McDonalds is gross for other reasons (their employees aside). I worked there briefly as a teen, and I never saw anyone put tea in a mop bucket, although they do put an obnoxious amount of sugar in it. Also, the McRib is nastiest thing that I can remember there, it is one of the grossest menu items that I could never forget. The smell when the sauce is condensed (it does not smell like food), you can't ignore the fumes coming off of those things when they are sitting in/under the heat/warming trays, it is enough to burn the hair out of your nose (it is an intense smell). Also, the shake machine really did break a lot, and it took forever to get it right after having cleaned it (which is why they don't clean it often, or at least the store I worked at didn't to avoid down time). I am dating myself by saying this, but we didn't have a frap machine, so I can't speak to those. The grossest part about McDonalds is how I was told they source their beef by a late family member. He would tell everyone they buy diseased and cancerous cows at low prices, and when questioned about this, the McDonald's take on it was that if it is cooked long enough, it is good enough to eat (not sure what type of McDonalds guy, but likely some sort of rep who buys cows). My great aunt's husband raised cattle in Georgia, and refused to sell to McDonalds, and that was the story he'd tell anyone who would listen (he said he refused to sell to them) and insisted no one ever eat there. I have no idea how long ago that was, because he was my great uncle, and he had been telling that story since before I was born, but I honestly believed him. That man loved his cows, and was very principled.