Quoted at http://www.alnyethelawyerguy.com/al_...t_really_.html , from "The Omnivore's Dilemma":

"The ingredients listed in the flyer suggest a lot of thought goes into a nugget, that and a lot of corn. Of the thirty-eight ingredients it takes to make a McNugget, I counted thirteen that can be derived from corn: the corn-fed chicken itself; modified cornstarch (to bind the pulverized chicken meat); mono-, tri-, and diglycerides (emulsifiers, which keep the fats and water from separating); dextrose; lecithin (another emulsifier); chicken broth (to restore some of the flavor that processing leeches out); yellow corn flour and more modified cornstarch (for the batter); cornstarch (a filler); vegetable shortening; partially hydrogenated corn oil; and citric acid as a preservative. A couple of other plants take part in the nugget: There's some wheat in the batter, and on any given day the hydrogenated oil could come from soybeans, canola, or cotton rather than corn, depending on the market price and availability.
According to the handout, McNuggets also contain several completely synthetic ingredients, quasiedible substances that ultimately come not from a corn or soybean field but form a petroleum refinery or chemical plant. These chemicals are what make modern processed food possible, by keeping the organic materials in them from going bad or looking strange after months in the freezer or on the road. Listed first are the "leavening agents": sodium aluminum phosphate, mono-calcium phosphate, sodium acid pyrophosphate, and calcium lactate. These are antioxidants added to keep the various animal and vegetable fats involved in a nugget from turning rancid. Then there are "anti-foaming agents" like dimethylpolysiloxene, added to the cooking oil to keep the starches from binding to air molecules, so as to produce foam during the fry. The problem is evidently grave enough to warrant adding a toxic chemical to the food: According to the Handbook of Food Additives, dimethylpolysiloxene is a suspected carcinogen and an established mutagen, tumorigen, and reproductive effector; it's also flammable. But perhaps the most alarming ingredient in a Chicken McNugget is tertiary butylhydroquinone, or TBHQ, an antioxidant derived from petroleum that is either sprayed directly on the nugget or the inside of the box it comes in to "help preserve freshness." According to A Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives, TBHQ is a form of butane (i.e. lighter fluid) the FDA allows processors to use sparingly in our food: It can comprise no more than 0.02 percent of the oil in a nugget. Which is probably just as well, considering that ingesting a single gram of TBHQ can cause "nausea, vomiting, ringing in the ears, delirium, a sense of suffocation, and collapse." Ingesting five grams of TBHQ can kill."

McGriddles... mmmmmmmmmm

And some of the premium chicken sandwiches are okay. But besides that, McDonalds is pretty inedible.

Didn't you see the movie?

Dare I suggest anything without a feather but it may include where feathers once were or worse, weren't.

Maccas is a good emergency food when you're on the road and just want something you don't have to think about when you order.

Is there really much difference nutritionally between a McDonalds burger and an equivalently sized In-n-Out burger?

My first guess would be that the beef is better quality at In-and-Out. The buns too.

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I can eat a McRib any time, any place. Thankfully, they almost never have them around here, so I don't ever go to Mickey D's. EVER.

(Although, when on the road, I'll occasionally have brekkie there. I don't feel like it's as bad...)

Yea, the McDonalds burger is probably better for you. In fact you could probably get away with 2 of the smaller McDonalds burgers in lieu of one In n Out burger.

The sausage McGriddle is my favorite McD's food item, and I think McD's is the fastest breakfast option out there.

I don't care much about their burgers, as I would rather have a Avocado Bacon Cheeseburger from Carl's JR

And for breakfast, Jack in the Box's Sirloin Steak breakfast burrito is awesome ^

Just to highlight this part of N830MH's query (it seems to have got missed). The OP is aware of Islands Restaurant and In & Out but was wondering if anyone had suggestions/information on other, healthier alternatives to MuckyD's in the Phoenix AZ area. (I'm also curious, even though I live nowhere near!)

When in the southwest, I eat almost exclusively mexican from road-side vendors. Cheap and delicious, as well as relatively healthy. They don't use any crap, just all fresh ingredients (even if they are not the highest quality). ^ ^

Real refritos, yum! Nothing but pinto beans, lard, and salt - lots of lard!

So Mickie D's is not healthy...Shocker!
Can you say XXL, clogged arteries, and zits oh my.

Fast food other than tacoshops is horrible!

The key is to remember that fast food, like any other thing that is bad for you, should be taken in moderation.

I like McDonalds.

The main reason I no longer eat at McDonalds (except Salads):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6us9kHHSNwk

I have no idea what kind of chemicals are necessary to create those results, but they can't be very healthy...