Courtesy Photo. Michele Crosby (second from right) and the other Moms Quality Correspondents tour Keystone Foods, a McDonald's beef supplier in North Baltimore, Ohio.

Published on: Wednesday, October 14, 2009

By Justin Reifert

Food quality is a concern to almost any mother. And when it comes to fast food, many mothers are just as choosy about what they are feeding their children. One local mom decided to check out the quality of McDonald’s food for herself.

Michele Crosby, a Prince George’s County resident, has been serving as one of four women in McDonald’s Baltimore Washington Moms Quality Correspondents program since 2007. Most recently, the group visited Keystone Foods, a McDonald’s beef supplier in North Baltimore, Ohio.

According to Becky Gallagher, marketing communications manager for McDonald’s, the Moms Quality Correspondents is a group of women who “have made it a priority to learn more about the food they are feeding their families.” Correspondents go behind the scenes of McDonald’s to learn about the quality of both McDonald’s franchises and product suppliers. Members then share their experiences through online journals, videos and photographs.

Crosby, a part-time grant writer and full-time mother of two boys; Garland, 7, and Willis, 5; saw an advertisement for the correspondent position during a TV commercial break in the fall of 2007. She was interested in getting behind-the-scenes information on McDonald’s so she decided to apply. After making the first cut, which involved an online questionnaire, Crosby completed two phone interviews before she was offered the position.

Gallagher counted Crosby’s poise, intellect and general curiosity about McDonald’s as qualities that made her stand out from other applicants. Her application also “demonstrated that she shares McDonald’s values of giving back to the community and providing an opportunity for those that are less fortunate,” Gallagher said.

On Aug. 25 and 26, the Moms visited Keystone Foods, a McDonald’s beef supplier in North Baltimore, Ohio. They took a course called Beef 101, had a beef cutting seminar, toured the facility, and visited the test kitchen and quality control area.

Crosby was not sure what to expect before the trip, but she was pleasantly surprised that there was no “slaughterhouse activity.” She had been on one supplier trip before, to Northeast Foods, a McDonald’s bakery. That had been her first time in a factory and she was surprised by the precision, cleanliness and testing within the facility. She was impressed by the same things at Keystone Foods.

But the most interesting thing, Crosby said, was to find that McDonald’s hamburgers are, in fact, made with 100 percent beef. Gallagher noted that this reaction was common among the moms and helped to dispel the “urban legend” that McDonald’s hamburgers are not 100 percent beef. According to Crosby, the hamburgers are made from a mix of imported, frozen and fresh beef.

When it comes to posting the mom’s reactions, both Crosby and Gallagher agree that the mom’s are given the freedom to post what they really think. “We do not censor any of the women’s thoughts, opinions or reactions,” Gallagher said. However, Crosby noted that McDonald’s does not provide the moms with any proprietary information, such as the fat to beef ratio for their hamburgers.

Crosby plans to continue her work as a quality correspondent, asking the tough questions to ensure that the food your children eat, at least at McDonald’s, stands behind its claims.

For information on McDonald’s

nutritional quality, visit http://nutrition.

mcdonalds.com/nutritionexchange/nutrition

_facts.html.