Quarter Pounder

The Quarter Pounder is a brand of hamburger introduced in 1971 by a Fremont, California franchisee of international fast food chain McDonald's and extended nationwide in 1973. Its name refers to the beef patty having a precooked weight of approximately one quarter of a pound, originally portioned as 4 oz but increased to 4.25 oz in 2015.[1] In some countries where the pound is not customarily used as a unit of weight, the hamburger's branding instead features the word Royal.

In 2013, the Quarter Pounder was expanded to represent a whole line of hamburgers that replaced the company's Angus hamburger, which was discontinued due to high prices for Angus Beef at the time.

History

The Quarter Pounder was created by Al Bernardin, a franchise owner and former McDonald's Vice President of product development, in Fremont, California, in 1971.[2] Bernardin had moved to Fremont in 1970 after purchasing two company-owned McDonald's restaurants.[2]

Bernardin began experimenting with new menu items for his McDonald's franchises.[2] In 1971, Bernardin introduced the first Quarter Pounders at his McDonald's in Fremont using the slogan, "Today Fremont, tomorrow the world."[2] The Quarter Pounder became such a success, it was added to the national American menu in 1973.[3][4] Since May 2018, McDonald's is using fresh beef with no preservatives added for their Quarter Pounders at their continental U.S. locations.

Product description

The burger comprises a beef patty weighing 120.5 g before cooking[15] and 3 oz prepared, pickles, raw onion, ketchup, and mustard. In the United States, Portugal and South Africa there are three variations: the Quarter Pounder with cheese, Quarter Pounder with Cheese & Bacon and the Quarter Pounder Deluxe.

The nutritional content of the Quarter Pounder varies between countries and locations. For example, in Australia, which uses local beef for its McDonald's products, the average Quarter Pounder has 33.7 g of protein per serving, a higher value than that stated for the same burger in the United States.[16]

Product name

In English-speaking countries the product retains the Quarter Pounder name despite metrication; in Quebec, it is known as Quart de livre. The term Quarterão com Queijo is used in metric Brazil, Cuarto de Libra con Queso in Spain and in Hispanic America, Quarter Pounder Cheese is used in Finland, and QP Cheese in Sweden. Some European countries, like Norway and the Netherlands simply refer to it as the Quarter Pounder. In Hong Kong, the Quarter Pounder is known as a "full three taels" (足三両) in Chinese because three taels is exactly equal in weight to a quarter pound, while the English name Quarter Pounder is retained. In Taiwan it is known as the "four-ounce beefburger" (四盎司牛肉堡). The Quarter Pounder is unavailable in mainland China. In Japan, the name was a katakana representation of "Quarter Pounder" (クォーターパウンダー ).

In several countries that do not customarily use the pound as a unit of weight, the Quarter Pounder is sold under different names. In France, Belgium, Croatia and Cyprus it is called the Royal Cheese and includes cheese. In German-speaking Europe it is known as a Hamburger Royal; in Germany it includes lettuce and tomato and is branded Hamburger Royal TS (TS standing for Tomate und Salat, tomato and lettuce). In Russia and Ukraine, it was known as Royal Cheeseburger, and since 2016 in Russia it is called Grand Cheeseburger. In Hungary, Latvia and Poland it is called McRoyal.[17]

See also

• List of sandwiches
• Whopper
• Third-pound burger

External links

• A McDonald's timeline