Extortionate cost of beefburgers

jimintoronto said:
Outback in Canada went under a few years ago. Over priced themselves out of the country. Harvey's is a national brand in Canada, with prices that run from $4.99 to $7.99 depending on what you order with the burger. Alberta beef, and Canadian grown PEI Russet potatoes for the fries. 5 Guys are having a hard time in Canada, because their prices are 2 to 3 times what Harvey's charges for a burger, fries and a drink. 5 Guys will be the next ones to cut and run back to the USA, I predict. Target in Canada only lasted about 2 years, before they declared bankruptcy here. See a pattern here ? American retailers THINK they can just "move up to Canada " and everything will be just like back home. Not really..........JImB.
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Better dead than red. :) You started it
 

jimintoronto said:
Ponderosa bought their meat from suppliers in Australia, and had it shipped to Canada on refrigerated cargo ships. It was cheap, and lets say the processing to make it "tender " was not something most of their customers would have wanted to see. Mechanical tenderisers and lots of MSG powder. JimB.
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šŸ˜±They purchased their meat from Australia ?
Ok that IS surprising and I really wouldnā€™t want to know how the meat is tenderized but itā€™s no wonder it left such thirst afterwards. Same with Swiss Chalet. That mono sodium glutamate stuff truly isnā€™t good for consumption. Sure it makes food tastes better but at a regrettable cost.

How did you find out all this info?
 
JustDave said:
My cousin and his parents lived in Elmhurst, so our family visited there often. In my mid to late teens, I would ride my bike from Berwyn to Elmhurst to hang with my cousin. I can't remember where he lived in Elmhust, other than he was near a large cemetery with a pond. Looking at my map guide, I'm thinking it was a 12 mile bike ride, which seemed rather long back then. My current map route uses the Express way, which was not there back then. I moved to Montana when I was 17. My cousin and his wife now live in the same house he did back then. We have lost touch over the years, but my Sister who still lives in Berwyn keeps me updated on family. My cousin has become quite private, and retreated from family. I doubt I will see him again.
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It was probably Elm Lawn cemetery. If your cousin lived around there, I don't blame him for staying in the house. It's probably worth $500,000 - $1M about now.

But this is taking the thread way off track. Sorry. I'll stop now.
 

RadishRose said:
I never buy fast food hamburgers or fries, etc.
Now and then I'll buy some ground chuck if it's on sale and form my own patties to freeze.

To tell the truth, I don't much care for ground beef anymore. I hate what some people call "browned hamburger meat" when it's really only boiled in it's own juice and gray-looking. I stopped making "chili" this way years ago.
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I rarely eat ground beef, despite my pleas my wife buys it, hoping I'll make hamburgers. To me, ground beef is just a disgusting blob of ground up cow parts, lotsa fat and god-knows how much bacteria and whatever chemicals. :sick:
 
PeppermintPatty said:
šŸ˜±They purchased their meat from Australia ?
Ok that IS surprising and I really wouldnā€™t want to know how the meat is tenderized but itā€™s no wonder it left such thirst afterwards. Same with Swiss Chalet. That mono sodium glutamate stuff truly isnā€™t good for consumption. Sure it makes food tastes better but at a regrettable cost.

How did you find out all this info?
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I worked as a Private Investigator for about 20 years here in Ontario. Some of our corporate customers were big food producers. CARA was one of them, so was Air Canada. Our company did investigations of employee fraud, internal theft, and Worker's Comp fraudulent claims. Ford Canada, we did vehicle locations for their BUDGET rent a car division, when people decided to keep on driving the car, but not pay for it. Canadian Tire, we did theft investigations of employees, and their truck drivers. CIBC we did back ground checks on perspective executive hires, and sometimes asset evaluations, where a senior employee appeared to be " living beyond their income levels ". The Brick was one of our first clients when the company was first started.

The owner had been a Peel Region Police officer, who was badly wounded in a bungled bank robbery shoot out. He took early retirement, and I was his first employee. He had the company license, and the contacts, I was the eager guy with the camera skills, and the willingness to work all day and all night, too. This was in the late 1980's, when the economy was in big trouble, and we had a lot of work coming in to the office. We hired 5 people in one month, to try to keep up with the work load. Some were OK, others didn't last beyond 6 weeks. It was/still is......Hard to find people who are self directed, who can think on their feet, and pay attention to details. It's NOT LIKE TV. JimB.
 
Nathan said:
I rarely eat ground beef, despite my pleas my wife buys it, hoping I'll make hamburgers. To me, ground beef is just a disgusting blob of ground up cow parts, lotsa fat and god-knows how much bacteria and whatever chemicals. :sick:
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Standing up for Mrs. Nathan here... everyone needs a good juicy burger once in a while. Can't ya surprise her just once... you don't have to have any. šŸ˜Š šŸ” (Alternative would be taking her out somewhere that has burgers plus chicken or fish or whatever for you?) Yeah, I know, I'm just an ol' romantic, but golly, a girl who's craving a burger should have a burger!
 
jimintoronto said:
I worked as a Private Investigator for about 20 years here in Ontario. Some of our corporate customers were big food producers. CARA was one of them, so was Air Canada. Our company did investigations of employee fraud, internal theft, and Worker's Comp fraudulent claims. Ford Canada, we did vehicle locations for their BUDGET rent a car division, when people decided to keep on driving the car, but not pay for it. Canadian Tire, we did theft investigations of employees, and their truck drivers. CIBC we did back ground checks on perspective executive hires, and sometimes asset evaluations, where a senior employee appeared to be " living beyond their income levels ". The Brick was one of our first clients when the company was first started.

The owner had been a Peel Region Police officer, who was badly wounded in a bungled bank robbery shoot out. He took early retirement, and I was his first employee. He had the company license, and the contacts, I was the eager guy with the camera skills, and the willingness to work all day and all night, too. This was in the late 1980's, when the economy was in big trouble, and we had a lot of work coming in to the office. We hired 5 people in one month, to try to keep up with the work load. Some were OK, others didn't last beyond 6 weeks. It was/still is......Hard to find people who are self directed, who can think on their feet, and pay attention to details. It's NOT LIKE TV. JimB.
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Well youā€™ve had some very interesting jobs in your life. Youā€™re obviously a very invested employee. This sounds like interesting work.
Did you ever worry about being a professional nark? I suppose if you worked as a group your identity was covered?
 
CallMeKate said:
Standing up for Mrs. Nathan here... everyone needs a good juicy burger once in a while. Can't ya surprise her just once... you don't have to have any. šŸ˜Š šŸ” (Alternative would be taking her out somewhere that has burgers plus chicken or fish or whatever for you?) Yeah, I know, I'm just an ol' romantic, but golly, a girl who's craving a burger should have a burger!
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Iā€™ve got to agree. Nobody should get in the way between a woman and the food sheā€™s craving.
 
jimintoronto said:
I was talking about the Canadian company, Harvey's who opened their first location in Toronto in 1964. Harvey's, Tim Horten's, Swiss Chalet, Montana's, Milestones, and Canadian Burger King are ALL owned in Canada by Brands International, a Brazilian corporation. Harvey's has never had locations in the USA, only in Canada. Perhaps you are recalling a US company with a similar name ? BTW, A&W Canada is a completely different company, from the US A&W company. JImB.
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Apparently, I am.

It was a Mom & Pop burger joint that served really great burgers through a window, and then you ate your order outside or carried it home. They added an indoor dining area in the 70s, about 20yrs after they first opened.

They'd probably never heard of Canada's Harvey's, either.

Interesting about Canada A&W. I remember when US A&W Corp took over another old burger restaurant called Frosty's, and much later they partnered with a few Dairy Queens and then Burger King....just trying to stay alive (because, Coke).
 
Murrmurr said:
Apparently, I am.

It was a Mom & Pop burger joint that served really great burgers through a window, and then you ate your order outside or carried it home. They added an indoor dining area in the 70s, about 20yrs after they first opened.

They'd probably never heard of Canada's Harvey's, either.

Interesting about Canada A&W. I remember when US A&W Corp took over another old burger restaurant called Frosty's, and much later they partnered with a few Dairy Queens and then Burger King....just trying to stay alive (because, Coke).
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Yes in 1975, the Canadian A&W franchise owners and many of their employees bought the rights to the company from the USA owners. A further bit of fast food trivia, that you may not know....

When Harlen Sanders sold KFC to a US conglomorate, he RETAINED the ownership of the Canadian side of the business. He spent the last 18 years of his life living in a suburb of Toronto in a modest 3 bedroom bungaloe. Mister Sanders was a big supporter of the Mississauga Hospital, which was only about 3 miles from his home. The Harlen Sanders Children's Wing ( otherwise known as The Chicken Wing ) is very much a part of that hospital, today.https://www.kfc.ca/our-story

Learn something new, every day, right ? JimB.
 
Nathan said:
I rarely eat ground beef, despite my pleas my wife buys it, hoping I'll make hamburgers. To me, ground beef is just a disgusting blob of ground up cow parts, lotsa fat and god-knows how much bacteria and whatever chemicals. :sick:
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Ground beef goes through a sterilization process that includes at least 2 chemical baths.

So it's sterile, but those baths apparently also wash away a lot of the flavor.
 
jimintoronto said:
Yes in 1975, the Canadian A&W franchise owners and many of their employees bought the rights to the company from the USA owners. A further bit of fast food trivia, that you may not know....

When Harlen Sanders sold KFC to a US conglomorate, he RETAINED the ownership of the Canadian side of the business. He spent the last 18 years of his life living in a suburb of Toronto in a modest 3 bedroom bungaloe. Mister Sanders was a big supporter of the Mississauga Hospital, which was only about 3 miles from his home. The Harlen Sanders Children's Wing ( otherwise known as The Chicken Wing ) is very much a part of that hospital, today.https://www.kfc.ca/our-story

Learn something new, every day, right ? JimB.
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Actually, I did know about Sander's generosity toward that hospital, and the Children's Wing and his visits there in his white suit and all that.

McDonald's Corp. swiped his idea, creating McDonald's House, a *fun* hotel where families of children being treated for cancer can stay for free. And they never gave a nod to Sanders; never even mentioned him. Acted like this was entirely the clown's idea.
 
horseless carriage said:
A spot check of eight different fast food places and found their burgers contained as little as two percent actual meat. The rest was made up of mostly water, with an unexpected side of blood vessels, nerves, fat, plant material, cartilage, and bone.

The sodium nitrite in burgers is used as a colouring agent. Research by the Cancer Research Centre of Hawaii and the University of Southern California found that the risk of pancreatic cancer was 67 percent higher for those consuming the most processed meats.

Ammonia is used to kill off pathogens found in the meat. According to a study on rats in Cancer Research, there is a connection between this chemical and colon cancer.

Preservatives have their perks, but what else is sodium benzoate doing besides keeping your meat fresh? According to a study in The Lancet, this chemical can also be affecting your children's energy. Adding sodium nitrite to their diet can result in increased hyperactivity.

If you suffer from asthma, it's in your best interest to avoid sulfites. These preservatives are used to maintain colour and increase shelf life, but a study in Clinical and Experimental Allergy showed that they can trigger an attack in 3 to 10 percent of asthmatics.

Carbon monoxide poisoning prevention has been drilled into us, which is why we all know not to leave our cars running in enclosed spaces. Carbon monoxide is used to bind with meat pigment and keep it looking red and fresh,

If you thought the fat in your burger would only affect your waistline, think again. Turns out, it could also be upping your cancer risk. When a burger is grilled, it becomes a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon. One of these PCA's, is benzopyrene, which can be found in more than just grilled meat. It's also labelled as one of the prime carcinogens in cigarette smoke.

The presence of glycotoxins in burgers, according to researchers at Mount Sinai Medical, are chemicals associated with diabetes, heart disease, and inflammation in general. Heterocyclic amines only make an appearance when you're flipping burgers at temperatures over 300 degrees. Too bad that only happens every time you fire up the grill because a Carcinogenesis study showed that rodents ingesting these chemicals developed breast and colon tumors, as well as leukemia.

All that is before we get to what goes in the bun.
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IMG_0739.jpeg



No sir! Not in MY burgers šŸ”
 
For the past 20 years or so, we buy a side of beef from my friend's dad & a whole hog from his nephew. The Mom & Pop butchers, who only process livestock for private use, will cut to your specs, wrap & then freeze it.

If I need something specifica, I'll go to the retail butcher shop who do their own processing on site from local animals. It may cost more, but it's been processed a few days before you buy it. I'll buy whole pork bellies & we will make our own bacon sometimes. The only thing we may buy from a store is bacon depending on what we may need it for, like wrapping cheese-stuffed jalapenos.
 
We don't eat at any of the burger places anymore. Their grease for fries absolutely kills me stomach & their soft drinks have little fizz & are watery. There is only a few places I'll get a real burger at, & they use fresh meat.

If we are on the road, it's usually a Chick-fil-a, Subway or Penn Station (a sub shop). Sometimes I'll make a lunch, espeically if we are going a long distance & don't want to waste time stopping.
 
While on vacation this July, we stopped at a Wendy's because I wanted to try the Baconator they've been advertising. The Wendy's we stopped at in Illinois, the Baconator meal was over $11.00. We walked out. Bat-crazy prices.
 
Nathan said:
I rarely eat ground beef, despite my pleas my wife buys it, hoping I'll make hamburgers. To me, ground beef is just a disgusting blob of ground up cow parts, lotsa fat and god-knows how much bacteria and whatever chemicals. :sick:
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Yes, and to try to avoid Mad Cow, I buy single cuts of beef and grind it. Parts and pieces of dozens of cows might be contained in a of batch of hamburger. Also: milk= cow pus.
 
jimintoronto said:
I am going to give you the opportunity to explain the intent of your words to me. Use short simple words that I can understand, OK ? Are you suggesting that Canada is some kind of non democracy ? JimB.
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:) lol, I want no gifts or opportunities from the likes of you, jimintoronto. Take my words any way you wish, take them with poison for all I care, but I will explain. *IF* you do not like my countrymen, *THEN* I do not like you either.
 
Myrtle said:
I only have one thing to say about beef burgers and that's fresh, never frozen!
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Why? I donā€™t believe this for one minute.
Kirkland burgers are sold frozen. They are sirloin tip beef from grass fed cows and the best burgers Iā€™ve ever had. ( except for one fillet mignon ) I had fresh from a farm in Edmonton when I lived there.

Most burgers are sold frozen.

If we purchased them fresh, we wouldnā€™t be able to eat 18 burgers all at once before they went bad and most families donā€™t eat 18 burgers at once either.

Even those that purchase 1/2 a cow at a time freeze most of it
 
Here is a picture of a freshly grilled 1/3 pound grass fed lean sirloin beef patty thatā€™s been previously frozen. All for a few dollars. ( Canadian )

I should have taken the photo of the patty in front but didnā€™t think about it until it was eaten. Lol Itā€™s GOOD! IMG_0746.jpeg
 

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