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I don’t think it is MacDonald’s, or other fast food outlets as such, because at least, if the customer is interested, they can tell you their ingredients exactly. In fact MacD’s can be a godsend to food allergy sufferers because they will happily tailor their menu to fit. I blame the supermarkets because they put all sorts of unnecessary additional ingredients even in their food to cook ‘from scratch’. Trying to buy a plain raw chicken to cook at home can be a challenge! And the tiny print is not designed to help the discerning customer. I have recently become aware of how often maize/corn is a hidden ingredient in many foods, which you would not expect to contain it, such as fruit-juice from concentrate. Received wisdom is that those who are trying to stretch a budget can safely buy such juice because it just has the water taken out, in the country of origin, then added back in when it arrives where it is to be sold. My research shows that corn/corn derived products are also added. Those who try to eat less sugar by buying e.g. jam made with fruit juice rather than sugar will find themselves eating far more corn, which may be GM, than they intended. then there are all the ‘low-fat’ products where the fat has been replaced by sugar in one form or another – again often either lactose or corn derived oligo-fructose/HFCS.
Many more families in Western non-English-speaking countries cook from scratch than is the case here. Even ready-made mayo contains maize, as well as sugar, neither of which you would put in if you were cooking from scratch. Those who live in English speaking countries, need to overhaul their diet, on the whole, so that they understand exactly what they are eating.