Questions answered
There are 128 questions about “Suppliers” in the “How do you operate?” topic.
Click on a question to read our answer.
- 46. Who makes the beef patties for the McDonald's in the Netherlands?
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Thanks for your enquiry. However, this website has been set-up by McDonald's UK to deal primarily with questions regarding issues in McDonald's UK restaurants. You can visit www.mcdonalds.com for more information regarding McDonald's restaurants across the world, or why not visit McDonalds Netherlands at www.mcdonalds.nl.
(June 2007)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 47. Is your vegtables and salads grown in England?
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Not entirely. The lettuces, for example, can only be grown in the UK for six months of the year while they are in season. In 2004, this meant McDonald's used nine million heads of lettuce that had been grown on English farmland. By comparison, almost all the potatoes used in the French Fries are from UK farms. McDonald's UK does try to source ingredients locally wherever possible, and last year over 70 percent of McDonald's annual food spend went to suppliers from the British Isles.
(August 2007)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 48. What grade of meat do you use in your burgers? For example, is it free range? Are they ex-dairy cows or specially reared for meat?
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The meat McDonald's uses is 100 percent beef from whole cuts of forequarter and flank. McDonald's only uses beef cattle from British and Irish farms, not ex-dairy cows. ‘Free range’ is not a term used in beef farming but the majority of these animals are reared outdoors and have access to grass and water.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 49. i am doing a school topic and i just wonderd where you got your food from?
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McDonald’s UK makes it a policy to source its ingredients locally wherever possible. Last year over 17,200 British and Irish farmers supplied McDonald’s with ingredients. In fact, over 70 percent of McDonald’s annual food spend is with suppliers from the British Isles. Where ingredients can’t be bought from the UK, McDonald’s tends to buy them from Europe and some from farther afield. You can find more information about where McDonald’s food comes from at www.mcdonalds.co.uk – click on ‘Eat Smart’ and then click on ‘Our Food’.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 50. Does McDonald's buy any food in the UK?
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McDonald's has a policy to source its ingredients locally wherever possible and last year over 17,200 British and Irish farmers supplied McDonald's with ingredients for the menu items. In fact over 70 percent of the annual food spend is with suppliers from the British Isles.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 51. obviously to have proper healthy food from local producers you will have to pay more for it, would you ever consider putting up your prices in order to give people the quality of food that they deserve?
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McDonald's aims to always use good quality ingredients at all times and purchases produce from many farmers in the UK. Good examples of this are beef, pork, potatoes and milk.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 52. is macdonalds meat bought in bulk?
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McDonald's UK is indeed one of the country's largest meat buyers and yes, the company does buy large quantities of beef. Every head of cattle can be traced back to the British or Irish farm and herd from where it came. And McDonald's is very proud of its long and well-established relationships with all of its farmers and meat suppliers.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 53. Once a cow has been slaughtered how long does it take for the meat that it produces to be sold in one of your restaurants?
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The beef will be minced within three to five days of the animal's slaughter. The patties are then quick frozen to lock in the meat quality and within two to three weeks it will be with a restaurant. Patties must be served within three months, but they are usually with a restaurant for approximately one week. Therefore, on average, the time from slaughter to sale should be four to five weeks.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 54. You say that meat can be sourced back to the individual farm / cattle it originated from. And yet you also say due to large scale grinding; there may be meat from more than one animal / farm in any one burger. So; if I eat a burger from a McDonalds and it makes me seriously ill; how would you trace it back to the herd / cow that burger originated from?
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In the extremely unlikely event that a McDonald's burger should make you ill and if it were reported immediately at the time, the company would be able to trace back the patty to the box that was open and in use. This box would have a production code on it that could then be traced all the way back to the batch of meat that was used in the mincing process and, therefore, the source farm. Beef will be delivered from the various abattoirs and will clearly state its farm origin. In most cases, one farm's beef delivery will be minced at the same time. The number of beef animals in a burger was an answer given to a question about how many burgers come from one head of beef.
(June 2007)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 55. You state that chickens reared for egg production are kept for over a year, however as the life span of a chicken is typically 5 to 11 years, what becomes of the chickens once they are no longer considered 'useful'? No generic answers please, I want to know what actually happens to them.
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There is a difference between birds bred to produce eggs and those bred to produce high quality chicken meat for human consumption. In commercial farming terms, the quality and quantity of eggs laid dramatically declines after 72 weeks. These 'layers' (hens bred to produce eggs) are then slaughtered and this meat is used for auxiliary meat products such as pet food. McDonald's only uses quality chicken breast meat from 'broilers' (chickens bred for meat) in its chicken products.
(June 2007)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 56. How is your food produced and manufactured before getting to the restaurant?
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You might like to take a look at the Quality Scout reports by clicking on the 'Watch Their Report’ link on this site. They give a full picture of the entire beef supply chain from field to restaurant as well as specific reports on animal welfare and the manufacture of Chicken Selects.
To give a précis of the beef supply chain: the beef is sourced from over 16 000 British and Irish farms other than at times of exceptionally high demand when beef might be bought from previously approved farms in other European Union countries such as Germany. The forequarter and flank cuts are then taken from the beef animals by McDonald's approved abattoirs that have to comply with extremely high standards of animal welfare. This beef is then minced to form the patties and flash frozen on the same site before packing and dispatching to the restaurants. Nothing is added to the burger, simply a pinch of salt and pepper at the appropriate point in the cooking process. Every pack of burgers carries a barcode that means that it can be traced all the way back through the process to the beef herd on a specific farm. The same simplicity of recipes, quality of ingredients and high standards of process apply to the rearing and production of all the chicken, pork and eggs used in the other McDonald's food items.
(May 2007)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 57. You say you use 100% beef, but I heard that "100% beef" is the name of the company...and you use any old cuts..is this true?
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No, this is just another myth. All McDonald's hamburgers are made of beef. Nothing else. Just 100 percent beef, made from whole cuts of forequarter and flank (similar to the mince you'd buy in the supermarket). All that's added is a pinch of salt and pepper after cooking.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 58. who are your suppliers? and what do they supply?
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This could be a very long list! McDonald's works with a variety of suppliers that all share the company's aim to provide customers with great tasting, affordable food. Over the years, many strong partnerships have been forged with household brand names such as those with Coca Cola, Tropicana, Vittel and Kenco. Behind the scenes, there are also a number of trusted partners who are key to the success of the supply chain such as the makers of the beef patties, Esca. You can read more about some of these partners and take a look at the role they play, by clicking on the 'Quality Scout' reports link on this site.
(December 2006)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 59. During the mid 90's BSE scare, in March 96' where was the beef you 'temporarily' used for your burgers from???
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McDonald's sourced its beef from its existing approved supply base in Europe; specifically, France, Germany, Holland and Ireland. It's worth noting that experts advised that the stringent processes in place in the UK at the time of the crisis meant that the risk of contamination in the McDonald's UK supply chain was negligible. The company took the decision to switch its supply in line with consumer confidence. (June 2007)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 60. Does all the beef in a burger come from a single source (farm, ranch, etc.)? And if not does McDonald's have a way of tracing meat contaminated with diseases such as BSE from hamburger to source assuming that the contamination was missed in the normal inspection routine?
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The whole supply chain from one individual beef animal to final frozen patty is traceable through a rigorous bar-coding system. Beef is sourced from over 17 000 British and Irish farms which must comply, not only with EU and UK legislation, but also the even higher standards demanded by the McDonald's Agriculture Assurance Programme (MAAP). At times of crisis, special measures will be implemented by the government and by the company to ensure that no contaminated meat can enter the food chain. Food safety is one of the fundamental concerns for McDonald's. (June 2007)
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