It’s been a tough week for fast food fans. First, a new study found the Five Guys cheeseburger to be unhealthier than every other chain’s. And now, there’s another harsh reality about your favorite burger: it might not even contain real cheese.
While chains like Chick-fil-A, Wendy’s, and Chipotle use real, non-processed cheese, not every fast food spot can say the same, Mashed reports. For starters, McDonald’s—a.k.a one of the healthiest fast food destinations, according to that recent study—is using cheese so processed, it’s not even considered real cheese by the FDA.
After internet rumors claimed that Micky D’s is topping their burgers with straight up “plastic,” former McDonald’s corporate chef Mike Haracz debunked the theory. Well, sorta. The company’s own website states that it’s processed pasteurized American cheese, which is made from milk, cream, water, sodium citrate, salt, cheese cultures, citric acid, enzymes, soy lecithin, and added color.
While you might be wondering, “Isn’t American cheese…real cheese?” According to the FDA, not quite. The organization claims that American cheese is actually a “pasteurized process cheese” and only needs to have a minimum of 51% real cheese.
Mcdonald’s Double Quarter Pounder
“Basically, it allows for a lot more filler and ‘approved ingredients’ in the mix, which generally results in a lower quality product,” Brian Civitello, a cheesemaker at Mystic Cheese Co, told Food Network.
McDonald’s UK site claims that the cheese slices are composed of 60% real cheddar and other cheese, which does meet the FDA standards, but might not make you feel quite as good about your burger order.
Burger King is also serving “cheese product” instead of real cheese on most of its burgers. At least, anywhere American cheese is used. However, BK does use real cheese, including Swiss and mozzarella, on the Bacon Swiss Royal Crispy Chicken and mozzarella sticks.
There’s a lot of mystery surrounding Bojangles’ mac & cheese, which only lists two ingredients on its website: noodles and cheese sauce. Now, what is in that “cheese sauce,” we don’t really know. An independent consumer-run website claims that it’s a combo of processed liquid cheese with whey, modified food starch, and sodium phosphate. A former Bojangles employee also claims that the process to make the dish simply includes thawing frozen mac and serving it up, without any fresh cheese involved.
Sonic, Dairy Queen, and Tim Hortons similarly use the same processed American cheese that the FDA doesn’t deem to be authentic cheese.
Megan Schaltegger is an NYC-based writer. She loves strong coffee, eating her way through the Manhattan food scene, and her dog, Murray. She promises not to talk about herself in third person IRL.
