Gross things you should know about McDonald's

No one ever goes to McDonald's thinking they're going to be getting a meal that delicious, tasty, good for you, and that you'll be proud of eating later. It's fast, hot, and it fills the hole. Sometimes, it's even a guilty pleasure. Even so, you expect a restaurant to be putting decent — if not quality — ingredients on your tray, and maintaining a safe, clean facility. That's not always the case, so let's talk about the most cringeworthy things you need to know before you eat at McDonald's again


There's a reason they're not called milkshakes

We are, under no circumstances, telling you not to get your annual Shamrock Shakes. Doing so would be a crime against humanity, but we do want to tell you why they're called "shakes" and not "milkshakes." Snopes says there's been a rumor going around that they can't be called milkshakes because they don't contain dairy products, and that's not true. They definitely use milk in those shakes, but they don't use ice cream.

Instead, they combine milk (which is first on their ingredient list) with a prepared shake mix and syrup for whichever flavor you order. It's designed that way to not just be fast, but consistent across all McDonald's, so while you're not getting something that's quite as gross as you might think, you're not getting any ice cream, either — and that's why they're not milkshakes.

That McCafe machine might not be the cleanest

This little tidbit of nastiness comes to us via a Reddit thread asking, "Fast food workers of Reddit, what should we NOT order at your restaurant? Why not?" A user named Envirometh had all sorts of thoughts on just why you should think twice about picking up a McCafe beverage, and says that in their experience as an employee, they've seen plenty of machines that are rarely cleaned.

They also say it's not an easy job, and the machines are horrendously complicated — so much so they required specialized servicing and training to take them apart and really get all the gunk out of the nooks and crannies, not to mention the lines.

In all fairness, another employee chimes to say their McDonald's managers went above and beyond to clean the McCafe machines, and added it took an average of 30 to 45 minutes each and every day to keep them clean. That's a ton of work, so buyer beware. Not everyone might be thorough.

How chicken nuggets are really made

You've heard the horror stories about how McDonald's actually makes those weirdly-textured chicken nuggets. You know, the ones that are great when you're 5. McDonald's has been trying to clean up the image of their nuggets, and in 2014 they released a video that shows just how they're made. There's no pink slime in sight, but it's still pretty gross.

The video is from McD's Canada, but NPR was assured it's the same process in the US. After the breast meat is removed from chickens that are very real indeed, they're sent through a grinder with seasoning and chicken skin. That's what gives the nuggets that strange texture, and how they're prepped for shaping into boots, bells, balls, and bow ties. They're battered twice, par-fried, and shipped off to stores that will finish cooking them. It's not as bad as you might expect, but it's still pretty unappetizing.

There are a shocking number of ingredients in their fries

If you make your own fries at home, you'll know you typically use potatoes, oil, salt, and maybe another type of seasoning. Think you're getting the same thing at McD's? Not so fast. Check out their ingredient list and you'll find a shocking number of things on there — 19 ingredients, to be exact. So what is all that stuff?

The Daily Meal looked at what some of these ingredients do. Natural beef flavor and citric acid are added to the oils those potatoes are fried in, and they're coated with a mix of salt, dextrose, and sodium acid pyrophosphate. That last one keeps them from turning brown as they wait for someone to order them. We should also mention that "natural beef flavor" has ingredients of its own —  hydrolyzed milk and hydrolyzed wheat. Now you know.

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