EHJ September 2004, pages 267
A recent report by the International Association of Consumer Food Organisations found that food advertising accounts for about half of all advertising broadcast during children's viewing times. Three-quarters of the advertising was found to promote high calorie, low nutrient foods with the report estimating that 20 per cent of UK children are overweight.

In the circumstances, I can see the logic behind the chief executive of McDonalds, Andrew Taylor's invitation to viewers to tour the company's restaurants as part of their "open doors" programme. If it works for children surely, it will work for adults.

The open doors programme consists of guided tours of restaurant and kitchens so that customers can see the strict hygiene standards and equipment used in the cooking and preparation of food. At the end of the tour, customers are reassured to discover that unsold hamburgers are discarded after a pre-set time of some minutes and that all staff involved in food preparation must wash their hands at every stage of burger cooking and assembly.

The McDonalds machine is nothing if not convincing. As a student EHO, I visited McDonalds' McKey headquarters in Milton Keynes, responsible for churning out millions of happy meals a day. The group was given a guided tour of the factory, in particular the burger-making process, where we observed whole sides of beef being minced to form the much loved burgers. We were treated to a presentation, which informed us that McDonalds use their own abattoirs, with cattle undergoing rigorous checks. We were given samples of the company's Haccp system and the McDonalds representative, a qualified EHO, answered all our questions openly. The day culminated in a tour of a restaurant and as many free Mcburgers, Mcnuggets and Mcshakes as the group could consume, to which there was not a single dissenter. It was an adroit strategy on the part of McDonalds to convince 30 future health professionals, of the inoffensiveness of the humble burger with such a display of "openness" and generosity.

Of course, no mention was made of the high fat, salt or sugar content of any of the food. Seduced by the open, friendly ambience that permeated the tour it would have seemed quite boorish to broach the subject had the thought even occurred to the group at the time.

With the imminent publication in November of the government's latest white paper on health, the spotlight remains firmly on McDonalds and purveyors of junk food. The obesity debate has highlighted the mass marketing and ready availability of unhealthy food.

Perhaps, because of this pressure, McDonalds has introduced its healthier range of salads and fruit bags (that can be exchanged for fries at no additional cost) organic milk and mineral water onto menus. Leaflets are also available in restaurants providing details of nutritional information on children's meals and dietary reference values of recommended daily consumption levels for children aged between four and six. In 22 outlets McDonalds is now selling porridge, muffins and toast as a trial.

The public certainly seems enamoured by the new range of healthier foods and as the profits roll in, McDonalds are definitely "lovin' it".