Is McDonald's Healthy for You? Essay Example

The first McDonald’s restaurant was opened in 1940 by brothers Maurice and Richard McDonald in San Bernardino, California. It originally was a drive-in that offered a wide selection of items. However, in 1948 the brothers decided to revamp the business, and after a three-month renovation, a newly envisioned McDonald’s opened. The small restaurant was designed to produce huge quantities of food at low prices. To achieve this, the brothers limited the menu, which only featured hamburgers, potato chips drinks, and pie, and developed a simple, efficient format that they named the Speedee Service System. This included a self-service counter that eliminated the need for waiters and waitresses, and customers received their food quickly because hamburgers were cooked ahead of time, wrapped, and warmed under heat lamps. These innovations allowed the brothers to charge just 15 cents for a basic hamburger, about half the price of competing restaurants. McDonald’s was a huge success, and the brothers began a franchise program. McDonald’s is an American company, headquartered in Chicago. It moved its global headquarters, which is housed at a $250 million building, from Illinois to Chicago in early 2018. It has an estimated 36,889 restaurants across 120 countries and territories and faces a great number of direct and indirect competitors. Privately-owned Burger King is McDonald's closest competitor. Yum Brands operates Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut. Subway is the largest restaurant chain in the world in terms of size, but sales have been sliding since 2012. A few decades ago, Mcdonald's was very popular, and everyone loved a hamburger, fries, and large soda; however, there are plenty of side effects that are not talked about. According to nutritionists side effects include, sodium overload, bloating, constipation, trouble getting pregnant, getting supersized, low energy, weight gain, hard time getting pregnant, and even a shorter life. It’s hard to believe that eating Mcdonald's can have a huge effect on your health. High-calorie, high-fat diets packed with cholesterol and animal fat found in greasy McDonald's burgers and nuggets are linked to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and other health problems. Preservatives are still being used in the food and the “McNuggets” are not what you expect. Those McNuggets might seem harmless, but between the list of ingredients and pink slime claims, there's also the idea that they melt. McDonald's Has the Worst-Quality Fast-Food, New Consumer Report Says. A consumer report from RBC Capital Markets confirms this theory and ranks McDonald's as the worst-quality fast-food chain in America. The more you eat McDonald's food, then the more addicted you become; this can soon lead to obesity. McDonald's will feed more than 46 million people today, which is greater than the population of many countries. Today, the U.S adult obesity rate stands at forty-two-point four percent, the first time the nation has passed the forty percent mark. The national adult obesity rate has increased by 26 percent since 2008. The nutritional statistics state that a medium portion of fries includes 340 calories, 16 grams of fat, and 44 grams of carbs. French fries have a lot of fat and salt that could raise the risk of cardiovascular disease. There is nothing wrong with eating McDonald's, however, once you become addicted a lot of negative side effects will come. Researchers obtained 64 food samples of hamburgers, fries, chicken nuggets, chicken burritos, and cheese pizza from the chains. They found that over 80% of the foods contained a phthalate called DnBP. And 70% contained the phthalate DEHP. Both chemicals have been linked to reproductive health problems. Fast food lovers are horrified to find drugs in their McDonald's ice cream sundaes. Two women have allegedly found prescription drugs inside their McDonald's sundaes. Back in the 1970s, McDonald's founder Ray Kroc silenced the skeptics and explained that a pound of worms cost more than twice as much as ground beef, thus making it an illogical filler choice. In conclusion, despite how unhealthy Mcdonald's is, it will continue to serve millions of customers each day and will continue to be the top fast-food restaurant in the country. With America’s obesity rate climbing, Mcdonald's does not help that issue. Hopefully, within the next decades, things will change.