[lettie]

I tend to avoid all of these fast food places like the plague and doubt that I'll ever visit the local Subway. McDonalds is dire... My sister worked in one for several years whilst she was at Uni and became quite senior for a part timer. Some of the stories she used to tell about McD's would not surprise you.....yes they were clean, but that's about all. KFC is horrible and greasy and the last time I had a Sub (in New Zealand) it was fairly tasteless.

We have loads of independant local bakeries and butty shops, many of which do use fresh ingredients, bake their own breads, pies etc. In my opinion these places are far superior to the fast food chains both in quality and taste. The only problem with the chains is that they tend to advertise 'fresh' ingredients. Anyone with a couple of brain cells knows that there is a difference between fresh (made from scratch on the day) and fresh frozen (made a couple of weeks ago and heated or baked when required). The 'fresh' referred to by the chains is generally 'fresh frozen.' This also applies to pub chains eg Brewers Fayre where all of the meals are delivered frozen to the pubs then microwaved as they're ordered.

Give me a tasty independant establishment anyday.... they win hands down in my opinion. I love and appreciate good food and find it difficult to believe that millions of supposedly sensible people have been conned into thinking that fast food chains are actually good..