Chinese Food?

[High octane]

Wow, I saw on the news last night and in this mornings paper that we are able to get Chinese food at our local McDonalds, KFC, and Pizza Hut. Yes, those companies use beef and chicken from China. What's wrong with the beef & chicken from the USA? If the beef & chicken were used from the United States, it would mean MORE jobs, MORE income taxes, and those taxes could pay for MORE road & bridge repairs that our country desperately needs. MORE road and bridge construction would also yield more jobs, which is desperately needed.

The things that are done and not done in this country are amazing in a bad way. However I really don't see a "fix" anytime soon or even in my lifetime, and I blame it on the politicians and corporate GREED!

[Harry P.]

I think you already know the answer. It's all about the $$$.

I don't think calling it "corporate greed" is totally fair. The whole point of every corporation is to maximize profit. That's why they exist! To make money... as much as they can. If that's "greed," then we are all greedy, as I'm pretty sure all of us would want to make more money than we do now.

If you want to pin the blame on something, I'd start with unfair trade practices between the US and China, not "greed." But we can't talk about the trade situation, because that's "political."

[JTalmage]

If you get "chicken" from the USA it's probably not so much chicken, as it is a "grown organism" meant for consumption. Think about that. The things the gov lets companies get away with... growing meat. Yuck. Because what we dont know cant hurt us right?

[Danno]

Casey would call this a political post and delete the entire thread.

[Harry P.]

Just out of curiosity I checked the official McDonald's website FAQs.

The beef in US McDonald's stores comes mostly from the US, with a small amount imported from Australia and New Zealand. No Chinese beef is used in US McDonald's locations. And all the chicken they sell in US restaurants comes from the US.

The story you read may be about foreign McD locations using Chinese beef and chicken.

Casey would call this a political post and delete the entire thread.

It's not political.... but it sure is off-topic!

[Scalper]

There was a story in the news yesterday in regards to Chinese Mc'ds and KFC that a Chinese meat supplyer was accused of selling expired meat to them in China

[Harry P.]

If you get "chicken" from the USA it's probably not so much chicken, as it is a "grown organism" meant for consumption. Think about that. The things the gov lets companies get away with... growing meat. Yuck. Because what we dont know cant hurt us right?

So what exactly is it that you do know about this? Any facts or anything like that?

[Lunajammer]

If you get "chicken" from the USA it's probably not so much chicken, as it is a "grown organism" meant for consumption. Think about that. The things the gov lets companies get away with... growing meat. Yuck. Because what we dont know cant hurt us right?

The U.S. at least has food standards oversight, whether by the FDA or other public safety groups. I'm pretty sure China is not as dedicated to such oversight. Just ask the pet industry where many animals have died from "safe" food products and chew toys that failed safety standards after they were green-lighted by their oversight agencies.

[Harry P.]

All beef sold in US McDonald's locations is 100% USDA inspected.

[Joe Handley]

I'm kinda surprised it's even meat sometimes.

[Quick GMC]

The US ships chicken to China for processing, then imports it back in. The US exports most of it's Salmon, then imports inferior Salmon for us to eat.

It's not Chinese chicken, it's just Chinese processed. It works this way with a large number of consumer goods all over the world.

I work in the stone industry. They quarry granite slabs in Brazil, then load up a container ship and send it to China. Then china sends it back, then we buy it from Brazil> Somehow that's cheaper than Brazil buying processing equipment.

[Quick GMC]

The America that everyone wants to reminisce about and wish would come back is gone. It will never be what it was. This is good in some ways, bad in others. Adapt or die.

[southpier]

that's why I eat nothing from Mickie-D's

[slusher]

Nothing surprises me about the bottom line and profit. We as Americans are just hurting ourselves... Do we even know what we are eating anymore.

Edited July 23, 2014 by slusher

[High octane]

Sure Harry the name of the game is to make MONEY and I believe that American companies should make make and sell their products here, yep in the good old USA. But to have it made, grown, processed, packaged,or what have you in another country and then ship that junk here and pawn it off on the American people who no longer have jobs because of political and corporate greed is just wrong.

And yes Carl, it's got to the point where we often don't know what we're eating anymore or where it's coming from. And USDA inspected can be a joke too, so don't be believing all the junk that is said as gospel because it's not.

[Tom Geiger]

Guys, none of this is new at all. In fact we are living in the most enlightened times, under the very best of conditions.

Back in the good ole days, Americans poisoned Americans chasing the all mighty dollar. Milk was handled under such unsanitary conditions, taken from sick cows, watered down and cut with chalk dust to extend it, and laced with disease. Children were getting sick and dying from milk, and this was before 1900.

Patent medicine aka snake oil, had no regulation at all and could claim anything the maker wanted. Some of it was downright poison. But it was sold to an unknowing public. Both the USDA and FDA were founded because of widespread abuse and corruption in manufacturing and sale of internally taken goods. Thankfully we have very stringent laws about our drug and food supplies today.

Edited July 23, 2014 by Tom Geiger

[High octane]

Stringent laws don't apply when an envelope is passed under the table Tom.

[southpier]

and everyone has a day when they don't do their job 100%. consequences are just different; that's why I'm not an air traffic controller!

[Custom Hearse]

Here's the story about the tainted meat that was being sold to McDonalds:

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/eats/mcdonald-kfc-china-sold-expired-beef-chicken-report-article-1.1874355

[Harry P.]

The "tainted meat" story is about a Chinese meat company selling old meat to Chinese McD, KFC, etc. The whole story takes place within China, not here.

McDonalds doesn't import meat from China for use in US locations.

No, I don't own McDonald's stock. Heck, I don't even eat McDonalds food at all! But we should at least stick to the facts of this story before spreading rumors about "Chinese meat" in our hamburgers here.

[Rob Hall]

Meh...just fast food joints..none of that stuff is good for you, it's all heavily processed.

[Tom Geiger]

Stringent laws don't apply when an envelope is passed under the table Tom.

Nick, I've worked in Fortune 100 pharmaceutical companies for the last 35 years. I can say that there are 5 people involved in Quality for every 1 person who actually touches product. It's seriously regulated and documented. The FDA does an amazing job of regulating and inspecting. The inspectors change for each site visit as their own internal self check. The European Union (EU) has their own organization that represents member countries. They visit US facilties regularly and are much tougher than our own FDA. Other countries have their own organizations and standards. I've recently seen Turkey and Brazil on our sites. Back when i worked on an actual production site, there were over 100 classes on my list of required courses. I was in training every week. As management, I had to take the overviews of every process and job. I gained serious respect for the folks who actually worked in production, the training they had and the stringent standards they worked to. Thankfully we have these oversight organizations. WIthout them it would be pure anarchy.

[Harry P.]

Meh...just fast food joints..none of that stuff is good for you, it's all heavily processed.

According to the McD website, all the beef they use is 100% beef, no fillers, extenders, or any additives. With all the regulation and watchdogs and generally overly-litigous society we have, I doubt they would lie on their website.

http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/food/food_quality/see_what_we_are_made_of/your_questions_answered/meats.html

I agree that fast food is not the most healthy choice for your daily diet, but it's not quite the "garbage" some people insist that it is.

[Harry P.]

Another longstanding urban legend is that McDonalds can legally claim that their beef is "100% beef" because the supplier they buy their beef from is named the "100% Beef Company."

Another urban legend claims that McD used ground-up cow eyeballs to extend their beef. But the fact is they'd be stupid to do that, because cow eyeballs are actually much more expensive than beef, because they are used in all sorts of medical research.

Of course, that has all been debunked, but some people refuse to accept reality and prefer to hold onto their misconceptions, no matter how goofy they are.

Now, Spam, on the other hand....

[DynoMight]

I prefer Wendy's over McDonalds. There burger taste like actual beef instead of the flavored-cardboard at Mickey's D.. Not to mention their chicken nuggets, which are from China, or so I've heard...