Testing for the new McNugget recipe began in March in 140 McDonald’s locations in Portland, Oregon, and Washington, and a nationwide launch aims to coincide with the 2016 Summer Olympics, though McDonald’s has not made any official announcement regarding the launch.
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The nuggets being tested in Portland do not contain any artificial preservatives, the company said in an emailed statement to Reuters.
Fast food chains, like McDonald’s, have been facing consumers’ changing attitudes about fast food.
This new preservative-free McNuggets trial is the first time the recipe has been changed since its national release in 1983. Despite sounding like a simple and clean recipe using “100% white meat” the McDonald’s website lists the current recipe for McNuggets as including 32 individual ingredients.
The McNugget test reflects the sensitivities of parents of young children in particular.
Last year, for instance, McDonald’s tweaked its grilled chicken recipe to remove ingredients people might not recognise. McDonald’s has long marketed to families with its Happy Meals and Ronald McDonald mascot. Last week, Fortune reported that McDonald’s sales at established restaurants increased by 5.4 percent.
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McDonald’s is testing a new recipe for their Chicken McNuggets which contains no artificial preservatives. “This is very much a test”, the rep says, adding the response has been favorable so far. The results were boosted at least in part by higher pricing and the shuttering of underperforming stores.McDonalds Corp., based in Oak Brook, Illinois, has more than 14,000 locations in the U.S.
