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Tab

(11,093 posts)
Mon Dec 17, 2012, 07:05 PM Dec 2012

A couple of facts about the McRib sandwich

3. The McRib is a product of "restructured meat technology."

Rene Arend came up with the idea and design of the McRib, but it's a professor from the University of Nebraska named Richard Mandigo who developed the "restructured meat product" that the McRib is actually made of.

According to an article from Chicago magazine, which cites a 1995 article by Mandigo, "restructured meat product" contains a mixture of tripe, heart, and scalded stomach, which is then mixed with salt and water to extract proteins from the muscle. The proteins bind all the pork trimmings together so that it can be re-molded into any specific shape — in this case, a fake slab of ribs.

4. The whole process from fresh pork to frozen McRib takes about 45 minutes.

Director of McDonald's U.S. supply chain Rob Cannell explained how regular pig gets transformed into the famed McRib in an interview with Maxim: "The McRib is made in large processing plants—lots of stainless steel, a number of production lines, and these long cryogenic freezers. The pork meat is chopped up, then seasoned, then formed into that shape that looks like a rib back. Then we flash-freeze it. The whole process from fresh pork to frozen McRib takes about 45 minutes."

5. The entire McRib sandwich contains about 70 ingredients — including a flour-bleaching agent used in yoga mats.

Flickr/Calgary ReviewsAs it appears out of the box, the McRib sandwich consists of just five basic components: a pork patty, barbecue sauce, pickle slices, onions, and a sesame bun.

But, as recently reported by Time magazine, a closer inspection of McDonald's own ingredient list reveals that the pork sandwich contains a total of 70 ingredients. This includes azodicarbonamide, a flour-bleaching agent often used in the production of foamed plastics.

The entire sandwich packs a whopping 500 calories, 26 grams of fat, 44 grams of carbs, and 980 milligrams of sodium.
[hr]
You had me at "scalded stomach"

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Major Nikon

(36,827 posts)
3. I have mixed feelings about things like this
Mon Dec 17, 2012, 11:26 PM
Dec 2012

On one hand I think if we are going to use animals for human consumption, we should be using as much of the animal as is reasonable. Anything else means more animals are slaughtered for human consumption which is bad for a lot of different reasons.

On the other hand, forming these things into shapes that resemble cuts of meat is more than a bit of dishonest marketing.

TreasonousBastard

(43,049 posts)
5. I tried one a while back and it had no "rib" flavor...
Mon Dec 17, 2012, 11:37 PM
Dec 2012

just a nasty, cheap BBQ sauce flavor.

I can't advocate real ribs as a sustainable, healthy food, but they've been around as long as roasted pigs have and they're not going away any time soon. More's the pity, then, that so many kids will grow up not knowing what a good rack of ribs really tastes like.

FWIW, on another matter-- I grew up with my mother's mac&cheese which involved mass quantities of grated cheddar, some milk and mild spices, and a broiler to lightly char slabs of cheddar on top. When one of my nephews had his first taste of this, after many Kraft boxes of stuff, he had no idea what it was.

Pity the Brazilian restaurant owner who, after carefully tending the meat in his pit all day, hears some kid exclaim "What the fuck is that? I ordered ribs!"

hobbit709

(41,694 posts)
6. Many years ago when they first came out with those POS's
Tue Dec 18, 2012, 07:30 AM
Dec 2012

A local columnist said it perfectly. "McDonalds tells a McFib" about the fact that there is no real rib meat in them.

TheManInTheMac

(985 posts)
8. Todd Wilber, the top secret recipes guy, has a video on YouTube on how to
Sun Dec 23, 2012, 05:17 PM
Dec 2012

replicate the McRib. Having watched it, his has to be immeasurably better than that thing at McDonalds.

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