McDonald’s has returned the beloved McRib to the UK after a decade absence, much to the joy of long-term fans of the barbecue-style sandwich.
But rumours regarding what is actually made of — including stomach-churning ingredients such as pig rectums, hearts and stomachs — are also circulating.
On the face of it, the McRib patty is a rectangle of meat which, despite the name, contains no bones.
Served in a bun and slathered in barbecue sauce, with onions and pickles, it was first launched in the US and the UK in 1981.
But the sandwich only survived five years before it was withdrawn on both sides of the Atlantic.
McDonald’s has returned the beloved McRib to the UK after a decade absence much to the joy of long-term fans of the barbecue-style sandwich
It has made sporadic and limited returns since, the last British one, prior to the current rollout, being about a decade ago.
Rumours about the McRib, how it’s made and why it comes and goes have circulated for years and typically resurface when the menu item makes a return.
One of the longest lasting rumours is that the meat used to make the sandwich is in fact pig anus.
Posting on the social media site X, a user going by Roger D.Trepte simply wrote: ‘McRib: Pig anuses’.
Another user, Rogerabutcher claimed earlier: ‘I saw a box of McRib being opened at McDonald’s once. It said inverted pork anus.’
The rumour of McRib’s being made from the lower part of a pig’s lower intestine stems from a hoaxed image of a box of ‘pig rectums’ with a McDonald’s logo photoshopped onto it.
On the face of it, the McRib patty is an ambiguously shaped rectangle of meat which, despite the name, contains no bones or any suggestion it was ever attached to any
Internet sleuths eventually tracked down the original image to Taipei in Taiwan where the lower intestines of the pig form a dish called pork bung.
Other rumours suggest it is some bizarre collection of offal or made from some other animal with The Simpsons parodying this idea with their ‘Ribwich’ which wasn’t made from a pig but something ‘smaller with more legs’.
These rumours have taken a sinister turn in recent years with conspiracy theorists claiming the McRib is made from homeless people.
One user Walker Zombley wrote on X: ‘McRib is actually homeless people organ meat. It comes up once a year because it coincides with the time cities clear u their downtowns.’
Another user, going by the name ‘space turtle earther’ wrote: ‘Notice how there always seem to be less homeless people around whenever they bring back the McRib.’
There is no evidence these rumours are true.
One of the longest lasting is that the meat used to make the sandwich is in fact pig anus
The rumour of McRib’s being made from the lower part of a pig’s lower intestine stems from a hoaxed image of a box of ‘pig rectums’ with a McDonald’s logo photoshopped onto it
Rumours have taken a sinister turn in recent years with conspiracy theorists claiming the McRib is made from homeless people
There is no evidence these rumours are true
So, what actually is in a McRib patty?
Pork is the undramatic truth. Specifically, 96 per cent which easily eclipses the 67 per cent minimum meat content for a pork patty in the UK.
McDonald’s themselves told MailOnline: ‘The McRib is made using ground RSPCA Assured pork, sourced from 100 per cent British Assured farms, which is formed into the iconic McRib shaped patty.’
This meat is then, through a combination of thickeners, stabilisers, and anti-caking agents, that firmly place the sandwich as an ultra-processed food (UPF) and are testament to food science, is fashioned into the McRib.
McDonald’s UK ingredient list for the McRib patty includes two types of maltodextrin and dextrose which can be used as thickeners, fillers, preservatives and sweeteners.
Some studies have linked maltodextrin to health problems.
One 2015 study found people who consumed maltodextrin had reduced numbers of good bacteria in their gut and an increased number of bad bacteria, which could damage the intestines and raise the risk of inflammatory bowel conditions.
And another study linked maltodextrin to chronic inflammatory conditions and infection and inflammation of the digestive system.
It also includes ascorbic acid, gum Arabic, silicon dioxide as well more mundane ingredients like onion, garlic and seasonings.
UPFs have come under increased focus in recent years due to studies linking consumptions of this category of food to serious health problems such as obesity, diabetes, cancer, and even dementia. Though these are disputed by some experts.
The McRib is, unsurprisingly, not a healthy option even when discounting UPF concerns.
By itself, not counting any meal, the sandwich’s 9.1g of saturated fat accounts for nearly half of a woman’s recommended daily limit and a third of a man’s.
Too much saturated fat in a diet can increase a risk of bad cholesterol in the blood which can increase the risk of heart disease or stroke.
The McRib is also high in salt, and at 2.5g accounts for almost half of the 6g limit recommended for adults by the NHS.
As to why the £4.49, 500-plus calories, sandwich comes and goes, that’s a bit harder to pin down.
There are rumours McDonald’s only brings it back when pork prices meet a certain threshold for maximum profit, whilst others insist it’s to do with creating artificial scarcity.
The logic of the latter is that by limiting the McRib to a brief window it creates a buzz in which people are more likely to go to McDonald’s and buy not only the sandwich itself but other items like drinks and sides, driving up profits more generally.
Regardless, the most recent reintroduction of the McRib to Britain is once again a brief dalliance before it returns to the McDonald’s vaults with it only available whilst stocks last.