a huge lead against most rivals, but some of those chains now are luring away diners with fast-changing menus featuring tempting new food.
McDonald’s have reached out to Charles Ramsey, the man being dubbed a hero and a legend in Cleveland and told him they will be in touch as yet another hilarious interview with Ariel Castro’s neighbor hits the internet.
Charles Ramsey, who is responsible for freeing Amanda Berry and two other women who were being held captive at his neighbor’s home, joined CNN’s Anderson Cooper to re-tell the events of the heroic evening which led to the freedom of Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus.
In a lengthy and animated interview with Anderson Cooper, Charles Ramsey describes the moment he heard Amanda Berry screaming from his neighbor’s home, the dramatic moment he kicked the door in to rescue her and the 911 call he made to the “moron” dispatcher, all while holding his half-eaten Big Mac.
When Anderson Cooper asked him what neighbor Ariel Castro was like, Charles Ramsey said: “He was cool, he wasn’t no freak of nature, he was like me and you. He talked about the same things me and you do bro.”
Charles Ramsey revealed that he actually spoke to Ariel Castro earlier that day because the mail man had put his mail into Ramsey’s mailbox. He said that Ariel Castro drove off and he cycled to McDonald’s.
Charles Ramsey, who is a dishwasher, brushed off his hero status, telling Anderson Cooper that he just had to “do the right thing”, adding: “Bro, I’m a Christian, an American, and just like you. We bleed the same blood, put our pants on the same way.
Charles Ramsey joined CNN’s Anderson Cooper to re-tell the events of the heroic evening which led to the freedom of Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus
“It’s just that you got to put that – being a coward, and I don’t want to get in nobody’s business. You got to put that away for a minute.”
He also revealed he is traumatized and has had trouble sleeping after learning what was taking place right next door to him.
“Up until yesterday, the only thing that kept me from losing sleep was lack of money. You know what I’m saying? But now that that’s going on and I think I could have done this last year…”
He also says that any reward money should not be given to him, but to the three women who had lost so many years of their lives being held captive.
“I tell you what you do, give it to them… you know I got a job anyway” he said before pulling out his paycheck that he just picked up and showing it to Anderson Cooper.
Yesterday, after giving several zany interviews which catapulted him to internet celebrity status, Charles Ramsey’s mentions of McDonald’s caught the attention of the fast food chain.
McDonald’s later tweeted: “We salute the courage of Ohio kidnap victims & respect their privacy. Way to go Charles Ramsey – we’ll be in touch.”
Charles Ramsey’s expletive-filled 911 call is garnering just as much attention as his interviews.
He explains to the dispatcher: “Hey bro I’m at 2207 Seymour Avenue, West 25th. Hey check this out, I just came from McDonald’s right? And I’m on my porch eating my little food and this broad is trying to break outa the f***ing house next door to me.
“There was a bunch of people on the street right now and sh** and we are like, <<What’s wrong with you, what’s the problem?>>
“And she’s like, <<This mother f***er has kidnapped me and my daughter>>. Said her name is Linda Berry or some shit. I don’t know who the fuck that is, I just moved over here bro.”
The dispatcher asks Charles Ramsey to calm down and slow down and tries to ascertain what is happening and where they are.
He explains that he is looking at Amanda Berry, who is on the phone with a different dispatcher. Charles Ramsey explains that she is white, but her child is Hispanic and that she is wearing “a white tank top and blue sweat pants”.
Charles Ramsey is then asked if Amanda Berry needs an ambulance and he can be heard shouting over to her.
“You need an ambulance or what? She needs everything, she in a panic, she’s been kidnapped you know? So put yourself in her shoes.”
A McDonald’s outpost in Winchendon, Massachusetts, is demanding a bachelor degree in a call-out for a full time cashier.
It used to be high school drop outs flipping burgers at McDonald’s but now the applicants must have 1-2 years of cashier experience before they’ll be trusted with the Big-Mac-selling responsibility, according to the advert.
“Get a weekly paycheck with a side order of food, folks and fun,” the independent McDonald’s franchise boasts.
A McDonald’s outpost in Winchendon, Massachusetts, is demanding a bachelor degree in a call-out for a full time cashier
In the ad, uploaded on jobdiagnosis.com, the Winchendon McDonald’s restaurant says it wants “friendly people… to smile while serving lots of guests daily”, and declares “work with your friends or make some new ones!”.
While it may be tricky to score the clearly competitive role, it’ll be worth it, according to the chain.
The successful applicant has the chance to work their way up the company ladder, the ad insists, boating impressive “advancement opportunities”.
The McDonald’s website also lists the full time position in Spanish, but doesn’t give a salary.
A management position also listed starts at $10 an hour, with a sign on bonus if the applicant has previously worked at a McDonald’s branch.
With colleges churning out more graduates and youth unemployment at 11.5%, youth advocates reckon the unusually high qualifications McDonald’s is demanding are a sign of the times.
“Sadly we’ve taxed-and-spent our way to an economy in which there’s intense competition for just about any job… and young people are getting screwed over even worse than the country overall,” Evan Feinberg, president of the Washington-based youth advocacy group Generation Opportunity, told the Washington Examiner.
McDonald’s celebrates St. Patrick’s Day each year with their famous minty-green Shamrock Shake, which contains a whopping 820 calories.
Shamrock Shake’s calories are equivalent to one and a half hamburgers at McDonald’s.
Included in those calories are a hefty 23 grams of fat and 115 grams of sugar.
Other menu options with the same nutritional value include 3.6 orders of small fries, a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit, 4.3 orders of hotcakes, and 8 soft baked chocolate chip cookies, The Huffington Post reports.
McDonald’s celebrates St. Patrick’s Day each year with their famous minty-green Shamrock Shake, which contains a whopping 820 calories
St. Patrick’s Day treat is made up of the company’s Shamrock Shake syrup, an ice cream base, whip cream, and a single cherry.Not only are the calories astonishingly high, but the frosty treat is also filled with a number of additives that have been shown to cause adverse health effects.
The artificial vanilla flavor includes lignin, a byproduct of wood pulp extraction. Lignin has been known to trigger migraine headaches.
Hidden in the whip cream is carrageenan, a thickening agent. Degraded forms of that chemical, non food-grade, are listed as a possible carcinogen in humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Food-grade versions have been linked to colon inflammation, a risk for colon cancer.
Then there’s the combination of Yellow 5 or Red 40 and Sodium Benzoate, which has been linked to hyperactivity in children.
So next time you pull up to the drive-thru, consider what you’re really getting.
Burger King’s Twitter account was hacked by a McDonald’s fan.
Burger King’s Twitter page, which has more than 89,000 followers, has been changed to feature their rival’s food and even their logo and Twitter name have been changed, appearing as McDonalds @BurgerKing.
The first sign of trouble was a post made from the official Burger King account stating: “We just got sold to McDonalds! Look for McDonalds in a hood near you.”
The Burger King Twitter account has been suspended after several posts, some racist and offensive, were made by the McDonald’s fan over several hours.
From the Burger King account, the hacker promoted McDonald’s food, posting: “Try our new BK (sm) Bath Salt! 99% Pure MDPV! Buy a Big Mac, get a gram free!”
Since then there has been a string of Tweets from several Twitter users as news of the hack went viral with many tweeting and re-tweeting posts from the hacker.
Burger King’s Twitter account was hacked by a McDonald’s fan
A Burger King spokesperson said: “It has come to our attention that the Twitter account of BURGER KING® brand has been hacked.
“We have worked directly with administrators to suspend the account until we are able to re-establish our legitimate site and authentic postings.
“We apologize to our followers who have been receiving erroneous tweets about other members of our industry and additional inappropriate topics.”
McDonald’s denied any involvement in the hacking, posting on their Twitter page at 6.45p.m.: “We empathize with our @BurgerKing counterparts. Rest assured, we had nothing to do with the hacking.”
Twitter and Burger King are yet to make any official statements about the incident.
Mitt Romney was spotted picking up a snack in a McDonald’s restaurant just ahead of a lunch in the White House with Barack Obama on Thursday.
Barack Obama and Mitt Romney meeting has already inspired dozens of internet memes speculating on what exactly went on.
The former governor of Massachusetts was photographed apparently buying a McFlurry milkshake, and the picture was then uploaded to social news website Reddit.
While it may seem strange to see the ultra-healthy 65-year-old chowing down on fast food, the Romney family has long had a strong connection to the McDonald’s franchise.
Mitt Romney’s father George, a businessman who was governor of Michigan, was given a card by McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc entitling him to eat at any of the chain’s restaurants for free for his whole life.
As well as the picture of Mitt Romney in McDonald’s, web users have clearly been amused by a photo of the losing Republican presidential candidate shaking hands with Barack Obama in the Oval Office, as Buzzfeednotes.
Photoshopped versions of the image have spread around the net, with some offering witty guesses about the strained conversation the two men might be enjoying, while others drew attention to the awkward presence of a White House staffer half-hidden behind a door in the background of the picture.
The pair met for lunch at the White House on Thursday, sitting down with an eye on overlapping interests rather than the sharp differences that defined their presidential contest.
In their first meeting since the election, Barack Obama and the Republican nominee met in the White House’s private dining room, fulfilling a promise Obama made in his victory speech the night of November 6.
Mitt Romney congratulated the president for the success of his campaign and wished him well over the coming four years, according to a description of the meeting from the White House.
“The focus of their discussion was on America’s leadership in the world and the importance of maintaining that leadership position in the future,” according to the description.
“They pledged to stay in touch, particularly if opportunities to work together on shared interests arise in the future.”
While they talked politics, the former foes munched on white turkey chili and Southwestern grilled chicken salad.
Mitt Romney arrived at the White House early Thursday afternoon in a black SUV. He stepped out of the passenger side and walked into the West Wing alone.
Mitt Romney was spotted picking up a snack in a McDonald’s restaurant just ahead of a lunch in the White House with Barack Obama on Thursday
White House spokesman Jay Carney had earlier said Barack Obama had no specific agenda for the meeting, but he said the president wanted to discuss Mitt Romney’s ideas for making government more efficient. Barack Obama has proposed merging some functions of government related to business and has asked Congress for authority to undertake some executive branch reorganization.
“The president noted that Gov. Romney did a terrific job running the Olympics and that that skills set lends itself to ideas that could make the federal government work better, which is a passion of the president’s,” Jay Carney said.
Barack Obama aides said they reached out to Mitt Romney’s team shortly before Thanksgiving to start working on a date for the meeting. The two men were meeting alone in the White House’s private dining room, with no press coverage expected.
For Mitt Romney, it was a day of closure after a hard-fought campaign.
Mitt Romney and Rep. Paul Ryan, the Wisconsin congressman who was his vice presidential running mate, met earlier in the day to talk about the pending fiscal cliff negotiations and other economic challenges facing Washington, a Ryan aide said. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the aide was not authorized to discuss the private discussions.
On a personal level, the pair discussed their families and talked about the harried 12 weeks of the general election campaign.
“I remain grateful to Gov. Romney for the honor of joining his ticket this fall, and I cherish our friendship,” Paul Ryan said in a statement after their meeting.
“I’m proud of the principles and ideas we advanced during the campaign and the commitment we share to expanding opportunity and promoting economic security for American families.”
Much of that debate centers on expiring tax cuts first enacted in the George W. Bush administration. Barack Obama and Mitt Romney differed sharply during the campaign over what to do with the cuts, with the Republican pushing for them to be extended for all income earners and the president running on a pledge to let the cuts expire for families making more than $250,000 a year.
The White House sees Barack Obama’s victory as a signal that Americans support his tax proposals.
Barack Obama and Mitt Romney’s sit-down Thursday was expected to be their most extensive private meeting to date. The two men had only a handful of brief exchanges before the 2012 election.
Even after their political fates became intertwined, their interactions were largely confined to the three presidential debates.
Mitt Romney has virtually disappeared from politics following his election loss. He’s spent the past three weeks largely in seclusion at his family’s Southern California home. He has made no public appearances, drawing media attention only after being photographed at Disneyland in addition to stops at the movies and the gym with his wife, Ann.
Barack Obama aides reached out to Mitt Romney shortly before Thanksgiving to start working on a date for the meeting.
“It was a gracious invitation from the president, which Mitt Romney was glad to accept,” a top Mitt Romney aide said.
The timing of Barack Obama’s meeting appears strategic, coming in the same week that he launched an aggressive campaign aimed at forcing Congress to accept his proposals to avert the fiscal cliff, a series of automatic tax increases and spending cuts that threaten to send the U.S. economy spiraling into a second recession.
The Congressional Budget Office has predicted that if the fiscal cliff is not avoided, the U.S. unemployment rate could rise to 9.1% by the end of next year, compared to 7.9% now.
Barack Obama is proposing that Congress end tax cuts for families making more than $250,000 a year, but Republicans are opposed to the idea.
While in Washington, Mitt Romney will meet with his former running mate, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, who is working on the Republican side of negotiations.
Mitt Romney has kept a low profile since his defeat, deliberately avoiding the political spotlight while many in the party distanced themselves from him in the days and weeks after the election, especially after a conference call with donors in which he said Barack Obama won the election because of ‘gifts’ he bestowed on constituencies like Hispanics, blacks and young people.
Photographs and sightings of Mitt Romney’s post-election lifestyle reveal that he is relishing a ‘normal’ existence after the grueling pace of the campaign.
He was spotted attending the movie Twilight with his wife and dining on pizza afterward. He was also photographed at Disneyland on roller coasters with his sons and grandchildren.
A motorist snapped a photo of Romney pumping gas recently and the former Massachusetts governor posted of photo of himself and Ann enjoying Thanksgiving together. Appearing scruffy and unkempt in a blue T-shirt, Mitt Romney had his arms wrapped around Ann in their kitchen as she appeared to be cooking.
But it was revealed on Wednesday that Mitt Romney might soon be returning to work in the private sector.
Mitt Romney’s former aides confirmed to the Associated Press that he is expected to move into an office at the Boston-area venture capital firm Solamere Capital, which was co-founded by his eldest son, Tagg, and Spencer Zwick, who served as his campaign’s national finance chairman.
He will not be working for Solamere, the Washington Post reports, but simply leasing an office space there.
Several American businesses reacted to the news of President Barack Obama’s re-election with both anger and despair, as one McDonald’s location hung the US flag at half-mast and upside-down.
Some diners at the Follansbee restaurant in West Virginia could not believe their eyes when the say the flag on the day after Barack Obama secured more electoral votes than Republican rival Mitt Romney.
An upside-down flag is a “signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property”, according to federal law.
Mitt Romney won West Virginia in Tuesday night’s election – and its five electoral votes.
Karen Mezan, the McDonald’s franchise owner, said in an emailed statement to WTOV-TV: “Unfortunately, a flag cable broke and during the process of trying the fix the flag, it was inadvertently turned upside down.
“It wasn’t noticed that the flag was upside down until a customer inquired about it. We are working on fixing the flag right now. It’s important to note that this was an accident, not intentional.”
Follansbee McDonald’s restaurant hung the US flag at half-mast and upside-down
While US flag flew in reverse in West Virginia, a Florida real estate mogul backed down from a pledge to lay off some or all of his 8,000 in protest of Barack Obama’s victory.
Instead, David Siegel says he gave all of his workers a raise this week, to help them cope with new taxes and regulations that he believes the president will heap on in his second term.
David Siegel is perhaps known for his ambitious attempts to build the largest house in the world outside Orlando, Florida.
Modeled after the Palace of Versailles in France, he hopes it will be worth $100 million when it’s completed.
The property magnate’s 1,400-word rant was largely copied from a chain email which circulated around the time of the 2008 presidential election, according to Gawker.
David Siegel told Bloomberg BusinessWeek on Wednesday, the day after the election, that he hadn’t laid off anyone – yet.
“I’m going to work my hardest to keep the company going and expand the best I can. We’ll see what happens,” he said.
He added that he had given all employees in his company a raise, at least five per cent, to “help them handle the additional burdens the government will put on them”.
Last month, David Siegel told his workers that the company was performing well, saying: “The economy doesn’t currently pose a threat to your job.
“What does threaten your job however, is another 4 years of the same Presidential administration. Of course, as your employer, I can’t tell you whom to vote for, and I certainly wouldn’t interfere with your right to vote for whomever you choose. In fact, I encourage you to vote for whomever you think will serve your interests the best.”
He added: “So where am I going with all this? It’s quite simple. If any new taxes are levied on me, or my company, as our current president plans, I will have no choice but to reduce the size of this company.
“Rather than grow this company I will be forced to cut back. This means fewer jobs, less benefits and certainly less opportunity for everyone.
“So, when you make your decision to vote, ask yourself, which candidate understands the economics of business ownership and who doesn’t? Whose policies will endanger your job?
“Answer those questions and you should know who might be the one capable of protecting and saving your job.”
The 77-year-old starred alongside his wife Jackie, 46, in a documentary film titled Queen of Versailles, chronicling the construction of the 30-bedroom house and the struggles of David Siegel’s company during the financial crisis and recession.
The flamboyant businessman has previously boasted of using his employees for political ends.
He apparently surveyed his 8,000 workers before the 2000 election, and encouraged only those who supported George W. Bush to vote – an act which he believes brought the Republican victory in Florida, and therefore in the race as a whole.
In Bedford, Virginia, Lyons Jewelers posted a massive sign in the store window saying: “Closed to mourn the loss of the America that our forefathers endowed to us.”
WDBJ-TV reports that the store also had a sign that said “Shame on the U.S. and Virginia” and one that read “Lyons will reopen tomorrow to continue the fight against a president who seeks my demise”.
Also on Wednesday, a man who claimed to own a business in Las Vegas called into a local radio station to announce he had fired 20% of his staff.
The man, who called a talk radio program on KXNT, gave his name only as “Dave” and said “elections have consequences”.
He claimed that Tuesday night’s victory for the Democratic president was the tipping point for him to decide that he needed to cut back his business to save money.
He said he had 114 employees and that he sacked 22 of them.
“I explained to them a month ago that if Obama gets in office that the regulations for Obamacare are gonna hurt our business, and I’m gonna have to make provisions to make sure I have enough money to cover the payroll taxes, the additional health care I’m gonna have to do, and I explained that to them and I said you do what you feel like in your heart you need to do, but I’m just letting you know as a warning this is things I have to think of as a business owner,” he said.
McDonald’s is revealing how a potato makes it from the farm to the fast food joint.
A new video chronicles the plants’ journey to become the tasty fried strip and aims to quash the rumors circulating about where the restaurant chain actually gets its food.
Scott Gibson, who works for McDonald’s Canada, stepped forward to explain the process and set the story straight.
“We’ve received so many questions about our french fries we thought we’d take you on a behind the scenes tour from the farm all the way to the fryer,” Scott Gibson, who works as a manager in the supply chain of McDonald’s Canada, said.
In the five minute video on YouTube, Scott Gibson explained the process and he answered questions from customers.
The first question asked was about where the potatoes actually came from and further inquired if the tasty fries were even made from real potatoes.
Scott Gibson enlisted the help of farmer Angelo Levesque, from Levesque Family Farm, a potato supplier for McDonald’s Canada.
Cameras accompanied Angelo Levesque as his team harvested the potatoes, sorted them and then shipped them to a processing plant in nearby Grand Falls, New Brunswick.
“The process of producing a Mac fry is relatively simple,” said Mario Dupuis, the production manager at the McCain Processing Plant, where the potatoes are processed.
McDonald’s is revealing how a potato makes it from the farm to the fast food joint
Upon arrival from the farm, the potatoes are received and washed to remove dirt and rocks. They are then peeled and pushed through a cutting machine where they become the standard strips.
The match-stick like strips are then pushed through a blancher, that removes the natural sugar from the fries that prevents a variation in color once they are cooked.
The strips are treated with a solution, so they retain their even coat, and lastly an ingredient is added to prevent the fries from greying during the process.
They are dried and then fried for 45 to 60 seconds.
Once cooked, they are frozen, packaged and sent to your local McDonald’s where they are fried until tasty perfection and served.
McDonald’s is bowing to local demand and is opening a meat-free restaurant in India.
The global chain, whose best-known product is the Big Mac burger in a bun, says it will be its first vegetarian outlet.
McDonald’s, the world’s second biggest food outlet after Subway, increasingly adapts its range to local demand.
Both India’s Hindu majority and Muslims can eat the same meat-free dishes.
Religiously observant Hindus see cows as sacred and avoid beef, while Muslims view pigs as unclean and avoid pork.
McDonald's is bowing to local demand and is opening a meat-free restaurant in India
According to the AFP news agency, McDonald’s will open the outlet in the middle of next year, near the Golden Temple in the Sikh holy city of Amritsar in northern India.
Religious authorities forbid consumption of meat at the shrine.
A spokesman for McDonald’s in northern India, Rajesh Kumar Maini, told the news agency: “There is a big opportunity for vegetarian restaurants as many Indians are vegetarian.
“At the moment, India is still a very small market – we just have 271 restaurants in India, and across the world, we have nearly 33,000.”
The chain plans to open another vegetarian outlet in north-western India, near the Vaishno Devi cave shrine in Kashmir, which is a Hindu pilgrimage site that attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors a year.
McDonald’s has moved to provide more salads and other healthier foods with less sugar, salt and fat in them, in response to public concerns about diet.
In India, its menu is typically 50% vegetarian.
Its signature dish in the country is the McAloo Tikki burger, which uses a spiced potato-based filling. It accounts for 25% of total sales.
Globally, the company plans to open around 1,300 new stores this year.
McDonald’s is trying to tell us that a Big Mac is just like a home-cooked meal by posting a tutorial on You Tube explaining how to make the famous burger at home.
The warm and fuzzy PR stunt comes hot off the heels of the restaurant chain candidly revealing the secret to how it makes it’s burgers look so much bigger, juicer and tastier in its adverts than in its restaurants – using “food stylists”.
The latest video sees McDonald’s executive chef Dan Coudreaut casually preparing a Big Mac at home, but the fact the finished product looks nothing like the burgers served up in store doesn’t seem to bother him.
Just like the expose on why McDonald’s burgers look better in the ads, the video begins with a question from a customer.
“We have a question here from Christine… what is in your special sauce?” he says before taking viewers step by step through the process of making its two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.
McDonald’s is trying to tell us that a Big Mac is just like a home-cooked meal
While chopping, whisking and grilling his ingredients, Dan Coudreaut continually reminds those watching that the produce he’s using is all available in their local grocery store.
For the so-called special sauce – which Dan Coudreaut reveals is “not really a secret” because the ingredients have been available in shops and online “for years” – store-bought mayonnaise, sweet pickle relish and yellow mustard are whisked together with vinegar, garlic powder, onion power and paprika.
The chef dices an onion and chops some lettuce which “gives you that nice moisture and crunch”. He then says the pickles he’s using are also from his local grocery store.
“Now the bun is the classic signature of the Big Mac experience,” Dan Coudreaut says as he slices it in half and toasts it, whistling while he works.
Then it’s patty time.
“This is 100 per cent beef,” he insists as he squishes the creamy looking pink stuff into a metal ring, “just like in our restaurants”.
He adds, clearly proud of his measly thin accomplishment: “There we go, that’s a good one.”
Before chucking them in a pan: “And they’re going in, you hear that sizzle?”
Again Dan Coudreaut insists he’s following the process used by the fast-food chain’s cooks around the world saying, “and once I flip it over I’m just going to season it with a little salt and pepper just like we do at the restaurants”.
Now the secret – or not so secret – is out, we’ll never have to go to an actual McDonald’s restaurant again.
Though that probably wasn’t the incentive behind the video.
The biggest McDonald’s restaurant on the planet has been built in London, right in the middle of the Olympic park.
The vast two-storey restaurant will serve up to 1,200 customers an hour and sell $5 million of fast food during Olympic Games.
At 3,000 sq ft the building, next to the Olympic Stadium, is bigger than the current largest McDonald’s, in Moscow.
The Russian restaurant will regain its title on September 9, however, when the London branch is bulldozed after the Paralympics closing ceremony.
Yesterday McDonald’s gave the media a preview of its flagship store, which includes 20 till points and 1,500 seats.
It is one of four branches in the park, including two open to the public, one for the athletes and officials in the Olympic Village and one at the press centre.
Altogether they will serve 1.75 million meals in 29 days, with Britons accounting for an estimated 85% of customers.
The biggest McDonald’s restaurant on the planet has been built in London, right in the middle of the Olympic park
The main restaurant will offer some of the best views across the Olympic Park from its first-floor balcony, which can seat 150 customers.
It will be staffed by 500 of its top-performing employees from 85,000 in the UK, with 200 on a shift at any one time.
The global sponsor has been linked to the Olympics since 1968, when the company airlifted hamburgers to US athletes in Grenoble, France, after it was reported they were missing McDonald’s food.
But McDonald’s has been criticized for promoting the consumption of fast food at a time when people should be celebrating sports participation and healthy living.
It is estimated one in ten meals eaten at Olympic Games venues will be from McDonald’s.
Last week, members of the London Assembly said firms which sold junk food should not be linked to the Olympic Games. Cadbury and Coca-Cola are also sponsors.
Jenny Jones, a Green Party assembly member, said: “London won the right to host the 2012 Games with the promise to deliver a legacy of more active, healthier children across the world.
“Yet the same International Olympic Committee that awarded the Games to London persists in maintaining sponsorship deals with the purveyors of high calorie junk that contributes to the threat of an obesity epidemic.
“The advertising of foods high in fat, salt and sugar is already restricted on children’s television.
“These Games will subvert those regulations by providing a glut of sponsored messages for high calorie food and drink that are at odds with the Olympian athletic ideal.”
The restaurant will be McDonald’s first sustainable outlet and 75% of the building and fittings will be recycled or reused.
It is part of London 2012’s bid to be “the greenest Games ever”.
While the restaurants serve fast food to the hungry public, McDonald’s executives will be enjoying some of the top events from their corporate seats.
Yesterday, the firm admitted that global chief executive Jim Skinner and UK chief executive Jill McDonald, along with dozens of others, will enjoy corporate tickets to events such as the opening and closing ceremonies, athletics and swimming.
The restaurant will start trading on July 28, one day after the opening ceremony.
It will not open for the ceremony itself, which many VIP guests and heads of state are expected to attend, for “security reasons”.
Have you ever wondered why your Big Mac never looks like the one advertised on the menu?
McDonald’s has created a short video to show customers how they prepare their tasty meals for an advertising photo shoot.
The fascinating footage starts by introducing Canadian director of marketing Hope Bagozzi who holds up a tablet with a question from one customer Isabel M.
Isabel asks: “Why does your food look different in the advertising than it does in the store?”
Hope Bagozzi says that it is a question she gets asked a lot and promises to reveal all.
She starts by buying a Quarter Pounder with Cheese at a nearby branch of McDonald’s before hopping into a car which takes her to advertising agency Watt International.
McDonald’s has created a short video to show customers how they prepare their tasty meals for an advertising photo shoot
A photographer and food stylist then set about making the burger look like it would in one of their adverts.
The process is painstaking as they deconstruct and rebuild the sandwich so that all the ingredients are visible. At one point they even syringe on the ketchup so it will be picked up by the camera.
The finished burger looks more like the advertised meals but it’s still not perfect.
In reality Watt International makes all their burgers from scratch in their own kitchen – using McDonald’s ingredients.
Hope Bagozzi meets Noah – a food stylist – who shows her how to expertly prep the different components to make them look as delicious as possible.
Despite all efforts to get it looking as close to perfection as possible the burger is then photographed and Photoshopped to get rid of any discrepancies.
McDonald’s has taken ownership of France’s signature bread and decided to start dishing up burgers in baguettes.
McDo, as the French call it, is trying to appeal to more upscale diners by mixing their famous beef burgers with French-made Emmental cheese and mustard.
Starting in April, the 1,228 McDonald’s restaurants across France will feature the limited edition McBaguette.
McBaguette will replace McDonald’s current special menu in France, which is three limited-edition burgers featuring locally produced cheeses, reports the Wall Street Journal.
The introduction of the McBaguette is in line with the US company’s plan to ensure its restaurants appeal to a broader customer base.
In France, bread is served with many meals and a recent study showed that 65% of the two billion sandwiches sold each year in France are baguette-based.
By introducing McBaguette, McDonald’s France is trying to appeal to more upscale diners by mixing their famous beef burgers with French-made Emmental cheese and mustard
Yves Marin, a senior manager at consulting firm Kurt Salmon, said to the Wall Street Journal: “McDonald’s is trying to diversify and is aiming at more traditional or older customers.
“The company is willing to attract those who won’t eat the Big Mac.”
The McBaguette debut, could also give McDonald’s more pricing power.
McBaguette will be sold for 4.50 Euros ($6) – more than a euro above the average price of a sandwich in France, reports the Wall Street Journal.
The reaction from France remains to be seen, but one Parisian who was shown a picture of the sandwich as she left a bakery, told the Wall Street Journal:
“It doesn’t quite look like a baguette; a baguette isn’t square. But I would give it a try.”
“It looks good, and much healthier than McDo’s regular burger,” another added.
McDonald’s said it could introduce the baguette burger again if the initial six-week run is a success.
McDonald’s changing global cuisine
McDonald’s is trying to appeal to national culinary tastes and have come up with around 20 locally tailored menu items in 14 European countries including:
Finland: offers the Rye McFeast, a burger served on a rye bun.
Spain: sells the tomato-based soup Gazpacho.
Italy: McDonald’s worked with Gualtiero Marchesi, the country’s only three-star chef, to create three new recipes: two sandwiches called Adagio and Vivace.
The fast-food chain said it has similar plans to work in partnership in Germany and Austria.
In France, McCafés already are serving slices of baguette for breakfast, as well as macarons, sweet meringue-based confections that are riding a popularity wave of their own during the day.
McDonald’s is prepared to target a more pious crowd for the season of Lent with its latest innovation – Fish McBites.
Fish McBites was first reported on Tuesday, a day before the start of the Christian season of fasting on Ash Wednesday.
It was pictured at a McDonald’s branch near Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, which may strengthen the impression that it is aimed at the faithful who have denied themselves the pleasure of meat.
Fish McBites appear to be modeled on Chicken McBites, a version of popcorn chicken introduced over the last few months.
But it is also inspired by the Filet-O-Fish, a fixture on the McDonald’s menu for more than four decades and the company’s most popular maritime product so far.
Fish McBites, like the Filet-O-Fish, are made from Alaskan pollock and served with tartar sauce.
The new snack is currently available only in selected restaurants, at a price of $1.99 for a small portion, $2.99 for a regular and $4.99 for a “shareable” size.
McDonald’s is prepared to target a more pious crowd for the season of Lent with its latest innovation - Fish McBites
McDonald’s website trumpets the new product as “tender, flaky and delightfully poppable”, and encourages its customers to “Say ahoy to this seaworthy lineup”.
A McDonald’s spokesman told the Huffington Post: “These are in test in a couple of markets, however the test is in infancy. We will continue to evaluate customer feedback and restaurant operations.”
While it is not clear whether or not the timing was deliberate, fast-food restaurants which rely primarily on sales of red meat have been known to suffer during Lent.
During Lent, which this year started on February 22, Ash Wednesday, and ends on Easter Sunday, April 8, devout Catholics are not supposed to eat meat – particularly on Fridays.
Many other people, religious and non-religious alike, try to give up indulgent treats they know are unhealthy.
The Filet-O-Fish itself was introduced in 1962 in response to poor sales every Friday at Lou Groen’s McDonald’s franchise in Cincinnati, Ohio, an area with a large Catholic population at the time.
It has reportedly become popular with other religious groups such as Jews or Muslims who require their meat to be slaughtered in accordance with ritual guidelines, but have no such restrictions with fish.
McDonald’s became the subject of an outburst of vitriolic hatred on Twitter when critics hijacked a promotional hash-tag created by the fast-food giant.
The critics accused McDonald’s of making customers vomit, serving pig meat from gestation crates and dishing up a burger containing a finger nail.
One fierce opponent claimed he would rather eat his own diarrhea than visit the famous Golden Arches.
Jumping on the social media bandwagon, McDonald’s last week launched a campaign featuring paid-for tweets, which would appear at the top of search results.
An initial hashtag, “#MeetTheFarmers”, meant to promote the corporation’s guarantee of fresh produce, concentrated on wholesome stories about farmers.
McDonald’s tweeted: “Meet Dirk Giannini, McDonald’s lettuce supplier, as he shows u his life on the farm #MeetTheFarmers http://mcd.to/AyvF4M”
All was humdrum until 2:00 p.m. last Wednesday when the global chain sent out two tweets with the more general hash-tag “#McDStories”.
Some marketing whizzkid proclaimed: “When u make something w/pride, people can taste it,” – “McD potato supplier #McDStories http://t.co/HaPM5G9F”
But within minutes the tweets began to go radically off message, as the hash-tag took on a life of its own.
McDonald's became the subject of an outburst of vitriolic hatred on Twitter when critics hijacked a promotional hash-tag created by the fast-food giant
Detractors seized on “#McDStories” as an opportunity to document their alleged horror stories at the Golden Arches.
@jfsmith23 wrote: “Watching a classmate projectile vomit his food all over the restaurant during a 6th grade trip. #McDStories”
One of the worst was @MuzzaFuzza who wrote: “I haven’t been to McDonalds in years, because I’d rather eat my own diarrhea.”
Followers chimed in including @nelo_taylor who wrote: “These #McDStories never get old, kinda like a box of McDonald’s 10 piece”
Social media director Rick Wion told paidcontent.org: “Within an hour, we saw that it wasn’t going as planned,
“It was negative enough that we set about a change of course.”
However the campaign wasn’t a complete failure.
The “#meetthefarmers” hashtag, which escaped the battering, stimulating mostly positive tweets, has stayed put.
The 13-year-old boy who assaulted a five-year-old girl at a McDonald’s Playland in Anderson Township, Ohio, is to be charged with rape after his parents handed him over to police.
The parents recognized their son wearing a jacket, jeans and trainers in security camera footage and took him into the sheriff’s office.
The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denied assaulting the little girl following the incident on October 22 in Anderson Township in a court hearing in Cincinnati on Saturday.
But authorities claim the teenager touched the girl before making her touch him in an inappropriate way and then walked out of the McDonald’s as the victim burst into tears and went to her grandmother.
After the incident the little girl went to her grandmother nearby “with the look on her face as if something was wrong”. Police said he climbed into the play area specifically to molest her.
The girl was inside the indoor play area on her own at around 9:00 p.m. when she was approached. The boy left moments before she reported the assault.
The woman who called 911 told police: “There was an incident in the play area with an older child and a younger child which may have involved some sexual contact.”
Police revealed that their suspect was wearing a University of Cincinnati jacket, was around 5’3” high and weighed around 125lbs. He was captured on CCTV inside the McDonald’s as he entered and left.
Hours later teeenager’s parents brought him in where he admitted to the crime, police said.
The teenager is now in juvenile detention center awaiting a trial which will begin next Tuesday.
The teenager who police claim raped a girl of five in a McDonald’s Playland in Anderson Township, Ohio, has been brought to the police station after his parents saw the CCTV pictures.
The young boy, who is just 13, is said to have touched the little girl before making her touch him in an inappropriate way.
The teenager then walked out of the McDonald’s as the victim burst into tears and went to her grandmother who was waiting nearby “with the look on her face as if something was wrong”.
According to the police report, the boy had climbed into the play area specifically to molest her.
The teenager who police claim raped a girl of five in a McDonald's Playland in Anderson Township, Ohio, has been brought to the police station after his parents saw the CCTV pictures
The sheriff’s office said the teen has been charged with one count of rape and is being held at the local Juvenile Detention Center to await further proceedings.
The incident happened at a McDonald’s in Anderson Township on October 29th but police only just released the details this week.
The girl was inside the indoor play area on her own around 9:00 p.m. when she was approached. The boy left moments before she reported the assault.
The woman who called 911 told police: “There was an incident in the play area with an older child and a younger child which may have involved some sexual contact.”
Police revealed that their suspect was wearing a University of Cincinnati jacket, is between 5 feet and 5’6″ and 120 to 130 pounds with black hair and brown eyes.
Hours later his parents brought the teenager in where he admitted to the crime, according to the police spokesman.
The boy was captured on CCTV inside the McDonald’s as he entered and left.
Parents of other children reacted with horror and said it was “obscene” what had happened.
McDonald’s customer Margo Mather said: “I don’t want my kids going over there just playing by themselves.”
Heather Kenyon, another customer, added: “It’s frightening. It have kids and I take them there all the time.
“I’ve never had a problem, ever. Usually there’s parents and supervised kids and its really a great place for when its winter time and you’ve got to let your kids run off all their energy.
“Its scary…my son’s six so it could easily have been him.”
Xavier Sullivan, 17, said: “It’s just crazy somebody would do that, especially here. I don’t understand why you would ever make somebody do that.”
Jason Pickard, who owns the McDonald’s franchise, was working with police to find out what happened.
Jason Pickard said in a statement: “The safety and well-being of my customers, especially children, is extremely important.
“I’m taking this matter very seriously and fully cooperating with authorities in their investigation.”
Rayon McIntosh, a New York McDonald’s cashier used a metal rod to viciously beat two women, who were restaurant customers, during an argument on Thursday morning.
Rayon McIntosh is said that was freed from prison after being jailed for killing a school classmate.
The terrifying attack, which took place at McDonald’s restaurant in Greenwich Village, New York, on Thursday morning, was recorded on a camera by one of the customers.
The video clip shows Rayon McIntosh, a Greenwich Village McDonald’s cashier, viciously beating two women with a metal rod
The video clip shows McDonald’s cashier Rayon McIntosh beating the two women with a metal rod, which he had fetched moments earlier from the back of the restaurant.
Minutes before the attack, the two women appear to provoke the cashier, swearing at him and getting behind the counter, after Rayon McIntosh questions a $50 note they have given him. After beginning the assault, the cashier’ stunned colleagues try in vain to restrain him.
One of Rayon McIntosh victims required surgery after suffering a fractured skull and a broken arm and the other required hospital treatment for a gash.
Rayon McIntosh, who is said to have spent a decade in jail after shooting dead a high school classmate in 2000, was arrested and charged with two counts of assault and criminal possession of a weapon.
Rayon McIntosh is now being held in police custody on $40,000 bail.
Police say that the two women have been arrested too, on charges, including menacing.
McDonald’s representatives were available to comment.
Warning: this video contains explicit language and violence.
A dramatic footage of a teenager named Tyquan Sewall being shot at point-blank range in a gun ambush outside Nostrand McDonald’s has been released today.
The images, which show the victim thrown into the road after being hit four times, was caught on camera in Brooklyn, New York.
The teenager was left fighting for his life.
New York police have launched a manhunt to catch three gunmen who carried out the planned daylight attack on Nostrand Avenue, Flatlands.
The footage shows Tyquan Sewall, 18, who lives just blocks from the McDonald’s and nearby Brooklyn College, being shot at point-blank range.
The first bullet grazed the left side of the victim’s head, sending him staggering backwards.
The footage shows Tyquan Sewall, 18, who lives just blocks from the McDonald's and nearby Brooklyn College, being shot at point-blank range
Tyquan Sewall was then hit three more times and sent rolling out into the street, passing through at least two lanes of traffic.
Terrified onlookers fled in panic as the shots rang out outside the busy restaurant chain.
The weapon used was a .32-caliber Smith & Wesson. The man who fired the gun was wearing a bright red jacket.
Two of the men then ran over and take the sneackers Tyquan Sewall had dropped onto the street before making off as police arrive.
The shooting took place in Flatlands at around 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The victim was hit in the chest, groin and leg and is now in a critical condition in hospital.
The gunman in a red coat fires more shots as the victim, Tyquan Sewall rolls on the road
Police officers said before the shooting Tyquan Sewall had got into an argument on nearby Flatbush Avenue.
During that argument, a man told Tyquan Sewall to come with him to the McDonald’s, police said.
Tyquan Sewall followed, but couldn’t see a gun being passed around the three men. Two went in while one waited at the door as Tyquan Sewall approached.
Then the two men inside McDonald’s came out and the gun was handed to one of them who opened fire.
Police said the attackers fled out of the restaurant’s back entrance and dumped the loaded six-shooter in a rubbish bin a block away.
NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said: “What you see here is a pretty elaborate choreography of handing off the gun from the first player, to the second player and to the gunman – all along luring the victim to the ambush.”
Tyquan Sewall is in critical condition at Kings County Hospital, New York.
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