McDonald’s has brought back the much-loved McRib to Britain after a decade-long absence, much to the delight of the barbecue-style sandwich’s loyal fans.
But rumours about what it’s actually made from include stomach-turning ingredients such as pig rectums, hearts and stomachs.
On the surface, the McRib patty is a rectangular piece of meat that, despite its name, contains no bones.
Served in a bun and slathered in barbecue sauce, with onions and pickles, it first launched in the US and Britain in 1981.
But the sandwich only survived for five years before being axed on both sides of the Atlantic.
McDonald’s has brought back the much-loved McRib to Britain after a decade-long absence, much to the delight of the barbecue-style sandwich’s loyal fans
It has made sporadic and limited returns since it last made it to the UK, before the current rollout, around a decade ago.
Rumors about the McRib, how it’s made, and why it comes and goes have been circulating for years, usually resurfacing when the menu item returns.
One of the most long-running rumors is that the meat used to make the sandwich is actually pig anus.
A user named Roger D. Trepte wrote on the social media site
Another user, Rogerabutcher, previously claimed, “I once saw a box of McRibs opened at McDonald’s. It said pig anus inverted.”
The rumor that the McRib is made from the lower intestine of a pig comes from this doctored image of a box of “pig rectums” with a McDonald’s logo photoshopped onto it.
At first glance, the McRib patty is an ambiguously shaped rectangular piece of meat that, despite its name, contains no bones or any suggestion that it was ever attached to anything.
Internet sleuths eventually tracked down the original image in Taipei, Taiwan, where the lower intestines of a pig make up a dish called pig manure.
Other rumors suggest that it is a bizarre collection of organ meats or made from another animal, with The Simpsons parodying this idea with their “Ribwich,” which is not made from a pig but something “smaller with more legs.”
These rumors have taken a sinister turn in recent years, with conspiracy theorists claiming that the McRib is made from homeless people.
One user, Walker Zombley, wrote on X: “McRib is actually organ meat from homeless people. It happens once a year because it coincides with the time when cities evacuate their downtowns.’
Another user, who used the name “space turtle earther,” wrote: “Notice how there always seems to be less homeless when they bring back the McRib.”
There is no evidence that these rumors are true.`
One of the longest shelf lives is that the meat used to make the sandwich is actually pig anus
The rumor that McRibs are made from the lower part of a pig’s small intestine originated from a fake photo of a box of “pig intestines” with a McDonald’s logo photoshopped onto it
Rumors have taken a sinister turn in recent years, with conspiracy theorists claiming that the McRib is made from homeless people
There is no evidence that these rumours are true
What is actually in a McRib patty?
Pork is the undramatic truth. Interestingly, 96 per cent easily exceeds the minimum meat content of 67 per cent for a pork patty in the UK.
McDonald’s itself told MailOnline: ‘The McRib is made from minced RSPCA Assured pork, sourced from 100 per cent British Assured farms, which is formed into the iconic McRib-shaped patty.’
This meat is then processed into the McRib using a combination of thickeners, stabilisers and anti-caking agents, firmly positioning the sandwich as an ultra-processed food (UPF) and a testament to food science.
McDonald’s UK’s ingredients 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.
A 2015 study found that people who consumed maltodextrin had fewer good bacteria in their gut and more bad bacteria, which can damage the gut and increase the risk of inflammatory bowel disease.
And another study linked maltodextrin to chronic inflammatory conditions and infection and inflammation of the digestive system.
It also contains ascorbic acid, gum arabic, silicon dioxide, and more mundane ingredients like onion, garlic, and spices.
UPFs have come under increasing scrutiny in recent years due to studies linking consumption of this food category to serious health problems like obesity, diabetes, cancer, and even dementia. Although some experts dispute this.
It’s no surprise that the McRib isn’t a healthy option, even if you ignore the UPF concerns.
On its own, without the meal, the sandwich’s 9.1g of saturated fat is almost half the recommended daily limit for women and a third of that for men.
Too much saturated fat in a diet can increase the risk of bad cholesterol in the blood, which can increase the risk of heart disease or stroke.
The McRib is also high in salt, with 2.5g almost half the NHS recommended limit of 6g for adults.
Why the £4.49 sandwich, with over 500 calories, comes and goes is a little harder to figure out.
Rumours have it that McDonald’s will only bring it back when pork prices reach a certain threshold for maximum profit, while others argue that it’s to do with creating artificial scarcity.
The logic of the latter is that by limiting the McRib to a short period, it creates a buzz that makes people more likely to go to McDonald’s and buy not just the sandwich itself, but other items such as drinks and side dishes, increasing overall profits.
Either way, the McRib’s latest reintroduction in the UK is another short discussion before it returns to the McDonald’s vaults, where it will only be available while stocks last.