McDonald’s announced Thursday that it will use fresh beef in its Quarter Pounder burgers, replacing frozen patties by the middle of next year, with some of its restaurants already having tested the change.
The feedback from 325 restaurants that served fresh, never frozen beef in Texas and Oklahoma was “overwhelmingly positive,” the company told Bloomberg, adding that the fresh beef burgers will be cooked when they are ordered, not pre-cooked.
The move is regarded as one of several recent changes intended to improve food quality and compete with other fast food outlets like Wendy’s, Shake Shack and In-N-Out, all of which have touted their use of fresh beef, according to USA Today.
“Consumers are demanding more in terms of health and wellness,” Edward Jones broker Jack Russo said in explaining the change, USA Today reported. “They want to know what’s in their products.”
McDonald’s USA president Chris Kempczinski said the fresh beef Quarter Pounders were only a “first step,” and that fresh beef could be used in other products as well. The nutritional quality won’t be different, he emphasized, but asserted that cooking fresh beef would give better flavor to the burgers, USA Today reported.
McDonald’s will also be updating its safety procedures to ensure that fresh beef is handled properly. The food chain also plans to eliminate preservatives from its Chicken Nuggets and switch to cage-free eggs by 2025, USA Today reported.
Investors rewarded McDonald’s with a stock price increase of 57 cents on the news, according to USA Today.
While some Twitter fans were excited about the change, others were skeptical and wondered about the beef they have been eating all this time.
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