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Here they are - four real moms from the Greater Washington, D.C., and Baltimore areas, selected to represent you by asking tough questions to get honest answers. They will help keep you informed as they continue to examine McDonald's from the inside out.

While each mom wants to know more about food quality and nutrition, these women come to the program with unique motivations and points of view.

Kelle

About Me
I'm a single, working mom of one son. I go to school, work and am very active in my son's school and church. When I have free time, I enjoy hand dancing (a form of swing) and line dancing.

So far, the best thing about being a mom is the unconditional love you receive from your children. No matter how angry I get at my son, and even when he does something that disappoints me, he always comes back minutes later to apologize and will crawl under my arms for a hug and to express his love. It's very touching.

My Children
One son, age 6

Favorite Time of Day
My favorite time of day is the evening. I enjoy watching the sun go down and feeling the cool breeze. It puts me in a relaxed mood.

Favorite Quality Time as a Family
One of my favorite quality times as a family is sitting back, having popcorn and watching a movie.

Favorite Food
Wow! This is a hard one...I LOVE food. Out of my many favorites, I guess I'll have to say either a seafood buffet or prime rib cooked medium, with horseradish, baked potato and a mixed greens salad with dried cranberries, tomato and cucumber. Oh, and don't forget the vinaigrette dressing! Yum!

Videos
Photos
Journals

Visit With Local McDonald's Restaurant Franchisee

Part Two: Tour of local McDonald's bakery

The tour of Northeast Foods, McDonald’s® baked goods supplier, was very interesting. I was most amazed that a fast food chain as large and popular as McDonald’s would be working off the original “hand-shake” agreement made years ago and not a formal written contract.

The innovation in the factory was also breathtaking. To only see about 8 people on the floor and yet they are producing tens of thousands of buns daily really shows how far technology has come. To know now how much concentration McDonald’s puts into the quality and safety of their food definitely puts them at the top of my list when it comes to fast food chains. To know that they actually have all the buns go through a metal detector just prior to packaging to ensure that no fragments/parts of the machine (or from anywhere else) have fallen into the buns definitely gave me a sense of security. It’s those little things that you never think about that are yet so big.

My favorite part of the tour was seeing the buns actually go through the quality checks. The conveyor belt is equipped with computer software that actually has all of McDonald’s components and standards required of the product installed. It was intriguing to see the computer actually reject buns off the conveyor belt and toss them into a trash-like bin. These buns can be rejected for something as small as it not being moist enough. We even purposely flawed a few just to see if it would kick it out in the end…and it did!

I have definitely learned so far that McDonald’s is dedicated to quality and food safety. These are two areas that I never really zeroed in on prior to this experience. I’m sure even with us currently at war the average mom isn’t thinking as they go through the drive thru “Umm, I wonder if my food has gone through a metal detector”. My priority has always been focused on nutritional values and cleanliness. They are all equally important and go hand in hand. Without one you can’t have the others. I now know my food is safe at McDonald’s!

Kelle
McDonald's Quality Correspondent