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It's a common claim in Quebec that McDonald's put anti-emetics in the food. I think I heard four times over the last week, alone.

It's not uncommon for people to go to McDonald's when they're drunk because it apparently helps prevent them from vomiting. A lot of people attribute this to McDonald's putting anti-vomit "stuff" in their food.

The nature of the anti-vomit ingredients varies a lot, such as vitamin E but the claim is always that McDonald's food makes you less prone to throw up and that's because it has anti-vomit in it.

Evan Carroll
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Borror0
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    I wouldn't be surprised if it's just because their food is exceptionally easy to digest - no whole grains, not a lot of fiber, no strong flavors or spices besides salt and fat, lots of simple carbohydrates. – Tacroy Aug 17 '12 at 16:32
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    Are there any rumors about which drug that might be? As a chemist I did a GC with the fat of some fries and found some interesting fatty acids, so maybe one might be able to analyze a burger. – PhilMasteG Aug 19 '12 at 02:31
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    The other thing most people do (at least here) is to go to get a kebab, which works (anecdotally) as well. As much as McDonald's is a suitable target for this kind of "conspiracy theories", I seriously doubt your average kebab shop is. Also, that would mean every kebab shop would be into this anti-emetic conspiracy. I would rather say it's the high fat content (eggs or sabayon seem to work as well...). – nico Aug 19 '12 at 18:33
  • My French friend said the anti-emetic ingredient may be sodium alginate. –  Jul 06 '16 at 01:03
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    @nico "every kebab shop would be into this anti-emetic conspiracy", no, additives of various types *are* added to kebabs, and they're added by the producers at the meat processing plant. Kebab shops don't thaw frozen doner sticks then mix in preservatives and artificial flavours and colouring themselves! I don't see why a meat company saying "let's add [for example] vitamin E to our product, to boost sales" is so different to "let's add preservatives, salt, palm oil, colouring and [where legal] monosodium glutamate to our product, to boost sales". Processed meat is processed! – user56reinstatemonica8 Jul 06 '16 at 09:32
  • @GaryBrazzell ... This comment suggests two additional questions: (1) Is sodium alginate an anti-emetic? (2) Is sodium alginate added to McDonald's food? But these are different questions, so should be asked separately. – GEdgar Jul 06 '16 at 17:53

1 Answers1

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It a very common question indeed. So common that it have been addressed at the McDonalds "YourQuestions" section. The rumor seems to be false.

There is absolutely no truth to this, Veronic. We do not add any drugs or medication of any kind to our food. Thanks for giving us the opportunity to put this rumor to rest.

Oddthinking
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    As skeptics I'm not sure we should be taking McDonalds word for it. – DJClayworth Aug 17 '12 at 17:16
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    I tend to agree that a statement from McDonalds itself is not enough evidence according to our standards. Please try to find another source verifying that statement. – Mad Scientist Aug 17 '12 at 19:16
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    I believe you guys are right about McDo's credibility, but aside these official statements, I haven't found anything else that proves (or disproves) this rumor. Not even Snopes has busted it _yet_, but I found an interesting remark suggesting why this could just be an urban myth: http://msgboard.snopes.com/message/ultimatebb.php?/ubb/get_topic/f/89/t/000611/p/1.html#000014 –  Aug 18 '12 at 20:47
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    A point of order here. If I make the claim there is a god, I am required to provide proof, as I am making the affirmative statement. Regardless of how we feel, if anyone is going to make the claim that McDonalds adds something to their food, please provide proof, or the answer is no. – Everett Sep 29 '12 at 03:37
  • @Everett, I appreciate your comment, but I beg to differ. I responded with a link from an actual statement I considered as proof. As people here were skeptic about it, I offered a link which could help them make up their minds about the issue. –  Sep 30 '12 at 04:20
  • @Tenshow The comment was directed at "As skeptics I'm not sure we should be taking McDonalds word for it." My comment had NOTHING to do with you, and everything to do with them. And you could have likely determined that by noting that my statement agrees with yours. You said it was likely an urban myth, I said we can't believe without proof. Neither one of us supports the idea. – Everett Sep 30 '12 at 05:33
  • Edited the above comments keeping the constructive bits. – Sklivvz Oct 09 '12 at 15:08
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    As a general note: on skeptics we are only looking for positive proof. "No proof or the answer is no" is not an acceptable standard. Furthermore, a statement from McDonald's when the claim is already skeptical of them does not help us clarify things. It is obvious to me that we should be able to positively prove or disprove the claim by chemical analysis of the food. Unless such proof is given, I see no reason to believe one way or the other. – Sklivvz Oct 09 '12 at 15:13
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    I don't think that we're really just trusting McDonald's here. McDonald's is required by law to expose if they're putting anti-emetics into the food. – Publius Mar 14 '13 at 06:08
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    I am very surprised not to find more debunking on the web about this urban legend. Most of the websites we can find are directly linked to Mc Donald’s company. – Einenlum Sep 10 '14 at 10:41
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    This answer also only applies to "drugs or medication". It doesn't address things like vitamin E (mentioned in the question) which are regular non-medicinal food additives that might (or might not) have anti-emetic effects. – user56reinstatemonica8 Jul 06 '16 at 09:36
  • @user568458 No, this answer applies to anything "anti-vomit". The question (in the link, not this one) asks, “is there an anti-vomit in the mcdonald food?” The answer is, "There is absolutely no truth to this." – Reinstate Monica -- notmaynard Jul 06 '16 at 14:37
  • @avi Yes, they have to declare most things they put in their food, yet the question is asking about the intention of some ingredients. We already know what the ingredients are; we can easily look that up. But are any of them specifically added because they help ease stomach tension and protect against vomiting? You'd be surprised why some ingredients are added to food; it isn't always about flavor. –  Jul 06 '16 at 17:15
  • @Odd If you say "McDonald's claims it is false", instead of "The rumor seems to be false", then I will remove my down vote. It should be obvious the issues to just take their word for it. –  Jul 06 '16 at 17:18
  • @fredsbend Oddthinking is not the answerer. – called2voyage Jul 06 '16 at 21:41
  • @called2voyage Oh, my. I also didn't even notice how old this is. Well, the answerer is a deleted account, so I think it's safe to assume he's not coming back to fix it. –  Jul 06 '16 at 22:58