Each day, 50, 000 shiny, fire-engine-red Gala apples work the way
through a sprawling factory in Swedesboro, N. J. (87) Inside, 26 machines
wash them, core them, peel them, seed them, slice them, chill them. At
the end of the line, (88) they are dunked in a solution of calcium ascorbate
and now deposited into little green bags featuring a jogging Ronald
McDonald. From there, (89) the bags make their way in refrigerated
trucks to refrigerated containers in distribution centers, then to thousand of
McDonald’s restaurants up and down the Eastern Seaboard. (90) No more
than 14 days before leaving the plant, the fruit will take the place of French
fries in some child’s Happy Meal. The apple slices, called
Apple Dippers, are a symbol of how McDonald’s is trying to offer healthier food
to its customers (91) and to answer the many critics who contend that most of
its menu is poor nutritional quality. (92) McDonald’s has also not
introduced a variety of "premium" salads, which will soon be joined by a
salad of grapes, walnuts--and, of course, apples. (93)
Yet it still remains to be seen these new offerings will assuage the concerns
of public health officials and other critics of McDonald’s highly processed
fat and calorieladen sandwiches, drinks and fries. (94) So far, however, they
have not--at least not have entirely. But this much is already clear: just
as its staple meals of burger and fries have made McDonald’s the largest single
buyer of beef and potatoes in the country, (95) its new focus on fresh fruits
and vegetables is making the company a minor player on $ 80 billion American
produce industry.