McDonald's unveils Mega Potato, a massive carton of french fries, their highest-calorie item ever

[h=1]McDonald's unveils its highest-calorie item ever[/h]
[h=2]The three-quarter pound serving of fries is called the 'Mega Potato' in Japan. It's also the type of gimmick competitors are using to crush the fast-food giant in the US.[/h]
[h=1]McDonald's unveils its highest-calorie item ever[/h]
[h=2]The three-quarter pound serving of fries is called the 'Mega Potato' in Japan. It's also the type of gimmick competitors are using to crush the fast-food giant in the US.[/h]

McDonald's (MCD -0.73%) has had a tough time giving customers what they want when they want it here in the States, but in far less judgmental Japan it has no problem backing a dump truck's worth of french fries onto a customer's tray.


Japan Today notes that McDonald's outlets there are offering customers the Mega Potato, a container of fries double the size of an order of large fries that goes for roughly $5. At 350 grams, it's more than three-quarters of a pound of fries poured into a Golden Arches-stamped cardboard trough that McDonald's has advertised as "perfect for sharing."


The food press has already begun clutching its pearls over the fat content and the potential health consequences of the boat-sized order of fries, which will be available May 24 through June. At an estimated 1,142 calories, it is the highest-calorie food served at McDonald's, reports Muripo.



However, RocketNews24 provides illustrated examples of how customers in Asian countries haven't been opposed to ordering fries by the tableful. Besides, scoffing at this sort of stunt here in the U.S. has started costing McDonald's a chunk of fast-food market share.


Foreign markets tend to bring out the creative side of fast-food giants like Burger King (BKW -0.48%) and Pizza Hut parent company Yum Brands (YUM -0.13%). But even stateside, the rise of higher-end fast-casual establishments like Panera Bread (PNRA +0.15%), Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG -0.05%) and Five Guys have forced fast-food chains to abandon upmarket options and play to their strengths. Taco Bell is offering Waffle Tacos as part of a new breakfast menu and testing a new value menu packed with $1 items. Burger King, meanwhile, is basically cloning the McRib boneless rib sandwich while offering delivery service in major cities.


Even lower-tier chains like Del Taco are spicing up their menus with offerings including Chili Cheese Fry burritos.


After years of success emulating Starbucks (SBUX -0.25%) coffee and Jamba Juice (JMBA -2.58%) smoothies, however, McDonald's has been forced into a full retreat. McDonald's first-quarter same-store sales were off 1% worldwide. Its menu, which Businessweek says has grown 70% since 2007 to 145 items, is getting a much-needed trim. Angus burgers, Chicken Selects, fish bites, burritos and premium items that franchise owners say are slowing down their kitchens are being shown the door in favor of an enhanced dollar menu.


Yet the chain still hasn't quite backed off its all-things-to-all-pe​ople U.S. approach. In China, McDonald's customers get free Egg McMuffins if there's even a chance the press might say something unkind about the chain. In Japan, McDonald's serves canoes full of fries without a whole lot of backlash over the consequences. In the U.S., it hesitantly hints at all-day breakfast and trots out the McRib only when sales numbers are at their softest.


McDonald's fries are a staple and one of the primary reasons that customers who disdain other McDonald's items will still drop in on rare occasions. Providing customers with more of them -- and more of the rare breakfast items that are hurled off the production line at the stroke of 10:30 a.m. -- is only giving them more of what they're seeking. McDonald's critics will pound away at it regardless of how broad it tries to make its menu. Its core consumers, as the company is discovering in Japan, just want more of what they crave.


At some point, maybe McDonald's will stop placating its critics and start rewarding its loyalists. Yes, they want fries with that.

Didn't they have this in the US years ago? It was like a bucket of fries.

That must have been what this giant sized teenager was stuffing in his gob yesterday. His wrappers were in the way and I kept looking over wondering where all the fries were coming from. Haha bucket of fries.

Don't know if bloomberg will allow this in New York #%()

I don't care for much of anything else on their menu, but McDonalds do make some good fries...

wtf.. they are trying to kill people or what???


hno:


-murph

"perfect for sharing"

Those are the key words. But as is the case with food and drink, people have problems practicing moderation.

RunLeeRun said:

"perfect for sharing"

Those are the key words. But as is the case with food and drink, people have problems practicing moderation.

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exactly.. if they have it on the menu, they are indeed encouraging some people to buy it when hungry or overweight. You can share 2 large fries too separately. lol.. why the hell do they need this

-murph

On a side note, I'd be interested to know what kind of oil they fry those bad boys in Japan. The Vegans and Vegetarians have destroyed all that is good in the States. Fries were great, and I'd argue better for you, when they were fried in animal fat. Say what you will about saturated fat (and it will be debatable) it's a far better oil for high temperature cooking. High-processed, fast-oxidizing, high omega-6 content seed oils are hands down worse health-wise.

Murphy8276 said:

exactly.. if they have it on the menu, they are indeed encouraging some people to buy it when hungry or overweight. You can share 2 large fries too separately. lol.. why the hell do they need this

-murph

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marketing ploy

This is in Japan so it's probably made to target American tourists.

Murphy8276 said:

wtf.. they are trying to kill people or what???


hno:


-murph

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have been for a long time now

McDonald's food is no worse than food you make at home. Moderation is the key. Why do people demonize McDonald's or any fast food joint then go and get blasted on alcohol. Alcohol is literally just shit you're putting in your body. At least fast food is food and won't kill you unless you're eating it 3 times a day.

Murphy8276 said:

wtf.. they are trying to kill people or what???


hno:


-murph

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Yes, the Japanese

KingofNicotine said:

McDonald's food is no worse than food you make at home. Moderation is the key. Why do people demonize McDonald's or any fast food joint then go and get blasted on alcohol. Alcohol is literally just shit you're putting in your body. At least fast food is food and won't kill you unless you're eating it 3 times a day.

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you must be joking one can only assume

[h=2]McDonalds Fast Food: Toxic Ingredients Include Putty and Cosmetic Petrochemicals[/h]

Every mouthful of McDonalds meal contains a handful of chemicals that raise ‘bad’ cholesterol levels, increase diabetes risk, lower immunity, and damage DNA. In fact fast food contains so many harmful ingredients that I wouldn’t even feed it to a pet because it would be cruel.

When you go to the fast-food drive-through, you are:

• paying to harm your own health;
• your children’s health;
• reducing your quality of life because the toxicity of eating synthetic chemicals will trigger illness;
• put more money into the hands of the medical insurance companies.

Still lovin’ it?
Heard it before? Well despite the illusion of a gradual switch to a healthier menu containing salads and smoothies, McDonald’s line-up still contains nasty health-eroding chemicals: trans-fats, high levels of sugar, artificial sweeteners, petro-chemicals, and high-fructose corn syrup. The kids meals and salads also contain frightening ingredients and high levels of sugar.
Having perused their menus and nutritional information for their meals, it’s incredible what synthetic chemicals they add to salads, chicken meals, burgers, and even to their drinks. Did you know that many of their foods and drinks contain tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), a chemical preservative that is so deadly that just five grams is fatal? One gram of TBHQ can cause nausea, vomiting, ringing in the ears, delirium, a sense of suffocation, and collapse.
McDonald’s foods still contain trans-fats, in addition to a whole host of synthetic chemicals to produce a taste which they deliberately engineer to be addictive, so you spend more money with them according to investigations by Eric Schlosser in his book Fast Food Nation.

Trans Fat Lie
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration decided that a food can contain trans-fats and that the amount doesn’t have to be listed on the ingredient or nutrition list, providing the amount is not more than half a gram. Many burgers, shakes, and breakfast meals contain trans-fats. The problems with these oils is that they induce free radical damage in the body, which leads to artery damage, DNA damage, and oxidation of cholesterol, a.k.a. ‘bad cholesterol’. You are getting this with every mouthful.
Almost all foods on McDonald’s menu contain hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils, that are also harmful to the body because they damage your tissues and raise your ‘bad’ cholesterol. Did you know that if a food manufacturer’s food contains less than 0.5g of trans-fats then it doesn’t have to legally list trans-fats on the label?
Here is just one example of what McDonalds put in their foods. The unhealthful ingredients in McDonalds’ Chicken nuggets (straight from the McDonalds’ web site) include:

• sodium phosphates;
• bleached wheat flour (nutrients removed);
• food starch-modified (likely genetically-modified);
• dextrose (sugar);
• partially hydrogenated soybean oil and cottonseed oil with mono-and diglycerides, (trans fats);
• Prepared in vegetable oil (Canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil) (trans fats);
• TBHQ, tertiary butylhydroquinone, a petroleium dervived product;
• Dimethylpolysiloxane added as an antifoaming agent (a form of silicone used in cosmetics, and Silly Putty).

Look for yourself
Download this nutritional information chart. It’s a long PDF document of all their menu items. Find the foods you buy in the left column, and see how much trans-fats, and sugars are in them. THEN, visit McDonald’s web site, select the foods you eat, click on the nutrition link, and scroll down to the ingredients list. If you can’t pronounce any of the ingredients and don’t know what they are then is it wise to eat them? This is a choice only you can make, but give your kids a choice too.

Pay now and later
I’m not just picking on McDonald’s here. Visit the web sites of KFC, Wendy’s, and the other companies. Their foods contain the same harmful chemicals that age you and leave your wallet and body feeling empty inside within an hour of finishing the meal. Does this make sense from a financial standpoint? What about from a health perspective? If you buy fast food, you’ll pay now (with your money) and also later (with your health).
Why do I say that feeding fast food to a carnivorous pet would be cruel? Humans have a choice about what to eat, even if the choice is sometimes limited by finances, location, or time availability. When it comes to their food, pets rely on us making the best choice for them and trust that the food we put down for them is safe. If they don’t like it, they’d leave it. The sweetness, aroma, and fat content however make fast food as appealing to pets as it would to humans, and feeding them food containing toxic ingredients would be cruel in my view

Once upon a time we just used the traditional ingredients for food. Then we got the idea that we somehow learned something about nutrition. Why don't we just admit we don't know shit about nutrition, erase the last 50 years and go back to eating what our grandfathers did? Every step we've taken to lower heart-disease and obesity has had the exact opposite affect.

Nasty fries since they changed the oil years ago....won't even eat them now.

The box/carton may be huge, but they'll only fill it about halfway the same way they do when you order a medium or large fry and they fill it with about the same amount of fries as you would get from ordering a small...hno:

Hache Man said:

The box/carton may be huge, but they'll only fill it about halfway the same way they do when you order a medium or large fry and they fill it with about the same amount of fries as you would get from ordering a small...hno:

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true hache.. this might be what a large fries should be when they have fill the mega. heh

-murph