[Editor’s note: the following is a cross post by Dina Spector and Kim Bhasin that originally appeared on Business Insider]:
The McDonald’s McRib is back, hitting restaurants nationwide today. The legendary boneless pork sandwich, famously molded to resemble a rack of ribs, is both a feat of modern engineering and shrewd marketing.
It garners almost as much attention for its pseudo-meat shape as its impermanence on restaurant menus.
The barbecue-sauce-smothered sandwich was supposed to return at the end of October, but was pushed back to help boost end-of-the-year sales.
Better late than never.
1. The McRib came about because of a shortage of chickens.
(Getty Images)
In a 2009 interview with Maxim, Rene Arend, McDonald’s first executive chef and inventor of the Chicken McNugget, explains that the McNugget was so popular when it was first introduced in 1979 that demand quickly outstripped chicken supply.
The legendary pork sandwich was developed out of necessity. Franchises that didn’t have the Chicken McNugget needed a new hot-selling product — and that’s when Arend scrambled back to the test kitchen.
2. The McRib was inspired by Southern BBQ
(Getty Images)
Rene Arend modeled the McRib after the barbecue-sauce-slathered pork sandwiches he ate during a visit to Charleston, South Carolina.
The decorated French-trained chef, who once whipped up fancy culinary creations for the Drake Hotel, is also credited with coming up the unique shape of the sandwich.
Although the McRib doesn’t contain a single bone, Arend suggested the meat be patterned after a slab of ribs instead of the classic round patty.
3. The McRib is a product of “restructured meat technology.”
(Getty Images)
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.
(Getty Images)
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.
(Getty Images)
As 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.
6. The McRib debuted in 1981, disappeared in 1985, and has resurfaced from time-to-time since 1994.
(YouTube)
Depending on where you read, McDonald’s introduced the boneless pork sandwich sometime between 1981 and 1982. The fast-food concoction vanished in 1985, only to reappear as a limited-edition item in 1994.
The McRib has become something of a legend for its on-and-off appearances on McDonald’s menus. The fleeting nature of the sandwich has generated a cult-like following.
7. Individual restaurants can actually order the ingredients for the McRib at any time.
(Getty Images)
The McRib pops up at McDonald’s locations across the country sporadically. It’s so random because the individual restaurants are able to offer the McRib whenever they feel like it. The practice has even inspired websites devoted to tracking McRib availability across the nation.
8. McDonald’s keeps the McRib scarce because the sandwich’s entire brand relies on it.
(Getty Images)
McDonald’s has always known about its customers’ weird obsession for the sandwich, and its marketing completely leverages the McRib’s scarcity. Take its “Save The McRib” campaign in 2010, where it encouraged McRib fans to go online and sign a petition to keep the sandwich around for a while longer.
But a strategy like that only works with something that’s as popular as the McRib is. If you make an unknown item scarce, nobody’s going to care.
9. It’d be incredibly difficult for McDonald’s to create more McRib-esque products, because that cult-like following is so hard to replicate.
(Getty Images)
McRib lovers are fanatical, but it wouldn’t be this way if the phenomenon hadn’t had decades to marinate in the hearts and minds of its fans. A wholly devoted fanbase for a new product would take years to develop, and even then, there’s no guarantee that it would work.
McDonald’s struck gold with the McRib, and it doesn’t want to do anything to affect its brand. Even now, by offering the McRib nationwide twice just a year apart, it’s walking a fine line. At what point will consumers get sick of it?
10. There’s also speculation that the McRib is really just a big commodity trade by McDonald’s.
(Getty Images)
The Awl’s Willey Staley argues that whenever the sandwich springs up, hog prices are almost always in a trough.
Here’s more of his argument on why McDonald’s behaves like a trader: “Fast food involves both hideously violent economies of scale and sad, sad end users who volunteer to be taken advantage of. What makes the McRib different from this everyday horror is that a) McDonald’s is huge to the point that it’s more useful to think of it as a company trading in commodities than it is to think of it as a chain of restaurants b) it is made of pork, which makes it a unique product in the QSR world and c) it is only available sometimes, but refuses to go away entirely.”
11. Animal rights group sues McRib meat supplier over inhumane treatment of pigs.
Not everyone is ecstatic about the return of the McRib. Last November, the Humane Society of the United States filed a lawsuit against Smithfield Foods, the pork supplier of McDonald’s McRib meat, claiming the meat distributor houses its pigs in unethical farm conditions.
A 2010 undercover investigation by the animal rights group shows pigs crammed into gestation crates covered in blood and baby pigs being tossed into carts like rag dolls (WARNING: the video contains some pretty graphic content).
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RELATED:
- Step Inside The Building Where McDonald’s Runs Its Global Empire
- The Truth About McDonald’s Burgers That Don’t Rot
- McDonald’s Striker: ‘They’re Not Paying Us Enough To Survive’
Featured image courtesy mcdonalds.com
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Comments (191)
truthnstuff
Dec. 18, 2012 at 1:23pmHeart, stomach, tripe. 70 other ingredients……never had one, a n d,,,,,,,,, think I’ll continue to pass. Maybe popular in Scotland.
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WarMunger_Al
Dec. 18, 2012 at 2:03pmI love the mcrib…..When eating fast food, it is better not to ask what is in it. Obviously it is very bad for you, but it tastes good.
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wardance
Dec. 18, 2012 at 3:50pmIts probably going to be the biggest seller in England given their desire to eat shyte.
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SREGN
Dec. 18, 2012 at 3:51pmAye, Laddy.
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searcher619
Dec. 18, 2012 at 4:30pmActually on the original story that is corrected. According to McDonald’s, “The McRib is made from simple ground pork. No tripe, heart, stomach, offal or similar parts are used.”
Just an FYI
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charles116
Dec. 18, 2012 at 7:07pmI can go to a supermarket and get 1/2 a roast BBQ chicken for a few cents more
AND I KNOW IT’S ALL CHICKEN!
Just be a little more choosy about your fast food.
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garylee123
Dec. 19, 2012 at 1:25pmNothing but bbq sauce slathered Menudo.
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4kidsandacat
Dec. 19, 2012 at 6:19pmI’ve had a McRib once…..once.
I honestly think Haggis would taste better, and at least I know what’s in that!
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Magyar
Dec. 18, 2012 at 1:21pmI think I’ll finish myself off– after consuming a McRib, I’ll have me a Luck Strike!
Good GOD—stop eating this sh/t… it’s poison!
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RabidPatriot
Dec. 18, 2012 at 1:29pmI first saw one of these fecal sandwiches in middle school before McDonalds started selling them. They smell awful and they taste awful. This crap patty makes spam taste like prime rib. Just the smell alone makes my stomach turn even to this day. The things people will eat is amazing.
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WarMunger_Al
Dec. 18, 2012 at 2:07pmI guess you guys don’t eat commercial sausages, hot dogs, and hamburger either?
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jhrusky
Dec. 18, 2012 at 2:28pm@ warmunger_al
Nope … I stick with good quality, humanely produced, organic grass-fed meat. I value my health and that of my family much more that to consume chemistry lab experiments.
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Frederick_Douglass_Republican
Dec. 18, 2012 at 2:36pmUnless you never eat hot dogs don’t complain. Even the best hot dogs are loaded with guts which if you saw them in a bucket before processing you’d never touch a hot dog. If not for spices, food coloring, and texturing additives and processes hot dogs would be a colorless tasteless gelatinous mess of goo. And for what its worth all those innards are actually good for you. Our bodies are designed for an omnivorous diet. When eating an animal only eating the meat and excluding the fat and guts means our body is missing out on some of the most important nutrients. The processing chemistry and some of the additives in the mcrib and hot dogs maybe not so good
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RabidPatriot
Dec. 18, 2012 at 4:04pmI make my own sausage and frankfurters. I use only high quality ingredients and I eat as little processed food as I possibly can. The sodium alone will kill you. If you want to stop eating hotdogs, just go to youtube and type in how it’s made hotdogs. You will be cured. Based on Fredrick’s post I guess I’ll keep complaining.
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searcher619
Dec. 18, 2012 at 5:00pmHow is it poison? We here in the US and the west in general are incredibly spoiled.
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searcher619
Dec. 18, 2012 at 5:07pmRabidPatriot:
“The sodium alone will kill you.”
Actually…
http://news.menshealth.com/new-study-salt-may-not-be-bad-for-your-heart/2011/07/13/
Sees we have been wrong about sodium.
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Bluebonnet
Dec. 18, 2012 at 6:20pm@JHRUSKY, It costs more, but I’m with you. I try to buy organic, grass fed beef and almost never eat hamburger out anywhere. It’s gotten to the point that eating out grosses me out to think about it. I also want organic salads and always worry about salads at a restaurant. Never (well almost never eat strawberry stuff unless it’s organic.
Yeah, it costs a little more, but to me, it’s worth it. I carry the list of the foods they call clean (not as full of spray) that I get, but try to buy everything organic and stay away from the poison sprays and
chemical fertilizers that are all drawn into the fruits and veggies through the irrigation.
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do_in_it_2
Dec. 19, 2012 at 10:57amYou can tell a lot of people are eating the mat ingredients. Look at there a$$ they have an exercise mat built in.
http://vimeo.com/43933877
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ASUDave
Dec. 19, 2012 at 4:23pmI have a very good friend who used to be an inspector for the USDA. According to him, very very little separates “organic” from anything else. Its not that they don’t use “any” pesticides, fertilizer, etc. Like most things in the industry, its about the amount of that stuff they use.
So, I’d rather save myself a few bucks than be fooled by the granola, tree-hugger wannabes.
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jhrusky
Dec. 19, 2012 at 5:05pm@ asudave
“I have a very good friend who used to be an inspector for the USDA. According to him, very very little separates “organic” from anything else. Its not that they don’t use “any” pesticides, fertilizer, etc. Like most things in the industry, its about the amount of that stuff they use.”
You are correct, unfortunately. Now, certified organic AND grass-fed is a bit different. And, knowing the producer and being able to stop in at his establishment anytime also makes quite a difference. When I speak organic, grass-fed, there are no pesticides that go on the feed he uses and no GMO feed.
As to the organic vegetables, we grow our own so I know they are truly organic as well. Of the few we buy, we buy from people we know who does the same so are are pretty assured of what we are buying.
But, you are correct in that much of what is called ‘organic’ in the store is very similar to the factory-farmed crap.
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702TruthSeeker
Dec. 18, 2012 at 1:15pmthink i’ll get one for lunch today! yum heart stomach and tripe, the 70 ingredients just mean you’re getting your moneys worth!!
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seeker9
Dec. 18, 2012 at 3:03pmYum! mmm,mmm,mmm!
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Bluebonnet
Dec. 18, 2012 at 6:42pmAnd don’t forget the flour bleaching agents they put into exercise mats in foods. Maybe what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, think? NOT!
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RepubliCorp
Dec. 18, 2012 at 7:36pmpink slim with crappy BBQ sauce…………….. McD’s has some great marketing
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bigdaddyt46
Dec. 19, 2012 at 5:02amlove the mcrib? wanna save a fist full of dollars(obvious Clint Eastwood fan :D)?
whenever i get a graving for a mcrib i go to the store buy a 6pk of mini hogie buns, go to the freezer section pick banquette’s family size(2# 6 patties) rib patties in bbq sauce. tastes exactly the same and it costs only pennies per sandwhich. viola craving fullfilled, and $$$$ saved. win/win.
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ltb
Dec. 18, 2012 at 1:14pmFascinating Fact No. 12: It takes 15 years to digest.
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Oh, God!
Dec. 18, 2012 at 1:04pmChomp.
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moreteaplease
Dec. 18, 2012 at 1:03pmI won’t go near one of these things. I tried one a few times and I thought I was gnawing on a bicycle inner-tube.
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ICSPADES
Dec. 18, 2012 at 2:20pmDuh, you have to take it out of the box first. :)
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bobdog19006
Dec. 18, 2012 at 4:59pmCan you tell the difference if you do?
Is caca.
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jagman97
Dec. 18, 2012 at 12:56pmThey should rename it the McCarcass
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Proverbs17-12NLT
Dec. 18, 2012 at 3:12pmNow that’s funny right there!
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charles116
Dec. 18, 2012 at 12:45pmFact #1 The “meat” in a McRib has never been part of a pig.
Fact#2 The BBQ sauce will remove rust.
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FISH_BONE
Dec. 18, 2012 at 1:29pmGood morning DORA.
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WarMunger_Al
Dec. 18, 2012 at 2:06pmso it is multifunctional. Awesome.
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DZ-015
Dec. 18, 2012 at 12:44pmSo this Mock Rib sandwich is full of heart?
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DEFCON4
Dec. 18, 2012 at 1:15pmIndeed, it is “heart-healthy”…..
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DZ-015
Dec. 18, 2012 at 1:45pmThat is, if you can stomach the tripe.
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DEFCON4
Dec. 18, 2012 at 2:11pmThat, would take some “large” intestinal fortitude….
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BlazingPatriot
Dec. 18, 2012 at 4:31pmTakes a lot of guts to eat those guts.
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DEFCON4
Dec. 18, 2012 at 4:54pmThat’s absolutely gut-wrenching…..
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dont-care-anymore
Dec. 18, 2012 at 12:32pmyummy a nuts guts and feathers sandwich
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cemerius
Dec. 18, 2012 at 12:30pmI am STILL reeling over the “pink slime” that makes the chicken nuggets something about the ammonia treatment that erks me…..now my world has been topside over! Might as well enjoy a hot bowl of menudo now!…..I too have eaten some “exotic” things in my travels to Asia……
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stluisrey
Dec. 19, 2012 at 9:29amYou can get the McRib sandwich all year around in GERMANY.
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thegreatcarnac
Dec. 18, 2012 at 12:23pmMcDonalds is thinking on changing its name to McGhettos. The Golden arches are going to be changed and the new logo is going to be a gold tooth with an M cut out of the center. It shall be called the ‘golden toof’.
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ONLY4UANDME
Dec. 18, 2012 at 12:36pmCould it cost fiddy cent?
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ONLY4UANDME
Dec. 18, 2012 at 12:41pmHow come it isn’t $ fiddy.cent
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VanGrungy
Dec. 18, 2012 at 12:51pm“Coming to America”
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ChildOfTheKing
Dec. 18, 2012 at 12:58pmI, for one, did not know what the McRib consisted of and therefore, I will not be eating at Mcdonald’s much anymore. I love their McNuggets and their Summer drinks. Besides, it is much better to eat your own cooking, or go out for a real home-cooked meal with REAL MEAT that has not be dummied up with unknown ingredients.
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truthnstuff
Dec. 18, 2012 at 1:25pmLol.
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4kidsandacat
Dec. 19, 2012 at 9:28pmUgh. I won’t eat the McNuggets either, same texture as the McRib (wonder if it’s the same ingredients as well?). Gimme Chick Fil A nuggets any day!
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RightUnite
Dec. 18, 2012 at 12:16pmI guarantee that if they knew what it contained, they wouldn’t like them as much anymore.
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BSdetector
Dec. 18, 2012 at 12:29pmThey voted for obamacare, they figure they can survive as a brain in a jar…
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Bobj_1960
Dec. 18, 2012 at 12:29pmSame can be said with hot dogs and several other foods. Still tasty enough for me.
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Ben__Franklin
Dec. 18, 2012 at 1:19pmHad a hotdog or ham salad sandwich lately?
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Nevermind
Dec. 18, 2012 at 12:12pmAS much as i try to avoid fast food the Mcrib is my guilty pleasure , i think i may go there for lunch now. Sure it is bad for you and made of crap but 1 a year isnt going to kill me, moderation is the key. I will eat fast food today but wont have it again for months and most the food i eat is from local farmers so it balances out.
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DAS_MOOCH
Dec. 18, 2012 at 12:56pmMacDonalds food will kill you, McNuggets have silicone & other deadly chem compounds in them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG8yJOrVc5I
NEVERMIND, please, by all means, continue eating them.
Yes ghetto rats love Mickey D’s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3Eew9TVYpU
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ResistSocialism
Dec. 18, 2012 at 12:10pmI want one
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ResistSocialism
Dec. 18, 2012 at 4:27pmI am tracking down one of these delicious treats. Sadly no buy one get one coupon anywhere.
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huey6367
Dec. 18, 2012 at 12:08pmMcRib = McS***
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Bill Wallace
Dec. 18, 2012 at 12:06pmHad my first, and last, McRib on the weekend.
The bun had more texture than the meat alternative product between the bun. Was like biting into a noodle that was cooked way too long.
Nasty. Now that I know a bit more, only firms up the resolve.
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RepubliCorp
Dec. 18, 2012 at 8:00pmagree……. a few blocks from my house they sells pulled pork cook on hardwood. Much better than Mc rubber-rib
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Pat Alexander
Dec. 18, 2012 at 12:06pmYum!
I think I’ll have some road kill instead….
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Tri-ox
Dec. 18, 2012 at 12:02pmAnd in other McDonald’s news:
McDonald’s Pressuring Its Restaurants to Open On Christmas Day –
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/12/17/mcdonalds-wants-its-restaurant-opened-on-christmas-day/
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The-Monk
Dec. 18, 2012 at 11:59amThe McRib is a lot like trolls…..
“Don’t Go Away Mad Just Go Away”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWJIGq2x7gQ
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Landon410
Dec. 18, 2012 at 11:58ami bet mcdonalds food (and other companies of the like) kill more people than “assault rifles” do a year in the U.S.
maybe we should ban Mcdonalds, Burger king, Wendys etc
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netmail
Dec. 18, 2012 at 12:06pmToo late to ban anything. You either learn to work around this culture or fall victim to it.
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Depressed_American
Dec. 18, 2012 at 12:10pmNYC Mayor Bloomberg is already the Chief of Food Police, he’s working on it, as Well as the Food CZAR M. Obama…… Just give them time……
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DougHuffman
Dec. 18, 2012 at 12:17pm@NetMail – Well said. I’ll remember that.
I recommend to you Samuel P. Huntington’s The Clash of Civilizations – and the Remaking of World Order. Huntington teaches that culture is one of the fractures overwhich we will war.
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netmail
Dec. 18, 2012 at 1:51pmDoughuffman….Thanks for your comment. I’ll look in to your recommendation.
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DougHuffman
Dec. 18, 2012 at 4:53pmI found the book in an Hillsdale.edu College on-line free Constitution lecture’s references/bibliography.
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DougHuffman
Dec. 18, 2012 at 11:53amA McJob is to employment as a McRib is to nutrition. The Bible taught us, and we have forgotten, the differences among giving a man a fish and teaching a man to catch fish.
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Fubared
Dec. 18, 2012 at 1:44pmProblem being we have a culture that just wants you to keep bringing them the fish, and hurry up.
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AntonW
Dec. 18, 2012 at 11:47amI thought this was going to be a McStory, but it was actually informative in a McInteresting sort of way.
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repairsea
Dec. 18, 2012 at 11:45amHow do they stay in business?
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netmail
Dec. 18, 2012 at 11:54amEverything in mainstream food manufacturing today is FAKE. The general public is STUPID and obviously, they know it.
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Zipit
Dec. 18, 2012 at 11:59amI know, I know! I’ll take two please!
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Landon410
Dec. 18, 2012 at 11:43amU of Nebraska, we make meat products and NASCAR safety walls!
go us!
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