McDonald's 'Junk Food is Bad for You' Staff Website Advice Dropped

McDonald's has pulled down a staff website that contained an article warning employees against eating junk food.

In a recent posting on the McResources internal site, a picture of a cheeseburger, fries and Coke was labelled "unhealthy choice", while an image of a baguette, salad and glass of water was called the "healthy choice".

Another posting advised: "Fast foods are quick, reasonably priced and readily available alternatives to home cooking. While convenient and economical for a busy lifestyle, fast foods are typically high in calories, fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt and may put people at risk for becoming overweight."

The fast-food giant announced that it would take down the site.

"Between links to irrelevant or outdated information, along with outside groups taking elements out of context, this created unwarranted scrutiny and inappropriate commentary," the company said.

The McDonald's junk food warning was the latest of a series of controversies that have sprung up around the site, whose content is provided by a third party, Adam Inc,

Earlier this year sample budgets were published on the site, offering employees advice on how to manage their finances.

In order to make ends meet, the budget assumed that it would be necessary to hold down a job on top of a full-time position with McDonald's and failed to include gas bills and other essential expenses in its calculations.

In November, the site advised employees to flog Christmas gifts to boost income, and also offered advice on how much to tip an au pair or housekeeper.

The postings exacerbated the anger of employees who have formed the Low Pay is Not OK group, which has held strikes and rallies across the US demanding that the $7.25 per hour minimum wage be raised.

The company said it is now running an internal phone line to offer employees advice on financial and lifestyle issues.