McDonald's chicken McNuggets
McDonald’s plans to remove artificial preservatives from its Chicken McNuggets.

OAK BROOK, ILL. — McDonald’s Corp. has announced a number of menu changes in its 14,000 restaurants in the United States, including the removal of artificial preservatives from Chicken McNuggets, pork sausage patties and omelet-style and scrambled eggs. The fast-food company also is debuting new buns without high-fructose corn syrup for its Big Macs, Quarter Pounders, hamburgers and cheeseburgers, Filet-O-Fish and McChicken sandwiches.

Additionally, McDonald’s has completed its commitment to only serve chicken not treated with antibiotics important to human medicine almost a year ahead of schedule. The company originally had aimed to achieve its antibiotics commitment by March 2017, but through collaboration with its suppliers and poultry farmers on a large scale McDonald’s was able to accelerate its progress in the pledge.

McDonald's burger buns
McDonald's also is debuting new buns without high-fructose corn syrup for its Big Macs, Quarter Pounders, hamburgers and cheeseburgers, Filet-O-Fish and McChicken sandwiches.

The changes affect nearly half of the items on McDonald’s menu.

Mike Andres, McDonald's
Mike Andres, president of McDonald’s USA

“More than ever, people care about their food — where it comes from, what goes into it and how it’s prepared,” said Mike Andres, president, McDonald’s USA. “We’re making changes to ensure the food we’re proud of is food our customers love and feel good eating, and we remain committed to our continuing food journey at McDonald’s.”

Previously, McDonald’s announced a commitment to source 100% cage-free eggs by 2025 in the United States and Canada, began sourcing milk in its low-fat milk jugs and Go-Gurt low-fat yogurt from cows not treated with rbST, and moved from margarine to butter in its Egg McMuffin. Other initiatives include the introduction of a new salad blend, replacing iceberg lettuce with romaine, spinach and kale, and adding Tuscan red leaf lettuce and ribbon-cut carrot curls; and the launches of Buttermilk Crispy Chicken and Artisan Grilled Chicken, both made with simple ingredients.

McDonald's Gilroy Garlic Fries
McDonald’s continues to innovate its menu with local and regional launches, such as its Gilroy garlic fries in the San Francisco Bay area.

McDonald’s said it continues to innovate its menu with such ingredients as turkey sausage, guacamole, sriracha and pico de gallo as part of local and regional launches, which recently have included Gilroy garlic fries in the San Francisco Bay area, Old Bay Filet-O-Fish sandwich across the Mid-Atlantic, and Lobster Rolls in New England.

“From our test kitchens to what we serve in our restaurants, we’re zeroing in on how to bring new flavors and choices some never have seen before on our menu to customers across the country,” said Jessica Foust, director of culinary innovation at McDonald’s Corp. “Our focus on culinary innovation at McDonald’s is essential as we continue to evolve.”