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The Quarter Pounder is a hamburger sold by international fast food
Fast food

File:2008-0614-In-N-Out-burgsfries.jpgFast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with low quality preparation and served to the customer in a packaged form for Tak...
 chain
Chain store

Chain stores are retail outlets that share a brand and central management, and usually have standardized business methods and practices. These characteristics also apply to chain restaurants and some service-oriented chain businesses....
 McDonald's
McDonald's

McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of fast food restaurants, serving nearly 58 million customers daily. McDonald's primarily sells hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken products, French fries, breakfast items, soft drinks, milkshakes, and desserts....
.

burger comprises a beef
Beef

Beef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle . Beef is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of Australia, European cuisine and the Americas, and is also important in Africa, East Asia, and Southeast Asia....
 patty
Patty

The word Patty can represent:*Patty, a common female name, usually short for Patricia*Patty and Peppermint Patty, two characters in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M....
 weighing 4 oz. (113.4 g.) before cooking and 3 oz. prepared, pickled cucumber
Pickled cucumber

A pickled cucumber, most often simply called a pickle in the United States and Canada, is a cucumber that has been Pickling in a brine, vinegar, or other solutions and left to ferment for a period of time....
, raw onion
Onion

Onion is a term used for many plants in the genus Allium. They are known by the common name "onion" but, used without qualifiers, it usually refers to Allium cepa....
, ketchup
Ketchup

Ketchup, also known as tomato ketchup, tomato sauce, red sauce is a condiment, usually made from tomatoes. The primary ingredients in a typical modern ketchup are tomato concentrate, spirit vinegar, milk, corn syrup, or other sugar, edible salt, spice and herb extracts , spice and garlic powder....
, and mustard
Mustard

Mustard may refer to:...
. The more common variant, the Quarter Pounder with cheese, adds two slices of American cheese
American cheese

American cheese is a common processed cheese. It is orange, yellow, or white in color and mild in flavor, with a medium-firm consistency, and melts easily....
.

In most markets unfamiliar with imperial measurements
English unit

English units refers to the historical units of measurement in medieval England, which evolved as a combination of the Anglo-Saxons and Ancient Roman units of measurement systems of units....
, the Quarter Pounder is known as the Hamburger Royale or McRoyal, or variants thereof, including "Royale with Cheese", as famously explained in the film Pulp Fiction
Pulp Fiction (film)

Pulp Fiction is a 1994 in film United States crime film by director Quentin Tarantino, who cowrote its screenplay with Roger Avary. The film is known for its rich, eclecticism dialogue, irony Black comedy, nonlinear storyline, and host of cinematic and popular culture references....
 (although one should note that in France the official name of the Quarter Pounder with Cheese is Royal Cheese).






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The Quarter Pounder is a hamburger sold by international fast food
Fast food

File:2008-0614-In-N-Out-burgsfries.jpgFast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with low quality preparation and served to the customer in a packaged form for Tak...
 chain
Chain store

Chain stores are retail outlets that share a brand and central management, and usually have standardized business methods and practices. These characteristics also apply to chain restaurants and some service-oriented chain businesses....
 McDonald's
McDonald's

McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of fast food restaurants, serving nearly 58 million customers daily. McDonald's primarily sells hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken products, French fries, breakfast items, soft drinks, milkshakes, and desserts....
.

Product description

The burger comprises a beef
Beef

Beef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle . Beef is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of Australia, European cuisine and the Americas, and is also important in Africa, East Asia, and Southeast Asia....
 patty
Patty

The word Patty can represent:*Patty, a common female name, usually short for Patricia*Patty and Peppermint Patty, two characters in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M....
 weighing 4 oz. (113.4 g.) before cooking and 3 oz. prepared, pickled cucumber
Pickled cucumber

A pickled cucumber, most often simply called a pickle in the United States and Canada, is a cucumber that has been Pickling in a brine, vinegar, or other solutions and left to ferment for a period of time....
, raw onion
Onion

Onion is a term used for many plants in the genus Allium. They are known by the common name "onion" but, used without qualifiers, it usually refers to Allium cepa....
, ketchup
Ketchup

Ketchup, also known as tomato ketchup, tomato sauce, red sauce is a condiment, usually made from tomatoes. The primary ingredients in a typical modern ketchup are tomato concentrate, spirit vinegar, milk, corn syrup, or other sugar, edible salt, spice and herb extracts , spice and garlic powder....
, and mustard
Mustard

Mustard may refer to:...
. The more common variant, the Quarter Pounder with cheese, adds two slices of American cheese
American cheese

American cheese is a common processed cheese. It is orange, yellow, or white in color and mild in flavor, with a medium-firm consistency, and melts easily....
.

In most markets unfamiliar with imperial measurements
English unit

English units refers to the historical units of measurement in medieval England, which evolved as a combination of the Anglo-Saxons and Ancient Roman units of measurement systems of units....
, the Quarter Pounder is known as the Hamburger Royale or McRoyal, or variants thereof, including "Royale with Cheese", as famously explained in the film Pulp Fiction
Pulp Fiction (film)

Pulp Fiction is a 1994 in film United States crime film by director Quentin Tarantino, who cowrote its screenplay with Roger Avary. The film is known for its rich, eclecticism dialogue, irony Black comedy, nonlinear storyline, and host of cinematic and popular culture references....
 (although one should note that in France the official name of the Quarter Pounder with Cheese is Royal Cheese). In some countries that have adopted metrication
Metrication

Metrication refers to the introduction of the Metric system as the international standard for physical measurements?a long-term series of independent and systematic conversions from the various separate localism systems of historical weights and measures....
, such as Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
 and Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
, the burger retains the Quarter Pounder name. Quarteirão com Queijo is used in metric Brazil
Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the List of countries by population country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world....
, Cuarto de Libra con Queso in Perú
Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, Quarter Pounder is used in Finland
Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland , is a Nordic countries situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland....
 and QP Cheese in Sweden
Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the ?resund Bridge in the south....
. And in some Middle-Eastern countries such as United Arab Emirates, McDonald's provides both a Quarter Pounder and a McRoyale burger on its menu, the McRoyale having slightly different ingredients.

Variants

  • The Double Quarter Pounder, known as the Boss in New Zealand
    New Zealand

    New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
     (227g from patties total), adds another four ounce patty and slice of cheese.
  • Bacon Quarter Pounder - ketchup, mustard, cheddar cheese, cracked black pepper and cheese sauce and 3 pieces of streaky bacon (rashers)
    Available in the UK.
  • McFeast - Quarter pound patty, mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, onion.
    Available in Australia, Denmark
    Denmark

    Denmark is a Scandinavian country in northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries....
    , Finland
    Finland

    Finland , officially the Republic of Finland , is a Nordic countries situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland....
    , Iceland
    Iceland

    Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland , is an island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean between mainland Europe and Greenland....
    , Ireland
    Ireland

    Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
    , Norway
    Norway

    Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a constitutional monarchy in Northern Europe that occupies the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula....
    , Portugal
    Portugal

    Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east....
    , South Africa
    South Africa

    The Republic of South Africa, also known by Official names of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa....
    , and Sweden
    Sweden

    Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the ?resund Bridge in the south....
    . Discontinued in Australia, but has since made a return in early 2008. Discontinued in New Zealand
    New Zealand

    New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
     and replaced by the MegaFeast, now also discontinued.
  • McRoyal - Sesame seed bun, "royal sauce" (mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard), lettuce, four pickle slices, two tomato slices, 3-4 purple onion rings, cheese can be added upon request and 140g beef patty grilled over charcoal. The Double McRoyal comes with 3 tomato slices and two 140g beef patty (280g total).
    Available in Israel, Italy, Serbia and Czech Republic. Previously available in Greece, now replaced with original Quarter Pounder.
  • Hamburger Royal TS - sesame seed bun, mayonnaise sauce (which consists 60% of yoghurt), onions, iceberg lettuce, one tomato slice, one slice of cheese. Sold in Germany
    Germany

    Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
    , Austria and Luxembourg.
  • Hamburger Royal Bacon - sesame seed bun, ketchup, mustard, pickles, onions, baco and cheese. Sold in Germany
    Germany

    Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
     as a variant of the the original Hamburger Royal Käse (Quarter Pounder with cheese), which is no longer well promoted there.
Limited time offer variants:
  • The Cheddar Melt - cheddar cheese
    Cheddar cheese

    Cheddar cheese is a relatively hard, pale-yellow to off-white, and sometimes sharp-tasting cheese originating in the English village of Cheddar, in Somerset....
    , caramelized onions fried in teriyaki sauce and served on a whole wheat bun or rye bread
    Rye bread

    Rye bread is a type of bread made with various percentages of flour from rye grain. It can be light or dark in color, depending on the type of flour used and the addition of coloring agents, and is typically denser than bread made from wheat flour....
     bun.
  • The McJordan Special - BBQ sauce, bacon and 2 onion rings on it. The McJordan was introduced during the Michael Jordan marketing campaigns for McDonald's in the early 90s.
  • Quarter Pounder Deluxe with cheese, ketchup, mustard, grilled onion, 3 strips of bacon, black-pepper sauce, the meat-patty and a higher-quality cheese.
  • Mexican Quarter Pounder - Salsa
    Salsa (sauce)

    Salsa is the Spanish language, Arabic language, and Italian language word that can refer to any type of sauce. In American English it usually refers to the Spice, often tomato- or maize-based hot sauces typical of Mexican cuisine, particularly those used as food dips....
    , sour cream
    Sour cream

    Sour cream is a dairy product rich in fats obtained by fermenting a regular cream by certain kinds of lactic acid bacteria. The bacterial culture, introduced either deliberately or naturally, sours and thickens the cream....
     and chive sauce (the same as the chicken premier), lettuce, tomato and cheese. Sold in the UK.


Discontinued variants:
  • QLT (Quarter pounder, Lettuce, and Tomato) was McDonald's first of several attempts at producing a larger burger with lettuce and tomato on it (with a larger price tag to match). It was not successful and was pulled after a few months.
  • Quarter Pounder Plus was a second attempt (after the QLT) to add lettuce and tomato to a Quarter Pounder. Despite significant promotion, complete with a jingle of its own for television ads, it too was not successful and was withdrawn after a few months.
  • Beef Platter - A ¼ lb (227 g) Beef patty served with lettuce and tomato on the HotCakes tray, a low-carb option.


History

The Quarter Pounder was introduced in Fremont, California
Fremont, California

Fremont is a city in Alameda County, California, California; it was incorporated on January 23, 1956, from the merger of five smaller communities: #Centerville, #Irvington, #Mission San Jose, #Niles, and #Warm Springs....
, USA in 1971-1972 and became part of the national American menu in 1973. It is sold with or without two slices of processed cheese
Processed cheese

Processed cheese, process cheese, cheese slice , prepared cheese, or cheese food is a food product made from regular cheese and sometimes other fermentation dairy ingredients, plus emulsifiers, extra edible salt, food colorings, and/or whey....
, but the Quarter Pounder with Cheese (QPC) is the more popular item.

In early 2007 the meat in the United Kingdom changed to "Euro Meat", a new style patty which has a smaller diameter but larger height. The new patty is more like a "home-made" burger than the older ones.

In November 2008, McDonald's Japan (which did not ordinarily offer the Quarter Pounder) converted two Tokyo
Tokyo

, officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan of Japan and located on the eastern side of the main island Honshu. The twenty-three special wards of Tokyo, each governed as a city, cover the area that was once the Tokyo City in the eastern part of the prefecture, and total over 8 million people....
 restaurants into "Quarter Pounder" branded restaurants which only sold Quarter Pounder meals. These promotional branches closed on 27 November 2008 coinciding with the re-introduction of the Quarter Pounder at regular McDonald's branches throughout the Kanto (Tokyo) region
Kanto region

The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. The region encompasses seven Prefectures of Japan which overlaps the Greater Tokyo Area: Gunma Prefecture, Tochigi Prefecture, Ibaraki Prefecture, Saitama Prefecture, Tokyo, Chiba Prefecture, and Kanagawa Prefecture....
 from 28 November. The Quarter Pounder was launched at one McDonald's restaurant in the Kansai (Osaka) region on 23 December 2008. It was later reported that 15,000 customers had visited the restaurant on the first day, generating a record 10.02 million yen in sales for a single restaurant in one day. It was however also revealed that McDonald's had hired 1,000 "extras" to queue up on the first day. McDonald's Japan explained that the hirees were used for "product monitoring purposes".

Environmental Impact

In recent years the impact beef production has on the environment has become publicized. A quick look at the production costs of each quarter pounder sold show that for each quarter pounder produced 100 gallons of water, 1.2 pounds of grain and a cup of gasoline are used, greenhouse-gas emissions equivalent to those produced by a six mile drive in an average car are emitted, and 1.25 pounds of topsoil is lost.

Other quarter-pound hamburgers

Although they are most commonly associated with McDonald's, many other hamburger outlets sell or have sold quarter-pound hamburgers. "Quarter Pounder" is a trademark
TradeMark

TradeMark is a tall, primarily residential, skyscraper in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was completed in 2007 and has 28 floors. There are 200 hundred residential units....
 in the United States, but outlets in some other countries have been able to use similar names for their own products, such as the British
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 Wimpy
Wimpy (brand)

Wimpy is the brand name of a chain of hamburger restaurants based in the United Kingdom. The restaurants were originally called Wimpy Bars and many people still refer to them by this name, despite the fact that the name ?Wimpy Bar? was dropped in favour of ?Wimpy? many years ago....
 chain's "Quarterpounder."

See also

  • McDonald's products
  • Big N' Tasty
    Big N' Tasty

    The Big N? Tasty is one of the sandwiches sold by the international fast food chain store McDonald's. It is designed to compete with the Burger King Whopper sandwich....