McDonald’s to serve quarter pounders with fresh beef

The fast food giant is making its biggest change to the quarter pounder yet

The fast food giant is making its biggest change to the quarter pounder yet (McDonalds)

Fast food giant McDonald's has announced that it will soon be serving fresh, rather than frozen beef, in all quarter pounders served at its restaurants in the US.

It’s one of the company’s latest moves in an effort to turn around its struggling US business and modernise its image while battling competition with upmarket rivals Five Guys and Shake Shack.

McDonald’s will begin offering quarter-pound burgers with fresh beef at the majority of its restaurants starting by mid-2018, following a successful test in 325 restaurants across Texas and Oklahoma, where McDonald’s described the feedback as “overwhelmingly positive”.

"We are committed to transforming more aspects of our business, including offering a more modern and enjoyable dining experience, adding new levels of convenience and technology, and making more positive changes to the food we serve," Steve Easterbrook, the chief executive of McDonald’s, said.

The company has over the last two years announced a number of changes to how it serves and sources food.

It removed artificial preservatives from its Chicken McNuggets last year and stopped using high-fructose corn syrup in its buns.

It also committed to only sourcing cage-free eggs by 2025, and it now only serves chicken not treated with antibiotics.

In January, McDonald’s reported that global same-store sales increased by 2.7 per cent year-over-year in 2016, beating analysts’ estimates.

However, sales declined by 1.3 per cent in US due to "challenging comparison against the prior-year launch of the very successful All-Day Breakfast."