British McDonald's fans gobsmacked at difference in American and UK ingredients
We all love a cheeky McDonald's, but what goes into making their iconic burgers might surprise you.
McDonald's was founded in 1940 in California, USA, and the fast food chain has since become a worldwide sensation with restaurants in 120 countries - including, obviously, the UK. If you've ever compared the UK McDonald's menu with one in the US, you'll probably have noticed they look fairly similar, as they both contain the same burgers, fries, and chicken nuggets.
But if you look closer, you'll notice there are some big differences between the ingredients used in the UK and those used across the pond in the US - and they might just make your jaw drop.
The number of calories in some of the classic items, as well as the sugar, salt, and saturated fat contents, can vary dramatically between the two menus, and Brits have been left gobsmacked after realising the differences.
Let's start by looking at the most iconic item on the Maccies menu, the Big Mac. In the UK, you're looking at a total of 493 calories, 8.8g of saturated fat, 2.2g of salt, and 9.4g of sugar every time you tuck into one of the mighty burgers. But if you were to order the same menu item in the US, you'd be consuming almost 100 calories more, with the US Big Mac coming in at 590 calories. There's also 11g of saturated fat, 2.6g of salt, and 9g of sugar.
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And it's a similar story with the chicken burgers too, the Metro reports. The McSpicy - which will get an upgrade this week when it collaborates with Frank's RedHot sauce - has 437 calories in the UK, while the US equivalent, known as a Spicy McCrispy, has 530.
A regular McCrispy in the UK, however, actually has more calories than the US version, with 484 versus 470. That's not the only menu item where the UK has more calories either - a medium portion of fries in the UK has 337 calories compared to the US' serving which has 320, and a UK portion of six McNuggets has 261 while the same product in the US has 250.
But it's not just the nutritional information in food that varies dramatically on each side of the Atlantic, as the drinks menu looks very different too. However, drink sizes between the US and the UK are also different - with a small cup in the UK measuring 250ml, and a small one in the US being around 16oz, which is 454ml.
That being said, a small vanilla milkshake in the UK will see you consume 192 calories, while a US small has a staggering 480 - exactly 2.5 times as many as the UK version. The cup size difference is less than two times, however, so the US version has more calories even with the size difference taken into account.
Out of the 22 menu items compared by The Metro, McDonald's in the US consistently had more calories, as only five menu items - fries, hamburger, McCrispy, McNuggets, and apple pie - had more calories in the UK versions.
According to the NHS, the recommended daily calorie intake for men is 2,500, and for women is 2,000.
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