SHOCKING FACTS ON FAST FOOD CHAINS

http://www.businessinsider.com/amazing-facts-mcdonalds-2010-12

FACTS ON MCDONALDS FAST FOOD COMPANY:

McDonald's' daily customer traffic (62M) is greater than the population of Great Britain.

McDonald's sells more than 75 hamburgers every second
McDonald's' $24 billion in revenue makes it the 90st-largest economy in the world.
Counting $32 billion in revenue from franchise stores, McDonald's claims the 68th biggest economy, bigger than EcuadorMcDonald's hires around 1 million workers in the US every year.

According to company estimates, one in every eight American workers has been employed by McDonald'sSharon Stone worked at McDonald's before she was famous. So did Shania Twain, Jay Leno, Rachel McAdams and Pink.

McDonald's is the world's largest distributor of toys, with one included in 20% of all salesMcDonald's' iconic golden arches are recognized by more people than the cross.

For the next three years, McDonald's is going to open one restaurant every day in China. 

McDonald's delivers -- in 18 countries!

The only place in the lower 48 that is more than 100 miles from a McDonald's is a barren plain in South Dakota
Americans alone consume one billion pounds of beef at McDonald's in a year -- five and a half million head of cattle

UPDATE: According to Snopes, McDonald's stopped using mechanical separation for McNuggets in 2003:

http://www.forensicsciencetechnician.org/30-scary-food-facts-you-need-to-know/ 

Fast Food - 

We’ve all heard the horror stories about fast food restaurants. These facts will definitely make you think twice about super sizing.

1. An average person’s yearly fast food intake will contain 12 pubic hairs. – Fast food products are more likely to have human hairs and you will never know about it. Think about all the reported cases of customers finding strands of hair in their fries. What about all the hairs that possibly ended up in your stomach that you never even noticed! Now that’s scary.
2. Most fast food chains dip their French fries in sugar to give them that deliciously golden brown hue after frying . – What many of us don’t realize is that some fast food fries aren’t just fatty and starchy. They are also sugary as well. While they don’t taste very sweet, the sugars are added for other incentives. It also helps to develop that nice outer crispiness that can be complicated to imitate when frying at home.
3. The Strawberry flavor Contains 50 Different Chemicals. – In order to copy the flavor of a strawberry, fast food corporations include 50 distinct chemicals like ethyl acetate, phenythyl alcohol, rose, and solvent. So, the next time you get a craving for a strawberry milkshake, take a minute to remember the ingredients.
4. Grilled chicken sandwiches and salads on fast food menus, might contain beef.– For example chicken McNuggets contain several beef additives disguised generally with secret names like “extract” or “essence”. Current offenders include Wendy’s Grilled Chicken Sandwich and KFC’s Grilled Chicken Sandwich.
5. Hamburgers are made in huge factories. – One ordinary hamburger can encompass pieces of beef from a variety of cattle from many different areas. This multiplies the risk of contamination being that just one unhealthy cow in the group can have a major effect on making hundreds of people ill in distant regions of the country.
6. Propylene Glycerol used for antifreeze keeps your salad crispy . – This chemical, also comes with alerts like skin and eye irritation if exposed to the human body. It is generally used in products like Sierra Anti Freeze and even worse Astroglide Sexual Lubricant .
7. You would have to walk for seven hours straight to burn off a Super Sized Coke, fry and Big Mac . – Unless you plan to get right on the treadmill after your lunch, it’s probably best not to go for those extra humungous fries and drink with your bacon double cheeseburger.


http://www.islandcrisis.net/2010/10/unbelievable-facts-about-kfc/ - KFC FACTS


The Chicken
KFC uses factory farming to produce their chicken. This means maximization of profits by neglecting health conditions at farms. The chickens are provided with no room to move and are deprived of sun. They are fed the cheapest quality of grain (including newspaper and cardboard), a lot of antibiotics and hormones to accelerate their growth. They are thus deformed and ill. Also, all of the chemicals, newspaper, cardboard and medicines are injected into the food chain and make their way into your body!


Maltodextrin
This version of sugar added to KFC recipes suppresses the immune function of the body and leads to diabetes. This can also potentially cause addiction to KFC products.
KFC Salt
KFC uses highly refined table salt. This means that it is devoid of essentials minerals and has a ton of additives that potentially lead to heavy metal toxicity, Alzheimer’s disease, high blood pressure and kidney problems.
Partially Hydrogenated Oil
This is where you should really start getting worried. The oils used at KFC are literally saturated with omega-6 fatty acids. Though useful, but consumption in such large quantities causes heart problems and impaired brain function.
Monosodium Glutamate
The infamous MSG is no stranger to many folks. Many food manufacturers including KFC use MSG (Also known as Adinomoto in Mauritius) as a flavor magnifier. Seems great. The only problem being that in addition to flavor enhancing, it also kills brain cells and dumbs you down. It acts quickly and is not good for you. Other ingredients such as the Autolyzed yeast also contain MSG.
Chicken Fat and Beef Fat
If coming from a healthy farm raised animal, these fats can do a lot of good to the body. However, there is a small problem. The animal bodies are designed to protect themselves from toxicity by trapping the toxins in the fat reserves. Thus, in a factory-raised animal, as in case of KFC, these fats can prove to be pretty toxic on consumption.
Bleached Wheat Flour
Since the bleached wheat flour is an extremely refined source of carbohydrates, its consumption can cause rapid insulin spikes in the blood sugar level and cause problems with insulin control. This is a certain path to diabetes and gaining a good amount of fat on you.