Affected are the hamburger, cheeseburger, double cheeseburger, McDouble, Quarter Pounder with Cheese, double Quarter Pounder with Cheese and Big Mac.
The seven classic McDonald's burgers sold in the U.S. are now free from artificial preservatives, flavors and colors, the company announced Wednesday.
They are the hamburger, cheeseburger, double cheeseburger, McDouble, Quarter Pounder with Cheese, double Quarter Pounder with Cheese and Big Mac.
The pickle, though, is still trouble; it is made with an artificial preservative.
"Customers are able to skip it, if they prefer," said McDonald's USA president Chris Kempczinski.
According to the company, the ingredient changes impact close to two-thirds of McDonald's national burgers and sandwiches and all 14,000 U.S. restaurants.
Prices of menu items aren't expected to go up as a result. The amount of the company spent to make the switch was "minimal," so McDonald's plans to absorb the costs, explained Kempczinski, though ultimately, owner-operators determine pricing.
The problematic ingredients were American cheese, Big Mac Special Sauce and some buns.
Big Mac Sauce: Out came the potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate and calcium disodium EDTA, all artificial preservatives. The sauce contains no fake flavors or colors.
Buns: The artificial preservative calcium propionate was removed from the regular bun; the Quarter Pounder Bun, also known as the sesame seed bun; and the Big Mac Bun. None contained artificial colors or flavors.
"We know quality choices are important to our customers, and this latest positive change to our classic burgers demonstrates our committed journey to leading with the customer and building a better McDonald's," Kempczinski said.
He pointed out that the chain's other food-quality steps have included switching to 100 percent fresh, not frozen, beef in Quarter Pounders, removing artificial preservatives from Chicken McNuggets and committing to cage-free eggs by 2025.
The move is driven by customers' elevated expectations about food quality, ingredients and sourcing, Kempczinski explained.
"All you have to do is look around at... packaged foods and other restaurant concepts," he said. "Customers certainly are becoming more demanding about knowing what's in their foods."
McDonald's said the menu items not free of artificial preservatives, flavors and colors are the Egg McMuffin; Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit; Bacon, Egg & Cheese McGriddles; Filet-O-Fish; and several of the Signature Crafted Sandwiches.
There's no specific timeline for when the final third of the menu will become artificial preservative-, flavor- and color-free, Kempczinski said.
The reason for stripping the three out of the majority of the chain's burgers comes down to economics, according to Robert Derrington, senior restaurant analyst at the Telsey Advisory Group, a New York-based brokerage firm.
"They're trying to make their food more relevant to a broader audience," he said. "It's all about sales. It's ultimately for consumers to find a reason to come to the restaurant."