What’s really in a McDonald’s hamburger?
2012
Want a juicy, hamburger? Maybe a cheeseburger… with a 100% beef patty that’s seasoned with a pinch of salt and pepper, topped with melty cheese, tangy pickles, minced onions, and (of course) ketchup and mustard? Sounds pretty good, right? This is how the McDonad’s hamburger is advertised. Sounds simple enough. And from a real food perspective, it sounds… well, real. But what’s really is in a McDonald’s hamburger?
Ah, I’m glad you asked.
The McDonald’s hamburger deconstructed
A quick look at their nutritional information shows a fairly harmless ingredient list:
- 100% beef patty
- regular bun
- pastuerized process American cheese
- ketchup
- mustard
- pickle slices
- onions
Despite what many Americans think, I don’t see hamburgers as the typical “junk food” villain. Under the right circumstances I am totally game for a real hamburger. And by “real” I mean that the beef is grass-fed, the cheese isn’t processed, the bun is sourdough or sprouted, and the condiments are not full of nasty stuff.
Not too surprising, but the McDonald’s hamburger isn’t quite so real. In fact, you have to scroll down their 30 page nutritional information guide to get the whole scary truth.
Let’s get to it, shall we?
Ingredients for a McDonald’s Hamburger:
100% Beef Patty:
Ingredients: 100% pure USDA inspected beef; no fillers, no extenders. Prepared with grill seasoning (salt, black pepper).
Thankfully, McDonald’s and several other chains recently stopped using the “pink slime” in their beef. But the vast majority of fast food beef comes from CAFO (concentrated agricultural feeding operation) cows. Not only is this horrible for the animals and the environment, but eating meat from sick animals will only make you sick. Eat a McDonald’s hamburger and you might be getting a mouth full of antibiotics, hormones, and dangerous bacteria.
Regular Bun:
Ingredients: Enriched flour (bleached wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), water, high fructose corn syrup and/or sugar, yeast, soybean oil and/or canola oil, contains 2% or less of the following: salt, wheat gluten, calcium sulfate, calcium carbonate, ammonium sulfate, ammonium chloride, dough conditioners (may contain one or more of the following: sodium stearoyl lactylate, datem, ascorbic acid, azodicarbonamide, mono- and diglycerides, ethoxylated monoglycerides, monocalcium phosphate, enzymes, guar gum, calcium peroxide), sorbic acid, calcium propionate and/or sodium propionate (preservatives), soy lecithin.
Oh boy. Where do I start? How about we just look at the length of this ingredient list. All of this for a bun? Did you know you can make your own bread using just flour, salt, and water? Seriously. The extra 20 – 30 ingredients here is stuff your body doesn’t need.
Lets look at just a few of the above ingredients:
- Ammonium chloride… sounds tasty right? Did you know it is also an ingredient in fireworks, safety matches and contact explosives? Eat up.
- Ammonium sulfate is used most commonly as an artificial fertilizer for alkaline soils. It’s also in flame retardant materials. Ammonium sulfate activates yeast, so it helps to get industrially produced bread to rise.
- The soybean and/or canola oil used here are most likely GMO. They are also foods I generally avoid for a number of reasons.
- The high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), despite the desperate marketing strategies to persuade otherwise, is not natural. And because it’s in so much of our processed foods, not only is it hard to avoid, but it can be doing major damage to your health.
- “Enriched” flour sounds harmless enough. But “enriched” just means that all the nutrition was taken out in the first place. Refined flours are also hard for your body to digest, even before the mess of chemicals are added to it.
I can’t even get through this whole list. But I think you get the point. Nothing really healthy or real here.
Ketchup:
Ingredients: Tomato concentrate from red ripe tomatoes, distilled vinegar, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, water, salt, natural flavors (vegetable source)
As if HFCS isn’t enough… let’s add some regular corn syrup to the mix! Not to mention that most corn is GMO. Did you know that recently the first long term study on the effects of GMO was released? You can find it here. The part that should freak you out: Massive tumors in rats who are fed GMO corn for two years. What do I mean by massive? Check this out:
That’s after two years. GMOs have been in our market for 20.
Let’s talk about the “natural flavors.” What does that really mean? For me it means “don’t eat.” The term “natural flavors” can be used for a number of not-so-natural and definitely not-so-healthy ingredients including things like MSG, Aspartame and bugs (yes, bugs).
Mustard:
Ingredients: Distilled vinegar, water, mustard seed, salt, turmeric, paprika, spice extractive.
Okay, these look familiar. Except maybe “spice extractive.” What does that mean? Could be a number of things… a little “iffy” for sure.
Pasteurized Process American Cheese:
Ingredients: Milk, water, milkfat, cheese culture, sodium citrate, salt, citric acid, sorbic acid (preservative), sodium phosphate, color added, lactic acid, acetic acid, enzymes, soy lecithin (added for slice separation)
Let’s just start with the name. I mean, come on. Cheese is milk’s chance for immortality and “pasteurized process American cheese” just sounds nasty.
Why are we messing with something so good? Pasteurization kills living enzymes. Although in this case it’s probably good since it can also kill the bad stuff that comes from milk from sick cows in horrific factories.
With all the added colors, preservatives, and other “goodies” I think I’ll skip the cheeseburger.
Pickle Slices:
Ingredients: Cucumbers, water, distilled vinegar, salt, calcium chloride, alum, potassium sorbate (preservative), natural flavors (plant source), polysorbate 80, extractives of turmeric (color)
Another handful of chemicals. Let’s just highlight the polysorbate 80 for a moment. In general this chemical is considered safe and well tolerated. Although a small number of people may be sensitive to it, and it may be harmful to people with Crohn’s disease. (But don’t worry, that only affects between 400,000 and 600,000 people in North America. Ouch.)
Onions:
Ingredients: Chopped onions.
Finally. An ingredient list I can get behind. Of course, I prefer my veggies organic (locally grown is even better) to avoid pesticides. But so far the onions are your safest bet.
So… what’s the verdict about the ingredients of a McDonald’s hamburger?
Well for an ingredient list with 50+ questionable items… I think I’ll pass on the McDonad’s hamburger. Forever. And before you think I have something against McDonald’s, realize that this list will look very similar for any fast food hamburger.
Remember, food is what helps your body thrive. Feed your body sick food and guess how you’ll end up? Sick.
Ultimately, however, it’s not McDonald’s we should be mad at. Nobody is forcing us to eat this garbage. What we need is to help educate people and let them know what they are putting in their bodies. I think Joel Salatin says it well:
Help empower people with information to make better choices. Share what you know. Being willing to change. Your body will thank you.
Looking for quality real food ingredients? Be sure to the check out the Village Green Marketplace!
(Image Source 1, 2, 3)
This post is part of Monday Mania, Make Your Own Monday, Fat Tuesday, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, Scratch Cookin’ Tuesday, Healthy 2Day Wednesday, Whole Foods Wednesday, Real Food Wednesday, Keep it Real Thursday, Freaky Friday, Fill Those Jars Friday, Eat, Make, Grow Thursday, Fresh Foods Wednesday, Fight Back Friday, and Sunday School.
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All I can say is Wow,I’m glad I don’t eat McDonald’s!
Me, too! I’ve never really been a fan of McDonald’s but during my college years I totally hit up Wendy’s way more than I should. And I’m pretty sure I was getting just as much garbage. *shudder*
I remember going to Wendy’s too. A lot. With you! Blech! We’ve come so far
*pats on backs*
I know, right? Wow… it’s crazy to think how many times we walked over there. And awesome to think how long it’s been since I’ve been inside one now. Yay for us!
Lmao yaaayy for us. Wendy’s is amazing
macwhat? oh THAT hole! – i have conditioned my daughter to consider the golden arches a den of iniquitous poison sellers!
good blog – but tell you what – how bout you go after Whole Foods GMO products next?
WHOLE FOODS CAUGHT IN THE ACT OF HIGHLY DECEPTIVE MARKETING! http://daiasolgaia.com/?p=4535
Ha ha… “den of iniquitous poison sellers.” Sounds about right.
Shame about Whole Foods. We don’t actually have one near by so I have very little to do with them. It’s so hard when our supposed “health” stores are still selling garbage. You really got to do your homework to know what’s good.
Thanks for stopping by, Ravi.
I totally agree ! Kid killer!!
And adult killer, too.
Love it, Robin. My son always asks, “When can we go to McDonalds? Oh, wait, I know. . . NEVER.” Ha ha! He would love to go, but knows that I do not like that place.
Or any fast food for that matter. . .
Ah, thanks Jamie. Love your son’s response. Smart kid. Even smart mom.
Great article Robin! Thank you for deconstructing the McDonald’s hamburger and reminding me why I stay away from all fast food. Voting with my dollars could not be easier when I think of all these toxic ingredients!
Thanks, Betsy! Sometimes it’s good for the reminder… especially when life gets hectic and it would be so much “easier” to just grab some fake food on the go.
Great post — although had to skip fast past those mice pics. And while we all know those buns are chock full of garbage, this makes me even more glad that I’ve been more committed to making our own buns instead of purchasing them.
Thanks, Denise! I totally agree. It’s really not that hard to make your own buns, and it’s so much better for you. Thankfully, for those who are super busy there are much better store-bought alternatives… but you really got to read the ingredient list.
I developed a real interest in nutrition partly as a result of getting hugely sick from eating at Burger King every lunch for about 3 months straight on my first real job many years ago … realized something was really wrong with my diet, imagine that
Great wake up call, kinda like Morgan Spurlock’s experience, LOL! Thanks for sharing this with us at Scratch Cookin’ Tuesday!
Ha ha! Yeah, I think many of us “real foodies” came here after some not-so-good wake up calls. Thanks for stopping by.
I am with you all the way! Your biggest cheerleader! Keep sharing! Thanks for sharing with us at Healthy 2Day Wednesdays!
I look at the lists of ingredients on all of the processed fast food AND food you find in the store and cringe. I cant believe I used to eat all that! No wonder I got so sick.
I know. Sometimes it blows my mind to think back to where I used to be. But usually it just makes me really happy to be where I now am and the path of progress.
People love to poke at the big guys. It’s not a McDonalds thing. IT most all food in the US, I get tired of people blaming McDonalds for everything. Go buy a bottle of ketchup at the grocery store, it has the same ingredients. Go buy normal meat it comes from the same type of producers. Bread, why do you think you can keep a loaf on your counter for a week and not have it go bad, it has the same garbage in it. Unless people really take personal responsibility for what they eat, they will still be eating this crap even if they never set foot in any fast food restaurant. I live overseas and was home in the US this past summer.I was amazed at what American people did not know about their food supply. The number of people that told me that America has the strictest standards was appalling. So many foods that are not allowed in any other country because they are not safe are on the shelves all over America.
I totally agree, Barbara! That’s why I made the point at the end that it’s not just McDonald’s… it’s about empowering people with information to make better choices. With the upcoming election, I’m hoping more people will spread the word about proposition 37 in California because we do have a right to know what’s in our food.
Well said! Whole foods and a commitment to read labels and moderate things is the only way to go. Portion control is overlooked too and our kids need that knowledge with the size of a meal increasing 70% in 4 decades. It’s not McDonald’s fault it’s the consumers eating themselves blindly into an early grave. McDonald’s is awful when it comes to how they treat animals and pay farmers. It’s the same bullying tactics Walmart uses when closing out other stores and products. Vlassic pickles and glad Tupperware were destroyed by walmarts demands. We need to educate ourselves and buy locally. One person at a time we can become a smarter and healthier population.
Amen!
Oh yuck. I haven’t eaten at a Micky D’s or any other fast food chain in a few years. Thanks for the reminder of why I should never eat there even as a last resort. Blech! I think I’d rather starve.
Ha ha! I know exactly what you mean.
Thank you for your submission on Nourishing Treasures’ Make Your Own! Monday link-up.
Check back tomorrow when the new link-up is running to see if you were one of the top 3 featured posts!
McDonalds is not the only chain that does this. Pretty much all of them do. Not that I condone it, but one of the reasons this happens is because consumers demand cheap, fast food. And the manufacturers think that using these chemicals is the only way to do it.
Totally agree. As I mentioned in the post, I think it’s not about “ratting” out on particular fast food chain, but getting people to realize what’s in these foods so they can start demanding better stuff. Like you said, if people stop buying the crap the big guys will stop making it.
You’re Paleo. Why are bugs unhealthy? You eat shrimp, don’t you? (Assuming no allergy.)
Although, honestly, I don’t believe McD’s claim that their patties are all-beef. Can’t be. I’ve tried the eating a burger without a bun thing at their establishment and it is not at all satisfactory. Whereas I’ve had them at Wendy’s and that turned out a lot better. I don’t know what the difference is, maybe fat content, but I don’t like it one bit. If I eat a quarter-pound of beef and am still hungry, something is *wrong.*
Ha, ha! Yes, Dana. I actually don’t have a problem with the idea of eating bugs. (Not actually paleo, but live by many of the same ideas.) But my guess is that the bugs used here are not really “natural” anymore… kind of like the difference between grass-fed beef from local farms and CAFO beef.
Thanks for stopping by!
i adore this post. empowering people with knowledge and information is key to changing the scary bits of the food system. And while I agree with Barbara that we have to look at the entire food system in order to make changes – McDonalds is merely a symbol for food ways gone wrong – I think analyzing that symbol is very important. It starts a discussion. Makes people think. and that, my friend, is worthwhile.
thanks for sharing with us at the Wednesday Fresh Foods Link-up! I hope to see you again this week with more seasonal & whole/real food posts! xo, kristy.
Agreed. McDonald’s is just a representation of what’s happening in most of the industrialized food industry. It’s not about boycotting them, it’s about educating people for real change.
And educate us, you do!!!! Thank you, thank you. I just started this past spring/summer that something was wrong, so I started researching foods and what was in them. UGH!! Big time changing in my life now. I have been sick (diabetic) for 16 yrs, and was never told in all that time about processed foods and such, and was simply told to lose weight, ha, doesn’t work that way, as I have found out (on my own). Through my researching I came across your blog and started following it, and everything I have read from you has backed up my findings. You have a great blog and great posts.Thank you again. Have a great day!!!
Thank, Correna! I appreciate your words. Good luck with your journey toward health. I know I’ve found so much help and support through these online communities. Best wishes!
I recently became a Facebook follower and am now going back through your posts. I want to repost this on my Facebook Wall (“Help empower people with information to make better choices. Share what you know.”)I cannot find anywhere in the post to do that. Am I missing something?
Thanks for stopping by, Tricia! You can share this by using any of the sharing icons at the bottom of the post (just above the “related posts” text).
Hope that helps!
I can’t believe mcdonalds meat is fake im never going to eat mcdonalds
Natural flavors does not necessarily mean something bad. I made jams and breads for sale and I put natural flavors in my list of ingredients so I don’t have to give away my secret ingredients, such as violet or jasmine extract.
It’s very true, Sharon. It’s doesn’t always mean it’s bad… but the problem is you don’t know what’s in there and there are plenty of things I’d personally never want to eat that can still fall under the category “natural flavors.” So it’s tricky, especially when dealing with fast food. (I’m sure your jams and breads are delightful!)
EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW YUM
Thats why I eat BK instead. lol
ekkkkkkkkkkkkk yuk no more mcdonlds for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i think i’ll stick with chick-ful-a
I hate to be the bearer of bad news… chic-fil-a (although tasty) is not any better.
An occasional indulgence is fine, but definitely don’t make it a weekly habit. 
Looked all over the site linked above for the first report on GMOs. Can’t find the report anywhere. I’d really like to read it.
Thanks for pointing that out! I’ll update the link. Here’s the original study: http://research.sustainablefoodtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Final-Paper.pdf And here was the press release I *thought* I had linked to: http://www.carighttoknow.org/new_study
I don’t eat at McD’s any more. Several years ago I got a hamburger there that tasted like the smell of rotten meat, made me vomit. Also the meat does not take like beef I’m not sure what else is in it but it doesn’t taste like beef at all. As for the other fast food places, In N Out has never made me sick or feel funky but then again can’t afford to eat out so I make it at home…at least I know whats in them.
Totally understand the “can’t afford to eat out”… sometimes that makes healthy living easier.
All I can say is Illllll and that I never knew what was is these so called “good hamburgers” I still think their “OKAY” but know I have a couple doubts
I think that the idea of fast food started out good and when I was younger I truly believe they had a product worth eating now all the want to do is get away with the cheap way out and that seems to be the most unhealthy way out and I really think that as the time progresses we will find out the stuff that the fast food industry puts in our bodies is a whole lot of cancer causing chemicals.
Pretty much. :/
In Mark Bitmans How to cook everything there is an awesome easy recipie for bread. It’s called Jin Layhes no work bread.
You people kill me. I’m 55, 5′ 11″, 145 lbs in good health and have eaten McD’s occasionally all my life.
The article maybe accurate, but misleading. Many of the nasty chemicals mentioned are so low, you’d need to 10 burgers a day to have the tumorous effects you so graphically show.
Healthy eating is good, but demonizing or as you put it, deconstructing, is just another biased analysis. Your agenda as it were.
Extoll the virtues without dashing anothers. Live and let live.
The problem, Keven, is that so much of our processed foods are just as bad so that it’s not ridiculous at someone could be eating the equivalent of many burgers a day… Those tumors are from GMO foods which are in 90% of processed foods… so not to far off, actually.
I’m definitely not saying that eating there occasionally will kill you… if you are familiar with this site at all you’ll find that I am pretty balances about not going crazy about “healthy” eating… but weight is not the only factor for being “healthy” as evident by the epidemic of illness that has swept our world since processed food became king.
Weight really is the primary factor associated with the ‘epidemic of illness’ that you observe. Heavily processed and preserved foods hurt because they tend to be calorie-dense and nutritionally poor, but let’s not demonize ‘processed’ foods in general, freezing, pastuerizing, canning, cooking, baking, etc. are all methods of processing food, and though the author of this post dislikes pastuerizing, most can agree that many of the actual processes are largely agreeable.
What processes do you actually find disagreeable?
Additionally, regarding the cancer in rats study, the results aren’t nearly as damning as they are made out to be, I think NPR is a fairly moderate source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/09/19/161424735/as-scientists-question-new-rat-study-gmo-debate-rages-on
When I say “processed” foods I’m talking more generally: Foods full of additives, preservatives, chemicals, rancid vegetable oils, etc. Obviously most food we eat is processed in some way. I’m not against freezing, canning, cooking, or baking of real food. But when I buy bread at the grocery store that has 30+ ingredients something is up because bread at home only takes a couple.
Also, while I agree that we have a weight issue in our society, I personally think that calories are not the end-all evil. In fact, studies have shown that people used to eat more calories than we now do… but they were consuming a lot more fresh foods: vegetables, fruits, and animal products that weren’t full of hormones, disease, etc.
I’m the first to admit that very occasionally we’ll eat out at some “fast food” place. It’s a rare experience, but I don’t stress about it because the remaining 90% of my diet is whole, clean, real food. But I grew up in a very different world. My health has dramatically improved by changing to real foods as opposed to commercial “processed” foods. I still eat hamburgers. Just grass-fed homemade hamburgers on homemade buns. I eat lots of fat. More calories than ever due to more butter, whole milk, etc. But I lost more than 40 lbs, cleared my skin up, reduced cravings, improved energy, etc. There is power in REAL food. That’s the whole point of this article: To help people see that McDonald’s (or the like) isn’t real food… so eat it sparingly.
That’s fair. People were more active too.
I applaud your healthiness, and I don’t fault you for your stance. I just don’t like when people decry ‘processed’ foods, or say something isn’t ‘real’ food. I agree with you about preservatives, many of them are undesirable in foods. Most people don’t care about whether or not their beef is grass fed, but they might raise an eyebrow at the ingredients of that McDonald’s bun, I remember being surprised the first time I read about it. People do care, and we see it in the marketplace, foods proudly display that they have no trans-fats, or that they have X-grams of whole grains, when a decade or so ago nobody seemed to care about those things.
The problem with the buzzwords and catchphrases like ‘real food’ and ‘processed foods’ is that they create confusion and cause loss of credibility. A good message like ‘eat simple foods without extra ingredients/lots of preservatives’ gets further muddled when you suggest that a real burger has to come from grass-fed beef, or when you post rat tumor pictures and reference a dubious study as evidence that GMO’s are bad.
Note, when you clarified about processed foods above, it had nothing to do with the actual processes, and everything to do with the ingredients “additives, preservatives, chemicals, rancid vegetable oils…”
It may not make a difference if you’re already preaching to the choir, but I think you could do more good for promoting healthy living by keeping a balanced tone and being clear about what you’re really against and what you really recommend.
Just my take, an outsider’s perspective.
This shit is nasty!
No use of complaining about something you don’t like unless you do something about it.
COOK YOUR OWN FOOD!
Yes. That’s pretty much the point of this blog.