When you think of the quality of McDonald’s food, a lot of images may come to mind: that weird pink slime they say chicken nuggets are made out of, that documentary you probably watched in middle school where you swore to never eat a Big Mac again, or even this image:
Now while most of these claims have been proven to be wrong, many people still tend to keep one arm’s length away from the glorious Golden Arches. But what we cannot allow is the slanderous actions against possibly one of America’s most underrated culinary creations: The McRib.
The above photo was reposted by a high school teacher, Wes Bellamy, (@DrWesBellamy) on Twitter, which set off a huge backlash against McDonald’s safety and food standards, and more importantly, targeted the McRib as a dangerous and unhealthy meal.
Luckily, the McRib is able to live on, as McDonald’s decided that enough was enough. The company invited Mr. Bellamy and former host of MythBusters, Grant Imahara, to come and witness the true process of creating the magical meat sandwich we are blessed to have bestowed upon us every year. Welcome to McDonald’s Mythbusters.
MYTH: The McRib does not contain real pork.
FACT: Why, of course it does you uncultured swine. (Pun intended)
Although dozens of rumors swirl around about the exact ingredients of the McRib, ranging from accusations of pig bits, ammonium sulfate, to even kangaroo meat, the McRib is proven to be real, boneless pork meat, specifically, pork shoulder. It also contains onions, pickles, and barbecue sauce.
MYTH: McRibs are created using voodoo magic, sorcery, and witchcraft.
FACT: The process of making McRibs is broken down into three, safe steps
Through the visit of Wes Bellamy, who first re-tweeted the image of the so-called frozen patties, and Grant Imahara, McDonald’s showed exactly how the process of making the McRibs goes down.
Firstly, the real meat is mixed with water, salt, sugar, and preservatives.
Then, the meat is moved around the factory. Lastly, the meat is shaped into the traditional McRib shape, then frozen for its delivery to McDonalds.
When the McRib arrives at McDonald’s, it is cooked in a panini press machine until golden brown, then lathered in barbecue sauce.
The full video can be seen here.
Here are Wes and Grant biting into that delicious, finished McRib, whereupon Wes admitted, “All of my questions have been answered… the sandwich is pretty good, man. It’s actually really good.”
MYTH: The roll used for McRib’s contains azodicarbonamide (ADA), a chemical used in the manufacturing of yoga mats, and other rubber or plastic products.
FACT: This is true.
HOWEVER, you cannot lose hope in the McRib yet, as there is a simple explanation for the use of ADA in the hoagie style rolls that McRibs are served on.
Although it is true that ADA is used in the bread, ADA is a multipurpose chemical that can be used for creating yoga mats, but is also very commonly used as a dough conditioner. In fact, even Subway used this chemical in their bread until a couple years ago, and even issued a statement when they stopped using the chemical saying ADA is “an extremely common bread ingredient that is fully approved and recognized as safe by the FDA.”
There’s no denying it, McRib’s bad reputation is nothing less than poorly deserved. How could anyone hate the juicy, scrumptious, heaven-sent sandwich that we, mankind, do not even deserve? If you’re dying for a bite of that beautiful masterpiece of a sandwich, believe me, I am with you.
My pro-tip? Order your McRib with a Dr. Pepper—it complements the sandwich beautifully. However, the hardest part about being a McRib lover is that McRibs are only available for a limited time a year.
The worst part is that it is completely random each year: McDonald’s constantly teases us with the knowledge that somewhere, somehow, the McRib is waiting for us. Until then, check the McRib locator, and look out for advertisements, billboards, and commercials all proclaiming the chosen sandwich’s return. I’ll probably see you in line.