The Ultimate Three: McDonald’s, Starbucks, Chick-Fil-A

Which is the healthiest?

BY JOURNEY STEPHENS

There is one thing that these three restaurants all have in common: popularity. Yes, McDonald’s, Starbucks, and Chick-Fil-A are the top three fast food franchises in the United States, according to Restaurant Business Magazine.

MCDONALD’S TAKES FIRST PLACE, THEN STARBUCKS, AND FINALLY CHICK-FIL-A.

These restaurants rank extremely high in how popular they are and the number of customers they get each year, but these rankings have nothing to do with how healthy the food is that each company serves.

Neither option is stellar when it comes to healthy choices, but which one is best? The objective of this article is to broadly compare these two restaurants’ standard of health.

We cannot rank Starbucks because its primary selling product is drinks rather than food, which is what this article is about.

In other words, since we are comparing food, Starbucks will not correctly correspond with the test even though they sell a few food items.

MCDONALD’S VERSUS CHICK-FIL-A

McDonald’s has a bad reputation when it comes to health. Usually, if you ask someone if McDonald’s or Chick-fil-A is healthier they say Chick-fil-A, but that is not the case in all health categories.

The reason for this assumption leads us back to 2011, the start of the controversial pink-slime or pink-goop scandal.

McDonald’s was accused of using ammo- nium hydroxide (pink slime) in their meat products causing buying resistance from some customers even after coming out saying they were not using it at all.

On the website feastgood.com, they compare the two restaurants by health category.

For the lowest amount of sodium, McDonald’s wins by just a few grams.

For the freshest produce and meat, Chick-Fil-A’s quality is ten times better. If you are vegan or vegetarian, McDonald’s might be the better option for you since the restaurant has more vegetarian and vegan meal varieties. The result of the healthiest restaurant when comparing McDonald’s and ChickFil-A can surprisingly go both ways.

Whatever food values you honor the most or health restrictions you must follow will help you decide what restaurant is preferable for the health of your body - and the preference of your taste buds. Which food chain do you think is healthiest?