Whenever you feel like eating a burger, you probably don’t think how many cows are getting inside your organism, do you?
Well, no one really does. But the fact is that a simple Big Mac may contain around 1000 cows (not entirely, of course). As much as the Big Mac is tasty, getting to know the numbers behind its production is a great way to consider if you should keep investing on a diet of junk food or if it is finally time to make some changes to your eating habits.
This content is not sponsored by McDonald’s in any way if you’re wondering. Greenpeace is not asking us to tell you to stop eating 1000 cows either. This article is purely informative and aims at giving you some knowledge that may seem useless at first, but that offers a handful of information.
Are you ready to know more about what you’re eating? Here we go!
The hidden numbers behind a Big Mac
Don’t worry, we’re not going to tell you your burger is made of worms… Cause it isn’t… RIGHT?
McDonald’s has been making a great contribution to the American diet since 1937. Well, not really, but still… It kind of helps their economy and this “act of good will” has spread over the globe. The tasty burger is a beloved meal in almost every country where it is made, but you may want to know a little more about it.
You may be wondering why I said it KIND OF helps the american economy. 550 million Big Macs are sold every year in the US. That’s a lot, now imagine how this number grows when we consider other countries – 900 million, to be precise.
550 million Big Macs is an average of over $ 150,000 for each local economy. To ensure that many burgers are ready to be eaten, they have to hire a lot of people. So McDonald’s generates jobs, right? YES! It actually does, and it also boosts the economy a little bit.
But while the beloved fast-food brand helps with the economy, it takes a toll on your health. A Big Mac has 540 calories, 29 grams of fat and 1,040 mg of sodium. This amount of calories represent 28% of your daily calories, 45% of total fat and 43% of sodium. It’s not much if you eat a Big Mac once in a while, but if you do it every day for a year, you’d be putting on 56 lbs of body weight. Now THAT’S A LOT. It’s not healthy at all.
The Big Mac isn’t made of a single cow. The burgers are made of lots of pieces of meat from up to 1000 different cows that are grown in at least 5 countries! They are then shaped into a burger, frozen and then transported to your local McDonald’s.
The environmental toll
One cow expels from 26 to 53 gallons of methane per day. This is the same as a car. In order to make a burger for your Big Mac, up to 53,000 gallons of methane are produced.
Now, before you eat a Big Mac today, think about reducing the amount of burgers you eat. It’s not only dangerous for the environment, but also for your body if you eat too much of it!
