Questions answered
There are 96 questions about “Additives” in the “What's in the food?” topic.
Click on a question to read our answer.
- 1. how much vitaminc c do you put in it how do you test it and how do you put it in
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To help us answer your question could you give us a bit more information. For instance what menu item are you referring to?
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 2. How much protein is there in your quarter pounder burgers?
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There are 31g of protein in a Quarter Pounder with Cheese. All McDonald's food, ingredients and nutritional information are available online in the 'Nutrition Counter' which is in the 'Eat Smart' section of www.mcdonalds.co.uk. Also, there is a comprehensive list of nutritional and allergen information available at www.mcdonaldsmenu.info.
(October 2008)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 3. Does your hot chocolate drink contain Aspartame (E951)? I have a severe intolerance to this and must avoid it. Also do any of your sauces / burger relishes contain Monosodium Glutomate (E621)? Thanks
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You'll be happy to know that there is on E951 in McDonald's Hot Chocolate and none of the food served at McDonald’s contains any mono sodium glutamate (MSG).
(October 2008)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 4. how long would it take for a big mac meal to go mouldy at room temperature
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A difficult one to provide an exact answer on as no such experiment has been carried out by McDonald's. Like a majority of cooked foods, McDonald's products are likely to still be edible for a few hours after original preparation and will deteriorate slowly over time.
(March 2008)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 5. I am very concerned about the huge number of potentially dangerous E numbers you use in your foods. For instance in your 'Birthday Cake' you put E104. E104 a 'disodium salt of disulphonic acid' is banned in Australia, Japan, Norway and the United States. It is certainly not an ingredient that children should be eating. Can you please explain to me why you continue to put the health of the UK population at risk in order to increase your profits?
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The only item in which E104 is used is the icing of the Cadbury's Birthday Cake. McDonald's is aware of recent concerns about E104, and is in the process of reformulating this product to remove it. E104 is permitted as a colouring in the UK under EU food legislation. Please be assured that McDonald’s would not use any ingredient that was not permitted in this country.
(May 2008)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 6. Is it true, because I heard a rumour, that you put cola into the tea to make it have that brown colour? and thats why I dont have to put sugar into it as it is sweet enough already. What exactly is in your McTea?
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The tea used in McDonald’s restaurants in the UK is 100 percent pure tea from Tetley. It's made from exactly the same Tetley tea bags that are available to buy in all supermarkets.
(May 2008)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 7. is it true the syrup for the chocolate milkshake is the waste leftover by all your pre-slaughteed cows blended in with 60kg of sugar? my uncle told me this and has been texting a cleaner from one of your stores for a month now.
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No, this is not true. The ingredients for the chocolate milkshake are as follows:
Milkshake Base
Milk, Sugar, Whey Powder, Glucose Syrup, Cream
(40% Butterfat), Stabiliser (E412 Guar Gum, E407
Carrageenan (Standardised with sugars), Dextrose,
E410 Locust Bean Gum.
Chocolate Flavour Milkshake Syrup
Water, Sugar, Dextrose, Low-fat Cocoa Powder
(6.6%), Colouring Agent (E150 Caramel), Sugar
Syrup, Salt, Acidifier (E338 Phosphoric Acid),
Flavour, Vegetable Fat, Cocoa Mass, Acidifier
(E330 Citric Acid), Emulsifier (E322 Soya Lecithin),
Preservative (E202 Potassium Sorbate).
You can find out more about McDonald's food and ingredients in the 'Ingredients List' at www.mcdonalds.co.uk, or at www.mcdonaldsmenu.info.
(August 2007)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 8. Regarding "McFlurry Smarties contains E120 cochineal, a natural colour sourced from animals". Can you expand on this please, as some say it comes from bugs/beetles, I would like to know exactly what E120 is - but in a bit more depth than the fact that it is a colour? For example, if it was insect-based, I would eat it.
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Cochineal is used in the red Smarties found in the Smarties McFlurry. This colour is extracted from an insect, as you mention in your question.
Cochineal and its derivatives are widely used throughout the food industry to colour foods such as beverages, jellies, sugar confectionery, yoghurts, and flour confectionery.
(May 2008)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 9. When I cut up and apple, it will go brown in a very short period of time. Why is it that MD fruit bag apple slices always look in such pristine condition.
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McDonald's puts vitamin C (ascorbic acid and citric acid) onto the fruit to stop them oxidising and the apples turning brown once they have been sliced. This is similar to putting lemon juice onto a fruit salad at home. The Fruit Bags are also chilled throughout the process to keep them fresh.
(July 2008)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 10. Hi, In your response to the FSA's recent findings on additives and hyperactivity in children, you talk about the steps you are making to remove them from your food. You do not say whether you are in talks with your suppliers about trying to remove E211 from your carbonated drinks. Are you trying to do anything about this?
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McDonald’s apologises for the delay in answering your question. As the site went through some technical updates and changes, some of the questions slipped through. However, everything is functioning better and your question has now been answered – Thank you for you patience. Fresh produce will always form the best ingredients and McDonald’s tries to use them wherever possible. Cooking and preparation on the scale that McDonald’s works to makes it difficult to implement throughout, and logistics such as storage, consistency of taste and seasonal availability of produce means that additives become an essential component of modern convenience food. However, McDonald's is in deep discussions with all its suppliers regarding the removal of certain additives from the foods and ingredients that it sources for its products. Why not sign up to keep in touch on with the site as McDonald's will make sure to post any news on McDonald's and additives here when it happens.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 11. Emulsifier E471 is of vegetable origin or animal origin? how can itbe halal if it is from animal origin?
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Firstly, many apologies for the very slow response to your question, as the site went through a few changes, some questions had slipped through the net, so thank you for your patience. In Regards to your question on the emulsifier, the E471 used by McDonald's is derived from vegetable oil.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 12. What is rapeseed oil?
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Rapeseed oil, expressed from rape seeds, is commonly marketed under the name canola oil.
You might be interested to know that McDonald's UK is now using new non-hydrogenated cooking oil in its restaurants, substantially reducing the levels of Trans Fatty Acids in many of its most popular products. The new blend of sunflower and rapeseed oil was introduced to all 1214 McDonald's restaurants across the UK during April, eight months ahead of schedule, as part of a Europe-wide move by McDonald's to reduce the TFA content of cooking oil in all its restaurants. The new oil has been developed without raising the saturated fat content or altering the taste, which research has shown is important to customers. (June 2007)
FEBRUARY '08 UPDATE: McDonald’s UK now do not use any hydrogenated oil in any food items across the entire menu.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 13. As it is acknowledged that trans fats are in part responsible for many of todays health problems, not least obesity, why are transfats used at all in any measure when there are alternatives?
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McDonald’s UK is now using a new non-hydrogenated cooking oil in its restaurants, substantially reducing the levels of Trans Fatty Acids in many of its most popular products. The new blend of sunflower and rapeseed oil was introduced to all 1214 McDonald’s restaurants across the UK during April, eight months ahead of schedule, as part of a Europe-wide move by McDonald’s to reduce the TFA content of cooking oil in all its restaurants. The new oil has been developed without raising the saturated fat content or altering the taste, which research has shown is important to customers. (October 2007)
FEBRUARY '08 UPDATE: McDonald’s UK now do not use any hydrogenated oil in any food items across the entire menu
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 14. Rumor has it that you use meal worms to reach the fda level for protein. Is this true? Thank you
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No this is not true.
(December 2007)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 15. Can you please inform me if the whey which is used in your product is vegetarian or not?
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Whey is a bi-product of milk, so if your diet consists of dairy based products then it is fine. However, it is not suitable for vegans.
(November 2007)
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