When lunch time rolls around, you'd think that McDonald's employees have it made.
But they also have inside information, and there are some items on their own menu that
they just won't touch.
What are these forbidden foods?
Here are some things at McDonald's even the staff won't eat.
No one goes to McDonald's just for a dessert, but while you're there, you might be tempted
to add something sweet onto the end of your order.
But according to what employees told Reader's Digest, you might want to skip the apple pie.
Why?
Well, according to employees, people don't really order many apple pies, so they often
sit on the shelves for a long time.
That might not be mom's apple pie under those heat lamps — it might be grandma's apple
pie.
It might be better to order something fresher.
In one particularly revealing Reddit Ask Me Anything thread, a Redditor claiming to be
a former McDonald's employee warned against ordering the standard hamburgers and cheeseburgers,
because it turns out you may just get raw meat if you do.
That's because they intentionally undercook the burgers with the idea that they will finish
cooking while sitting under the heat lamps.
"Those things come off of the grill still red with blood and then we would shove them
in the trays where they would stay for hours."
However, if you order during rush hour, the burgers often don't stay under the lamps long
enough to finish cooking, leading to seriously undercooked meat.
Which isn't just gross, it's potentially a health hazard.
No thanks!
There's nothing in the world as delicious as ketchup.
Seriously, ketchup makes the entire meal.
Can you imagine french fries without ketchup?
“You can see the woman in pink barge into the back of this McDonald's.
employees say she was demanding ketchup.
When the manager in blue asks her to leave, the woman starts hitting her."
Well, you should start imagining it, because according to former McDonald's employees on
Quora, those big dispensers that most locations have are almost never cleaned.
Instead, to save time, employees often just add new ketchup to the old stuff already in
there.
As one manager said,
"Who knows when the bags were last changed."
If you really need ketchup, make sure you ask for those little packets.
They may be annoying, but they're probably a lot cleaner — and a whole lot safer than
trying to find a ketchup substitute.
“I'm going to dip this potato in some crushed vicodin.
And there's nobody who can stop me."
McDonald's employees who spoke to Australia's News.com said that anything that's just been
added to the menu or is only on for a short amount of time is likely to be made fairly
badly — and probably wrong.
According to the former employee,
"Nobody knows how [to] make it and I can guarantee you it will be made wrong or missing ingredients."
It's not entirely surprising, after all — adding items and changing a menu means there's a
learning curve, and it's not like the kitchens at McD's have the time to slow down.
But no one likes that feeling of disappointment when they get back to their desk, only to
discover that the lunch in front of them is nowhere near the lunch they thought they were
going to order.
So just stick to those tried-and-true favorites until the beta testing is over.
McDonald's food may not be great, but there's one thing even worse; old McDonald's food.
Which is why according to some employees and ex-employees, you shouldn't order anything
without taking a few extra minutes to specify you want it made fresh.
You wouldn't think that would be necessary, but actually it is.
Though McDonald's has a policy that food is only supposed to sit out for a certain amount
of time, one Redditor said that it had been their experience that their coworkers didn't
care how long something had been sitting there, they'd just keep resetting the timers… for
hours on end.
"… 9/10 times when that timer goes off, people just reset the timer…"
That's why you should ask for your food to be made fresh.
It might take a few minutes, but your stomach will thank you later.
In 2017, social media had a meltdown when a McDonald's employee from Louisiana posted
pictures of the drip tray he pulled out of the ice cream machine at his location.
According to the employee only identified as Nick, the drip trays were pretty much never
cleaned, and were filled with a moldy, rotten goo.
McDonald's issued a formal response that said, in part,
"This is a part of our soft serve equipment that does not come into contact with any food
and is required to undergo regular and timely cleaning."
Nick was fired not long after his post, but he's not alone in his warning.
On Reddit, one 5-year employee said the machines were always dirty, too — and they suggested
heading somewhere else for an ice cream fix.
Another employee spoke to their location's true problems: employees who didn't care enough
about any part of their job, including the complicated process of cleaning an ice cream
machine.
Which is weird, because it's so easy, even kids can do it.
"McKids!
McFlurry!
McKids McFlurry maker!"
"You can make a McFlurry, any time, any place!"
C'mon, Mickey D's, figure it out!
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