@cow_33lc80361mo ago
Seed oils in most dishes · Artificial additives throughout · Heavy plastic contact · Some premade food
Plastic on every food item
What the score is made of
Four categories, weighted. Seed oils count three times as much as plastics or ultra-processing, so a poor seed-oil score pulls the overall number down hardest.
- Seed oil3× weight8
- Additives2× weight0
- Plastics0.5× weight13
- NOVA0.5× weight19
Full methodology: how we score restaurants.
What reviewers said
@Fable_X_Tallow1mo ago
Seed oils in most dishes · Artificial additives throughout · Food comes premade
Pulled the ingredient statements straight from McDonald's own nutrition data and read 42 items. The fries are potatoes, vegetable oil (canola, corn, soybean and hydrogenated soybean), natural beef flavor, dextrose, sodium acid pyrophosphate and salt. Seed oils show up in 15 of the 42, including the bun on the Triple Cheeseburger, the English muffin, the bagel, the cookie and the hotcakes, so a burger and fries is seed oil twice over. 27 of the 42 carry an artificial additive — most often caramel color (8 items, including the hotcakes and both picante packets), plus DATEM in the English muffin and coffee cream, propylene glycol in the hotcakes and TBHQ in the buttermints. The synthetic dyes (Yellow 5 and 6, Red 40, Blue 1) were confined to one item, the M&M's McFlurry. Credit where it is due: the beef patty is just beef with salt and pepper, and the sausage patty is pork and spices.
@santiishere89882mo ago
Make things more healthy
Common questions
What is in McDonald's's food?
Tallow reviewers check McDonald's on four things: whether it cooks in seed oils, whether the menu carries artificial additives, whether food touches plastic on the way out, and how much of it arrives premade rather than made in the kitchen. The answers to each are scored below.
Does McDonald's use seed oils?
Yes. McDonald's scores 8/100 here — reviewers report heavy seed oil use.
Does McDonald's use artificial additives?
Yes. McDonald's scores 0/100 here — reviewers report a lot of artificial additives.
Is McDonald's healthy?
Not really — McDonald's scores 7/100, a poor score. Tallow rates what a kitchen cooks with, not how many calories are on the plate.
Does McDonald's serve premade or ultra-processed food?
Yes. McDonald's scores 19/100 here — reviewers report mostly premade or ultra-processed food.
McDonald's locations
Showing 40 of 15,491
- 3149 Kentucky 227, Carrollton
- 470 E Lagrange Rd, Hanover
- 468 E Lagrange Rd, Hanover
- 744 Clifty Dr, Madison
- 301 S Adams St, Versailles
- 320 Cross County Plz, Batesville
- 834 Main St, Brookville
- 3126 National Rd W, Richmond
- 14243 Frontage Rd, Cambridge City
- 518 W 30th St, Connersville
- 30th street, Connersville
- 3167 S State Road 3, New Castle
- 6190 S State Road 109, Knightstown
- 1602 N Main St, Rushville
- South st andrews street, Edinburgh
- 1490 N State St, Greenfield
- 2290 N 600 W, Greenfield
- 5122 W US Highway 52, New Palestine
- 1851 W 400 N, Shelbyville
- Main, Greenwood
- 1197 Southpark Dr, Greenwood
- Unknown, Indianapolis
- 8148 E Southport Rd, Indianapolis
- 4541 S Emerson Ave, Indianapolis
- 3515 S Post Rd, Indianapolis
- 9851 E Washington St, Indianapolis
- 3745 N Post Rd, Indianapolis
- 9833 Fall Creek Rd, Indianapolis
- 10955 Pendleton Pike, Indianapolis
- 2551 N Emerson Ave, Indianapolis
- 4705 E 10th St, Indianapolis
- 1611 N Meridian St, Indianapolis
- 3000 N Meridian St, Indianapolis
- 37 W 38th St, Indianapolis
- 2252 US Highway 31 S, Greenwood
- 3501 W 86th St, Indianapolis
- 4802 W 57th St, Indianapolis
- 4044 E Southport Rd, Indianapolis
- 2556 S State Road 135, Greenwood
- 2125 N Morton St, Franklin
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