When it comes to breakfast, there is almost nothing better than an Egg McMuffin. The godly arrangement of egg, ham and melting American cheese festooned together with a warm English muffin is both the platonic ideal and the gold standard of breakfast sandwiches. But in all my years of marvelling at the humble McMuffin, something has always been missing: there has never been any hot sauce to slather on top.
The chain restaurant’s total disregard for the spicy condiment, which would elevate the Egg McMuffin onto an untouchable culinary plane, has never made sense to me. McDonald’s already boasts an array of Sweet ‘N Sour, Tangy Barbecue, Honey Mustard, Hot Mustard and Tartar sauce options — all condiments that are arguably more niche than plain old hot sauce — proving that it isn’t one to shy away from a detailed condiment selection. So, why has hot sauce never been added to the list?
Recently, there seemed to be some hope for an answer when the chain unveiled an updated menu with subtly spicy offerings like a guacamole and jalapeno grilled chicken sandwich, plus miniature McTaster burgers in Thai Sweet Chili Chicken and French Dijon varieties. The new additions are the fast food chain’s latest attempt at appealing to a broader and more adventurous foodie clientele. But instead of serving as exciting flavour developments, the items feel like taking a long and winding road to what should be a simple destination. If McDonald’s wants to serve spicy food, then it should start by offering hot sauce.
Yet after reaching out to several McDonald’s representatives, no one was able to provide an answer about the missing sauce. This led me to believe that the chain’s decades-long hot sauce absence has been a gross oversight; the type of omission that should force McDonald’s to question the very fabric of its being, the foundation on which it was built.
Another explanation is that McDonald’s has yet to find the perfect hot sauce recipe. The fast food chain, which makes all of its own sauces, including McDonald’s brand ketchup and mayonnaise, seems to dislike outsourcing condiments. But you can’t tell me that the same company that invented Big Mac Sauce, one of the 20th century’s greatest contributions to the culinary landscape, doesn’t have the wherewithal to create at least one passible spicy sauce.
If nothing else, McDonald’s complete neglect toward hot sauce can be interpreted as the chain’s greatest expression of nihilism, confirming that sometimes life’s greatest mysteries have little to no meaning. But this is an important matter, not a forced lesson in philosophy. McDonald’s, if you’re listening, please add hot sauce to your menu.
Even if it’s just on the breakfast menu. Just so long as breakfast continues to be served all day.
They all share a handful of traits: a big red mouth, a very poor haircut and a hunger to torture and murder (though in Ronald’s case, it’s really just hunger — unless you’re vegetarian).
But, according to Burger King Russia, Pennywise and Ronald in particular just look far too much alike. And with the recent film adaptation of King’s It currently in theatres, complete with the big hair and red lips (and sharp teeth), Pennywise is pretty much everywhere.
According to BK, due to his (questionable) similarity to Ronald, It could essentially be considered an advertisement for McDonald’s and, therefore, very bad for BK business. Because when anyone sees a bloodthirsty clown who lives in the sewers and preys on children, they suddenly feel a pang for Big Macs and McNuggets. Sure.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the chain is now petitioning the Russian government’s Federal Anti-Monopoly Service to try and ban It from showing in theatres in an effort to stop the madness.
But one imagines McDonald’s would not be keen to have Pennywise associated in any shape or form with its franchise anyway. Nevertheless, if Burger King Russia is accomplishing anything with its current efforts to bring down the clown, it’s giving McDonald’s a whole lot of free promo. Oops.
If there was any lingering doubt that veganism is going mainstream, the existence of the McVegan should clear it up. According to Food & Wine, McDonald’s is trialling a new meatless burger.
The soy-based patty is served with a schmear of vegan McFeast sauce, tomato, lettuce, onions and pickles. But there’s a catch – it’s exclusively available in Tampere, a city in southern Finland.
The test-run started on October 4 and Tampere residents have until November 21 to sample the McVegan for themselves. A representative for McDonald’s told TODAY that the meatless burger “is limited to McDonald’s Finland and there are no current plans for that to change.”
According to the blog Veggie Athletic, marketing director Christoffer Rönnblad confirmed that McDonald’s fries are vegan as well: “They are made here in Finland from potatoes and (fried) in vegetable oil. The fries are completely vegan.”
As aficionados may already be aware, the fast food giant offers vegetarian burgers on the regular menu in India, including the battered and breaded McVeggie. But meatless burger options are rapidly expanding beyond the typical soy-, legume- and grain-based patties.
The fact that McDonald’s is entering the fray suggests that the meatless trend is here to stay. But it may have to do better than run-of-the-mill soy to compete with innovative patties that look and cook like meat.
One does not truly reveal their core self until they are hangry, and the mere concept of shame becomes non-existent.
Take, for example, when McDonald’s brought back its Szechuan McNugget sauce this weekend, first introduced in 1998 as part of the chain’s promotion for the Disney film Mulan. At the time, it was a temporary featured menu item.
Then, this April, in its Season 3 premiere, Ricky and Morty referenced the sauce. In the episode, Rick desperately wants to taste the sauce one more time, which led to countless fans of the McDonald’s relic to start a petition online to bring it back.
Lo and behold, McDonald’s did indeed bring it back, but for a limited time and only in select locations in the U.S. The company teased the Szechuan resurrection when it first sent show creator Justin Roiland a bottle in July, later announcing it would be offering it in restaurants exclusively on October 7.
On the Saturday, fans turned up in droves at McDonald’s restaurants demanding the condiment, with some locations seeing hundreds line up for the sauce. The crowds became so rowdy in some locations, particularly when the sauce ran out, that police were called to help manage the tensions and fights breaking out. Some were seen on social media as they held back crowds screaming “we want sauce!”
Roiland even took to Twitter amid the chaos to clarify he “had nothing to do with this.”
FYI: We had nothing to do with this McDonald's stuff. Not happy w/how this was handled. Please be cool to the employees it's not their fault
The chain tweeted out an apology to fans that didn’t get to taste the sauce, emphasizing that it was limited: “The best fans in the multiverse showed us what they got today. We hear you & we’re sorry not everyone could get some super-limited Szechuan.”
Nevertheless, many took to Twitter to blast the chain for “lying” and leading some to drive for hours to try and sample a sauce they likely hadn’t even heard of a mere few months ago, some banding together to form a class-action lawsuit because, why not?
Seeing the Szechuan greed, many have taken to eBay to resell their purchased sauces for hundreds of dollars. Meanwhile, many McDonald’s employees have even been accused of hoarding the sauce for themselves.
In order to calm the hungry, snivelling masses, McDonald’s has since followed up, saying it will bring back the sauce some time in “the winter,” which, if this weekend was any sign, could be good for the chain’s bank. Unless, of course, another trend pops up before then.
Last week, in response to fan demand, McDonald’s brought back its limited time offer of Szechuan dipping sauce, a promotion they originally had in 1998 for the movie Mulan but which has since resurfaced thanks to an episode of Rick and Morty.
Please God, I don't ask for much, please let us gain enough cultural influence to force McDonald's into bringing back that fucking sauce.
— Rick (((and Morty))) (@RickandMorty) April 2, 2017
Although McDonald’s intentions were certainly good – as they indisputably always are – the promotion prompted a free-for-all. Hundreds showed up at countless locations across the U.S., only to find each participating restaurant only had 20 packets each on hand.
Customers, many of whom had driven hours to get a taste of that sauce, while others waited many a minute in line, began to revolt, threatening a class-action lawsuit and harassing McDonald’s employees. At one California location, police were called in to hold back and manage the hangry crowds.
By end of day, some packets could be found on eBay, being resold for at least $100. In fact, one fan even went as far as exchanging their 2004 Volkswagen GTI for a single packet. The recipient of said exchange, Rachel Marie of Macomb, Michigan, said in an interview with The Drive, “I didn’t even think I was going to get pin offers. Then he offered the car.”
This isn’t actually all that shocking. Earlier this year, when the hype resurfaced, a user purchased a 19-year-old bottle of the original Szechuan sauce for a whopping $14,700 that had been found in “an old car.”
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s personal physician once claimed he would be “the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency,” but there’s a good deal of evidence casting doubt on that idea.
Trump, who will undergo his first presidential physical exam Friday, is older than all previous presidents when they first took office. He is also the heaviest president in at least a generation and consumes a diet heavy with Big Macs, Filet-O-Fish sandwiches, fried chicken, pizza, well-done steak and two rounds of dessert. He seems to get little exercise beyond swinging a golf club, as he spends most of his time on the course traveling in an electric cart. And he likes to brag about how little sleep he gets.
The risks of such a health profile are well known: heart disease, strokes, diabetes and high blood pressure, to name a few.
“He doesn’t look healthy,” said Daryl Isaacs, a New York internist who monitored the impact of Morgan Spurlock’s month-long McDonald’s-only diet for the 2004 documentary “Super Size Me” and one of the few medical experts willing to venture an opinion about the president. “His complexion doesn’t look healthy.”
Trump’s physical exam will take place at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center under the supervision of Navy Rear Adm. Ronny L. Jackson, who has been the lead White House doctor since 2013 and oversaw two of former president Barack Obama’s exams.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Thursday that Jackson will issue a “brief statement” after the physical, then will compile detailed results over the long weekend and appear at Tuesday’s press briefing to take questions.
“I think it’s going to go very well,” Trump said on Thursday afternoon. “I’ll be very surprised if it doesn’t.”
President Donald Trump pauses during a roundtable in the Roosevelt Room of the Washington, Thursday, Jan. 11, 2018.
Undergoing this physical is voluntary, and Trump can pick and choose what the public hears about his health.
Sanders announced the exam in early December, a day after the president gave a speech announcing his plans to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and, at one point, heavily slurred his words. At the time, Sanders said that the president’s throat was simply dry, and she said this week that the exam had been in the works before that incident.
The exam will not include a psychological test, a White House spokesman said, and officials would not say whether Trump will undergo cognitive tests. Trump’s mental fitness has come under scrutiny after the release of a book that portrayed him as unprepared for the presidency, incapable of processing information and uninterested in making difficult decisions.
The physical-exam results disclosed by previous presidents have varied. Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton all released their heights and weights, lists of the medications they took, cholesterol levels, blood pressure and other lab results.
Obama’s reports were usually two pages with details about his on-again-off-again relationship with smoking (“smoking cessation efforts” in 2010, “tobacco free” in 2011 and “remains tobacco free” in 2014 and 2016). Bush’s results often filled more than four pages, even disclosing his body-fat percentage. Clinton’s doctor acknowledged his struggles to stay healthy amid the stress of the presidency and campaigning, and the 6-foot-2 president weighed 214 pounds at his last exam in 2001.
Trump said in 2016 that he is 6-foot-3 and 236 pounds, which the medical community considers overweight; if he was 6-foot-2, as listed on his New York driver’s license, he would be considered obese. At the time, Trump acknowledged that he needed to lose 15 to 20 pounds. Since his inauguration, Trump appears to have gained weight.
The Friday exam could reveal great insight into Trump’s health – or at least provide a verified assessment of his height and weight. During the campaign, Trump released two one-page letters from his personal physician in New York, Harold N. Bornstein, that showed his cholesterol levels were controlled with medication and were within the healthy range for a man his age. At the time, Trump’s blood pressure was 116/70, and his blood sugar was 99, both of which are normal. Bornstein said a series of other tests – an EKG and chest x-ray in April 2016, a transthoracic echocardiogram, or ultrasound of the heart, in December 2014 and a colonoscopy in July 2013 – were all normal.
Bornstein’s statement said that Trump has been “hospitalized” only once, for an appendectomy when he was 11 years old. In a December 2015 letter – the one in which he proclaimed Trump would “be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency” – Bornstein wrote that the appendectomy was Trump’s “only surgery.” Ivana Trump, the president’s first wife, testified in a sworn deposition during their divorce proceedings in the early 1990s that Trump also had scalp reduction surgery, which Trump has denied.
Bornstein wrote that Trump takes just two medications: a small dose of aspirin and a statin to lower his cholesterol. Bornstein said in an interview with the New York Times last year that Trump had also taken a prostate-related drug that can promote hair growth and an antibiotic to control rosacea, a common skin problem.
In discussing his health, Trump usually points to the longevity of his parents: His mother was 88 when she died, and his father died at 93 after suffering from Alzheimer’s disease for about five years.
“I consider my health, stamina and strength one of my greatest assets,” Trump tweeted in December 2015. “The world has watched me for many years and can so testify – great genes!”‘
Donald Trump and Dr. Oz discuss the presidential candidate’s health in 2016.
Trump has other factors working in his favour: He grew up in a wealthy family and had access to quality health care. He says he has never drank alcohol or smoked. And he minimizes his access to germs, even avoiding handshakes.
“It’s a medical fact that this is how germs are spread,” Trump wrote in his 2004 book, “How to Get Rich.” “I wish we could follow the Japanese custom of bowing instead.”
Trump answered questions about his health during a September 2016 interview with the television personality Mehmet Oz. Trump said he had not been sick in years – “People are amazed because I don’t get much with the colds” – and feels like he is still 35 years old. Trump said that his primary form of exercise at the time was giving rally speeches.
“I’m up there using a lot of motion – I guess in it’s own way, it’s a pretty healthy act,” Trump said. “A lot of times, these rooms are very hot, like saunas, and I guess that is a form of exercise.”
Since the election, Trump has golfed several times a month, although he rides in a golf cart as much as possible. During a photo shoot with fellow world leaders in Italy last summer, Trump was transported in a golf cart up a small hill while everyone else walked.
President Donald Trump drives a golf cart at Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeen, Scotland, on June 25, 2016.
The president once explained that he believes “the human body was like a battery, with a finite amount of energy, which exercise only depleted” – a theory refuted by doctors and physical trainers.
Later in the interview, Trump said he had long struggled with his weight and hoped to lose 15 or 20 pounds, although “it’s tough because of the way I live.” A recent book by former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and former aide David Bossie, “Let Trump be Trump,” said the presidential candidate would often eat one McDonald’s meal a day consisting of two Big Macs, two Filet-O-Fish sandwiches and a chocolate shake – a menu that would total 2,430 calories and more than 3,400 milligrams of sodium.
Heavy bursts of fast food are not part of most doctor-recommended eating plans. During the filming of “Super Size Me,” Isaacs said the documentary’s protagonist gained 24 pounds in a month, had increased cholesterol and other health problems and quickly developed “fatty liver” because the organ could not handle the consumption of a heavily caloric meal in a short period of time.
Medical experts interviewed by The Washington Post were reluctant to comment specifically about President Trump because they do not have access to all the relevant information about his health profile. But all said the diet and exercise regimen he has acknowledged following diverges widely from the guidelines they provide their patients.
That includes a diet heavy in fruits, vegetables and low-fat protein such as chicken and fish, with small amounts of sugar and salt. The diet should be coupled with at least 150 minutes of exercise per week, ideally spread over four or five sessions.
“There’s no age where it’s safe” to follow an unhealthy diet and exercise regimen, said Alan Braverman, a cardiologist and professor of medicine at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. “You can’t start too early, and it’s really a lifetime recommendation.”
Experts cautioned that age itself is a significant risk factor. Though people age differently, in general, patients in their early 70s cannot treat their bodies the way they did decades earlier and hope to remain healthy.
In this Friday, Dec. 29, 2017 file photo, President Donald Trump arrives to meet with members of the U.S. Coast Guard, who he invited to play golf, at Trump International Golf Club, in West Palm Beach, Fla.
“Aging puts a dent in our physiology, our ability to lose weight, our exercise capacity,” said Ranit Mishori, a professor of family medicine at the Georgetown School of Medicine. “That’s just natural.”
Trump’s interview with Oz in 2016 came amid concerns about the health of his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton. Trump had gleefully seized on the issue and once imitated Clinton stumbling while falling ill at a 9/11 memorial event.
“I think you have an obligation to be healthy,” Trump said. “I just don’t think you can do the work if you’re not healthy. I don’t think you can represent the country properly if you’re not a healthy person.”
McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada has apologized and pulled a national radio ad that encouraged people to buy its fast food offerings rather than visit a museum after Canadian museums pushed back.
Company spokesman Adam Grachnik said the 15-second ad, which played-down how interesting a dinosaur museum could be, was meant as a humorous promotion and in no way meant to offend.
“We appreciate that museums are trusted, respected and informative places about Canadian culture and apologize for any offence,” he said in an email.
Tracy Calogheros, CEO of Exploration Place in Prince George, B.C. raised concerns about the ad after hearing it on a local radio station.
She said she was taken aback at a company suggesting people not support important institutions like museums, and that people forget most museums are charities.
Calogheros said McDonald’s contacted her personally to apologize for what she said was a poorly thought-out ad.
“I just think they had blinders on with their ad campaign and just didn’t really see the impacts of the message they were sending.”
She said museums build community and foster interesting discussions that leave visitors with positive lasting effects.
“The lasting effects coming out of a museum are something that more people are in pursuit of than the same lasting effects you may get out of a fast-food visit.”
The Canadian Museums Association said in a release that it had also asked that McDonald’s remove the ad and has requested that the company consider beneficial ways to work with the museum sector.
The association said McDonald’s also contacted its executive director John McAvity to apologize for the ad.
Some of McDonald’s most popular menu items – Big Mac, fries, and Quarter Pounder – are higher in sugar, salt and calories than they were several decades ago, The Sun reports. Despite recent commitments to offering “more balanced” options, McDonald’s food is reportedly less so when compared to nutritional values in a 1989 company pamphlet.
According to The Sun, McDonald’s fries are saltier and more calorific, with an increase of 24 per cent and 42.8 per cent respectively over the past 30 years. The protein content in Chicken McNuggets, and “most” McDonald’s burgers – including the Filet-O-Fish and Big Mac – has decreased. Meanwhile, the amount of sugar has up to tripled.
The Quarter Pounder with Cheese, for example, is 285 per cent higher in sugar than it was in 1989. And the level of sugar in the Big Mac has surged by 221 per cent, The Sun reports. “These figures truly are shocking,” Graham McGregor, chairman of the charity Action on Sugar, reportedly said.
In response to The Sun’s findings, a spokesperson told the Daily Mail that McDonald’s menu “has evolved in many ways including portion size, breadth and nutritional content,” and therefore it’s “very difficult” to draw comparisons between today’s menu and that of 1989.
A spokesperson for the fast-food giant told The Sun: “For more than 30 years, we have provided clear nutritional information at point of sale and on tray liners.” Adding that nearly 90 per cent of the chain’s typical menu items contain fewer than 500 calories.
Exquisitely marbled, Wagyu is the poster child for luxury beef. It’s tender, flavourful, juicy and rich. The name translates as “Japanese beef.” A single serving of Wagyu at one of Tokyo’s most revered steakhouses can run you more than $350 (¥30,000), but at McDonald’s locations in Australia, just over $10 will grant you the pleasure.
Dubbed the Wagyu Beef Burger, the attempt at opulence is a limited-time offer, News Corp Australia reports. Australian ranchers have been rearing the Japanese breed of cattle since the 1990s, and so, as a “testament to McDonald’s commitment to use local suppliers,” this is the first time the fast food chain has featured Australian-bred Wagyu on its menu.
The recommended retail price for the new menu item is AU$10.75 (approximately $10.69). The Wagyu patty is reportedly sandwiched in a “gourmet” bun smeared with “specially created” sauce and topped with bacon, caramelized onion, tomato, lettuce and a slice of cheddar cheese (from an Australian brand named Coon).
So far, customers don’t seem to be all that impressed. “Patty cooked to death sometime last week and presented with unmelted cheese, tomato, bacon, a crapton of wilted lettuce and a smear of nondescript sauce on a dry oversized bun,” David Winch posted to Facebook, rating the burger one out of five. “Inferior in every way to even a McFeast … and (charging) over a tenner is taking the piss.”
Another customer added: “Had one earlier on the back of all the hype. Haven’t had Maccas cardboard burgers for a while but thought I’d give this a shot even though I knew it was gonna be cardboard V2. It’s rubbish.”
From pan-fried Greek saganaki and Central American queso frito to deep-fried Czech smažený sýr and Dutch kaassoufflé, fried cheese is entrenched in many of the world’s food cultures – and with good reason: it is one of the good things in life.
Gooey and neutral-tasting mozzarella – in stick form, naturally – is the fried cheese of choice for many food manufacturers, but McDonald’s has gone with a more odiferous choice for its new snack: Camembert Donuts.
According to Delish, the fast food chain’s fried cheese doughnuts “are 100 times better than their fries.” The downside: they’re only available at McDonald’s locations in Germany.
Sold in boxes of seven for roughly $6 (3.99 euros), the vegetarian-friendly snacks come with cranberry sauce for dipping.
McDonald’s says its supplier “uses exclusively alpine milk from Germany and Austria” to make the cow’s milk Camembert, which is then breaded and deep-fried.
The French bloomy rind cheese is similar to Brie but has a deeper, earthier, more intense aroma. However, it’s a pretty good bet that McDonald’s supplier isn’t making genuine Camembert, which is a protected artisanal product made with raw cow’s milk.
