04 Aug 2016 McDonald’s USA announces big ‘free-from’ changes

McDonald’s USA has announced a number of moves across its menu as the company continues to evolve. This includes:

• Removing artificial preservatives from several items which also don’t have artificial colours or flavours, including its iconic Chicken McNuggets.

  Across its breakfast menu, the pork sausage patties and omelet-style eggs served on McGriddles, Bagel and Biscuit breakfast sandwiches, along with the scrambled eggs on its breakfast platters, also now have no artificial preservatives.

• Rolling out new buns this month that no longer contain high fructose corn syrup, including the buns used on Big Macs, Quarter Pounders, hamburgers and cheeseburgers, Filet-O-Fish and McChicken sandwiches. The Artisan roll introduced in 2015 never contained high fructose corn syrup.
• Completing a major commitment to only serve chicken not treated with antibiotics important to human medicine nearly a year ahead of schedule.

  McDonald’s originally set out to achieve its antibiotics chicken commitment by March 2017. Through a collaborative effort with its suppliers and farmers on a large scale, the company was able to make this change a reality and bring it to its customers nearly a year ahead of schedule.

In total, these changes affect ingredients in nearly half of the food on McDonald’s menu.

“More than ever, people care about their food – where it comes from, what goes into it and how it’s prepared,” said Mike Andres, president, McDonald’s USA.

“We’re making changes to ensure the food we’re proud of is food our customers love and feel good eating, and we remain committed to our continuing food journey at McDonald’s.”

These changes are the latest in a series of actions McDonald’s has taken across its restaurants and kitchens, such as:

• Making an industry leading commitment in September 2015 to source 100% cage-free eggs by 2025 in the US and Canada. According to the Humane Society of the US, more than 100 companies have since announced their commitments to do the same, showing positive impact across the industry.
• Refreshing McDonald’s premium salad blend in June 2015 by replacing iceberg lettuce with fresh romaine, baby spinach and baby kale, and making further enhancements in June 2016 with the addition of Tuscan red leaf lettuce and ribbon-cut carrot curls. The freshly prepared Premium Salads offer at least 2.5 cups of vegetables.
• Revitalising its classic Egg McMuffin, moving from margarine to 100% real butter, and continuing to serve a fresh cracked Grade A egg at the centre of it all.
• Sourcing milk in its low fat milk jugs and Go-GURT low fat yogurt from cows not treated with rbST, an artificial growth hormone.

Source: McDonald’s USA, see more here