Chain selling more burgers than ever

Given the bad publicity fast-food outlets have had over the past year or so, we have to admit to being astonished to hear that McDonalds is now selling more burgers than at any point since it came to Britain 34 years ago. In an interview with The Times, the UK chief-executive of the golden arches said: 'This is one of our strongest years for 20 years, and we feel pretty confident about the momentum we have built up.'

Although the government and celebrity chefs such as Jamie Oliver have rarely been out of the headlines, telling parents to ensure that kids eat more healthily – McDonalds recorded more than 88 million visits last year, up 10 million on the previous year. During November, the chain was selling more than 2m Happy Meals every week.

Colin Waine, chairman of the National Obesity Forum, told The Times: 'My reaction is one of despair. There’s been enough publicity about the relentless rise and impact of obesity, but from the figures it seems the public are choosing to ignore them.'

• Why kids prefer McDonalds
• Weening kids off a junk-food diet
• Our Parent-to-parent Talk Forums