McDonald's is changing the ingredients it uses in its most popular burgers

18 April 2023 , 15:58

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The ingredient changes affect all 14,000 American restaurants (stock photo) (Image: NurPhoto via Getty Images)

McDonald's is changing the ingredients it uses to make its burgers - but promises they'll taste better for it.

The fast-food chain has removed artificial preservatives, artificial flavours and added colours from artificial sources used in its burgers.

This means its hamburger, cheeseburger, double cheeseburger, McDouble, quarter pounder with cheese, double quarter pounder with cheese and Big Mac will all have a new taste.

These ingredient changes affect all 14,000 American restaurants, as the company strives to "help customers feel good about the food they're enjoying".

Chris Kempczinski, McDonald's USA president said: "From switching to 100 percent fresh beef* in our quarter-pound burgers, cooked right when ordered, to removing artificial preservatives in our chicken McNuggets, and committing to cage-free eggs by 2025, we have made significant strides in evolving the quality of our food.

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"We know quality choices are important to our customers, and this latest positive change to our classic burgers demonstrates our committed journey to leading with the customer and building a better McDonald’s."

To achieve this change, artificial preservatives were removed from McDonald’s real American cheese, Big Mac special sauce, the regular bun, the quarter pounder bun (also known as the sesame seed bun), and the Big Mac bun.

Linda VanGosen, McDonald’s vice president of menu innovation said: "We understand that now more than ever, people care about their food – where it comes from, what goes into it and how it is prepared – and we are committed to make changes to our menu our guests feel good about."

In 2020, McDonald's started sustainably sourcing all McCafé coffee, and aims to transition to cage-free eggs in US and Canada by 2025.

The chain has also committed to sourcing a portion of its beef from its top 10 beef-sourcing countries from suppliers participating in sustainability programs aligned with the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef principles and criteria.

Paige Freshwater