McDonald's is changing the way it makes its Quarter Pounder burgers in a big way.
The fast food titan's USA branch announced today that by mid-2018, the majority of American McDonald's locations will be selling Quarter Pounders made with fresh beef, cooked to order.
While the company claims that its beef already doesn't contain fillers, additives, or preservatives, it was using frozen beef beforehand. The new fresh beef puts the meat in its quarter pound offerings into the same category as Wendy's and In N Out, both of which already use fresh beef across their entire menu.
The beef also follows successful testing of the fresh, made-to-order burgers in 400 locations across the Dallas/Fort Worth area of Texas and around Tulsa, Oklahoma. One McDonald's franchisee is quoted as the test generating "overwhelming positive feedback," which likely led to the conclusion to deem the fresh beef worthy enough to go nationwide.
All of this is the latest in McDonald's continuing efforts to be perceived as a cleaner, healthier fast food chain. They've already removed antibiotics from their chicken, high fructose corn syrup from their buns, and artificial preservatives from their McNuggets in just the past year alone.
McDonald's USA President Chris Kempczinski calls this next step to go fresh in their quarter-pound beef patties part of a "continuing food journey" for the chain.
"Over the last two years, we have accelerated the pace of change around how we source and serve our food. Delivering fresh beef that’s prepared when our customers order their food is just another example of how we are raising the bar. We’re just getting started, and can’t wait to show you what’s next."
We're definitely looking forward to what else McDonald's will have in store for us, and can't wait to see what the fresh beef tastes like.
