Questions answered
There are 39 questions about “Beef” in the “What's in the food?” topic.
Click on a question to read our answer.
- 1. Why doesn't McDonalds buy their beef in the USA instead of Britain?
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Thanks for your question. All of the beef that McDonald’s UK use is 100% British and Irish beef from whole cuts of forequarter and flank. McDonald's believes its customers prefer to eat food that is locally sourced. (April 2011)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 2. How is the cow turnt into a burger at your resturant?
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Thank you for your question. McDonald’s UK beef patties are made from whole forequarter and flank cuts of 100% British and Irish beef, by our beef supplier in Scunthorpe. Our supplier buys deboned beef from approved abattoirs across the UK and Ireland, where skilled butchers have removed the bones from the forequarter and flank. Once at our supplier’s location, the beef is simply minced as they would be by any butcher, only on a larger scale; then the mince is formed into patties, immediately frozen to seal in the freshness, and packed for distribution. The beef patties are then transported by our distribution supplier’s fleet of vehicles which are run on the re-used cooking oil from the stores. Once at the McDonald’s restaurant the patties are cooked between two hotplates on bespoke clamshell grills, which help seal in the natural juices. Nothing else is added. No other binders, oils or fats, just a pinch of salt and pepper for seasoning after cooking. (March 2011)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 3. How much of the 100% meat is fat in a hamburger? dont just say its 100 pure beef because beef contain fat
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Thanks for your question. The ground beef used by McDonald's UK contains approximately 20% fat. For more nutritional information on McDonald’s food please visit www.mcdonalds.co.uk and click on the ‘Food’ tab. (March 2011)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 4. According to many sources the McDonalds burger patty's are 100% beef but the beef you use is just the left over of company beef that they don't want such as the price and you buy this for a small amount is this true?
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Thank you for your question. This is not true; McDonald’s UK beef patties are made using whole cuts of forequarter and flank from 100% British and Irish beef cattle. It is then simply minced and formed into patties by our beef supplier in Scunthorpe. (March 2011)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 5. I am writing an assignment on your beef supply chain in the UK and I wanted to know: How are your beef burgers actually made? How are these transported? What happens to the rest of the carcase after taking the flank and forequarter? Thankyou
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Thank you for your question. McDonald’s UK beef patties are made from whole forequarter and flank cuts of 100% British and Irish beef, by our beef supplier in Scunthorpe. Our supplier buys deboned beef from approved abattoirs across the UK and Ireland, where skilled butchers have removed the bones from the forequarter and flank. The hindquarters of the carcasses are procured by other retailers and beef processors, McDonald’s only purchase finished beef patties.
Once at our supplier’s location, the beef is simply minced as they would be by any butcher, only on a larger scale; then the mince is formed into patties, immediately frozen to seal in the freshness, and packed for distribution. The beef patties are then transported by our distribution supplier’s fleet of vehicles which are run on the re-used cooking oil from the stores. Once at the McDonald’s restaurant the patties are cooked between two hotplates on bespoke clamshell grills, which help seal in the natural juices. Nothing else is added. No other binders, oils or fats, just a pinch of salt and pepper for seasoning after cooking. (February 2011)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 6. Please can you let me know what systems you have in place for quality contol. Do you use specific frameworks such as ISO or Six Sigma to chech the food before it is allowed to enter your production chain. What systems do you use during production to chech each items is to a specific quality. Also what awards have you won and where can i find a list of these?. Thanks
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Thanks for your question. McDonald’s has an extensive range of quality systems in place ranging from our food suppliers right though to restaurant preparation and service of food. The quality control services are a range of in-house systems and supplier led systems.
With regards to awards, McDonald’s UK has won an award with the RSPCA for the past three years, these are:
2010 – RSPCA Good Business Awards – Food Category – Restaurants & Pubs Highly Commended
2009 – RSPCA Good Business Awards – Food Category – Restaurant Chain
2008 – RSPCA Good Business Awards – Food Category – Restaurant Chain
The awards are for making a positive impression to animal welfare within the McDonald’s Supply Chain.
(January 2011)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 7. What is the average percentage of fat in the beef you use in the burgers?
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Thanks for your question. The ground beef used by McDonald's UK contains approximately 20% fat. For more nutritional information on McDonald’s food please visit www.mcdonalds.co.uk and click on the ‘Food’ tab.
(January 2011)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 8. how old are the cows that are slaughtered for the use in your tasty, succulent burgers your burgers?
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Thank you for your question. We are glad to hear you enjoy McDonald’s burgers so much. All animals entering the McDonald’s supply chain must meet our specifications on traceability, animal health and welfare, and the origin of where the animal is reared. The age requirement for beef animals entering McDonald’s supply chain is a minimum of eight months, the age of beef animals at slaughter varies greatly as there are many options available to farmers in rearing cattle. McDonald’s do not accept beef animals into their supply chain younger than eight months as these are classed as veal. (January 2011)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 9. where do all the cows come from that are used for the burgers? If all the other chains sell burgers as well as the supermarkets and you only use part of the cow to make your burger, then surely there are not enough cows in the UK to supply everyone and if they were, where are they all kept? I would have thought you would need a field the size of London?
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Thank you for your question. McDonald's UK only uses 100% British and Irish beef to make our burger patties. Our patties are made using only whole cuts of forequarter and flank. In 2010, over 16,000 British and Irish beef farmers raised cattle for our supply chain which comes from farms accredited by nationally recognised Farm Assurance Schemes. (January 2011)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 10. Do any of McDonald's foods or drinks contain any form of trans fats? Thanks!
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Thank you for your question. McDonald's in the UK has made considerable progress with reducing the level of trans fat across its menu and can confirm that no artificial trans fats are included in any ingredient, leaving only naturally occurring ones. Hydrogenated fats were removed in 2007. (January 2011)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 11. Hello, What is the weight of the meat pate in a Big Mac, Quarterpounder and standard burger before and after cooking please? Mike Olley
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Thanks for your question. The Big Mac patty and standard beef patty are the same size, it’s just that there are two in a Big Mac. Each one of these patties weigh 35gs when cooked and 44.9gs uncooked.
The weight of the quarter pounder is 113.4gs before cooking and 83.5gs when cooked.
(January 2011)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 12. I had a festive deluxe burger today without the chips with a regular latte can you tell me how many calories are in each thanks
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Thanks for your question. A regular latte provides 135 kcal and a Festive Beef Deluxe Burger provides 805 kcal. You can find all the nutritional information about McDonald’s food by clicking on the ‘Food’ tab at www.mcdonalds.co.uk. (January 2011)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 13. Could you tell me if any of the meat in your products contains hormones.
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Thank you for your question. None of McDonald’s meat contains hormones. It is against McDonald’s meat specification to accept any meat from an animal that has received any antibiotic growth promoter or hormone. These substances are also strictly forbidden by the requirements of McDonald’s Agriculture Assurance Programme (MAAP). Additionally the use of growth hormones is banned under UK and EU legislation. (January 2011)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 14. What is the lean/fat ratio in McDonald's ground beef? Is it 70/30; 80/20 or 90/10?
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Thanks for your question. The ground beef used by McDonald's UK contains approximately 20% fat. (December 2010)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 15. I recently asked something along the lines of what goes into your meat? To which you answered:- 'Thank you for your question. We can reassure you that McDonald's only uses 100 percent beef in its beef patties. Nothing but whole cuts of forequarter and flank. All that's added is a pinch of salt and pepper after cooking.' This does not answer my question! What is the ratio of skeletal muscle (layman's meat) to fat, organs, connecting tissure etc that goes into your beef?
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As mentioned previously all of McDonald’s UK beef only contains cuts of forequarter and flank. The forequarter and flank cuts that McDonald's use are of the highest quality and are ideal for producing great tasting burgers. These cuts of meat are typically what butchers would also recommend for mincing, and what you would find in supermarket mince.
If you are still in doubt then please check out the Quality Scout reports, which can be found here: http://www.makeupyourownmind.co.uk/quality-scouts-home.html. Quality Scouts are members of the general public from around the UK who are curious about McDonald's business. They are not paid, and have no ties to the company. All they do is take an honest, behind the scenes look at McDonald's and report back, and that's the truth.
(February 2010)
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