McDonald's has been shedding new light on its heavily-criticized food sourcing and processing practices, as it seeks to revive lagging sales.
In the face of growing consumer demand for transparency, the Big Mac chain has launched marketing campaigns in the US, Canada, and Australia to answer consumer- submitted questions such as, "Are McDonald's eggs organic or free-range?" and "Does McDonald's import beef from other countries?"
McDonald's has also addressed the rumored existence of "pink slime" in its meat and information about which egg dishes are cooked in the restaurant and which ones are pre-made and frozen.
We have selected some of the most commonly asked questions and provided summaries of the company's responses.
Are McDonald's eggs organic or free-range?
"Our eggs are not organic, nor are they free-range; they are from caged hens," McDonald's Australia writes on its website.
Caged hens produce the cheapest eggs, which helps keeps McDonald's prices low, the company says.
"Our goal is to provide customers with great quality food at great value," the company's answer reads. "The cost of organic or free range eggs would raise the price of our food to a point that our customers may not feel they are receiving the value they've come to expect from us."
In the U.S., however, McDonald's buys a "small amount" of cage-free eggs "as part of a scientific research project McDonald's is part of to better understand different hen housing systems,"the company writes.
"In the U.S., there is no consensus or firm scientific research on whether one type of housing system is better than the other, which leads to a lot of confusion," McDonald's USA adds.
Why do McDonald's chicken nuggets contain an "anti-foaming" agent?
"McDonald’s frying oil contains a small amount of an additive called dimethlypolysiloxane, which helps prevent oil from foaming and spattering in our restaurants," McDonald's USA explains.
Dimethylpolysiloxane is also used in some non-food products, such as putty, caulks, and cosmetics.
For that reason, "there have been individuals who have erroneously claimed that these items are also in our food," the company explains.
The company added that scientific names for ingredients can "sound scary" even if they are safe and approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
"For example, the salt you use to de-ice a driveway is a variation of the salt you use in the kitchen, however they are both sodium chloride," the company writes.
Does McDonald's USA import beef from other countries?
Most of the beef that McDonald's uses in its U.S. restaurants is raised domestically, "although we import a small percentage of our 100% beef from suppliers in Australia and New Zealand to supplement our U.S. purchases,"the company says.
All of the chicken served in McDonald's U.S. restaurants is raised domestically.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider