Today we've announced that by mid-2018, all Quarter Pounder burgers at the majority of our restaurants will be cooked with fresh beef. pic.twitter.com/Bdf99ALlxw
— McDonald's (@McDonalds) March 30, 2017
Last year, McDonald’s announced it would begin testing fresh beef at over 400 locations around Dallas and Tulsa. Today, news broke that these never frozen patties would be available all over the country starting next year.
CBS News reports that the fresh patties will soon be used in the McDonald’s Quarter Pounders. Once the switch is made, the Quarter Pounder patty will be cooked on the grill when it’s ordered. Though this is an improvement for those wary of overly-processed food, some customers are saying it’s still not enough. Even the restaurant's sassy competitor Wendy’s, who has served all fresh beef since it’s genesis, pointed out that this transition to fresh beef will only effect one of the many burgers on the menu.
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.@McDonalds So you’ll still use frozen beef in MOST of your burgers in ALL of your restaurants? Asking for a friend.
— Wendy's (@Wendys) March 30, 2017
@McDonalds I'm more worried about where it comes from then if it was frozen.
— TD Combs (@tdc_land_cattle) March 30, 2017
@AP @McDonalds I don't care if it's frozen or not what I care is what you feed the cow & what you injected into it to make it grow so fast.
— SMH (@ImHumanAfterAll) March 30, 2017
This article was originally published on May 15, 2017.
After seeing success with its all-day breakfast menu, McDonald's is gearing up to make another radical change. The popular hamburger chain is testing out fresh beef in select restaurants, according to Nation's Restaurant News.
This may surprise devoted Big Mac and McDouble lovers, but for many years, Mickey D's has used frozen beef patties. The patties are seasoned, as all its burgers are, and then "flash frozen" to lock in the flavor, according to McDonald's website. Now, however, Nation's Restaurant News is reporting that McDonald's is testing fresh beef in 14 stores throughout Dallas.
The chain is limiting the fresh beef to burgers that use Quarter Pounder-sized patties, including the Homestyle Burger and the Bacon Clubhouse Burger. Since this is an experiment, it is unclear if or when McDonald's will roll out this fresh beef plan nationwide.
"Like all of our tests, this one, too, is designed to see what works and what doesn’t within our restaurants by considering the operational experience, customer response, price points, and other important information, which may inform future decisions,” McDonald’s spokeswoman Lisa McComb told Nation's Restaurant News in an email. “It’s very premature to draw any conclusions from this test.”
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