Big Mac Vs. Whopper: Which Bun Contains More Crap?

It just isn't fair that Taco Bell is getting all the free press these days concerning integrity of ingredients -- or lack thereof. Granted, nobody is accusing McDonald's or Burger King of faking beef content, but what about the other stuff that goes between the buns? The sauce lathered upon...

By Lee Klein

February 1, 2011

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It just isn't fair that Taco Bell is getting all the free press these days concerning integrity of ingredients -- or lack thereof. Granted, nobody is accusing McDonald's or Burger King of faking beef content, but what about the other stuff that goes between the buns? The sauce lathered upon Big Macs, for instance, contains soybean oil, potassium sorbate, spice extractives, polysorbate 80, distilled vinegar, water, egg yolks, high fructose corn syrup, onion powder, mustard seed, salt, spices, propylene glycol alginate, sodium benzoate, mustard bran, sugar, caramel color, vegetable protein (better known as MSG), extractives of paprika, soy lecithin, turmeric, and calcium disodium EDTA. The pickle slices on a Whopper contain more than a dozen ingredients, including yellow dye #5 and blue dye #1 -- so now you know how the Burger King folks make their pickles green.

And what of the hamburger buns, which traditionally are made from flour, water, yeast, sugar, and salt? Let's just say these fast food fiends have foisted much more complicated and unhealthy breads upon the hungry masses. Keep going to see just how ugly it gets in our fake bread smackdown....

In this corner, we have the Big Mac bun:

enriched flour

water

high fructose corn syrup

sugar

soybean oil and/or partially hydrogenated soybean oil

calcium carbonate

ammonium sulfate

ammonium chloride

sodium stearoyl lactylate

azodicarbonamide (extra points: banned in many parts of the world)

mono-and diglycerides

ethoxylated monoglycerides

monocalcium phosphate

calcium peroxide

calcium propionate (perservative)

sodium propionate

soy flour

real sesame seeds!

Mighty impressive showing. And now we turn to the Whopper bun:

enriched unbleached wheat flour

water

high fructose corn syrup or liquid sucrose

yeast

vegetable oil or soybean or cottonseed oil

salt

wheat gluten

soy flour

corn starch

enzymes

calcium propionate and/or sorbic acid (preservatives)

vinegar

yeast nutrient which may contain one or more of the following:

wheat starch

microcrystalline cellulose

sorbitol

sodim chloride

magnesium stearate

distilled monoglycerides

sodium stearoyl

lactylate

ascorbic acid

azodicarbonamide (extra points: banned in many parts of the world)

mono-and diglycerides

ethoxylated mono-and diglycerides

calcium peroxide

calcium stearoyl-2-lactylate

datem

L-cysteine

real sesame seeds!

Well, as you can see, it's quite a battle, with both sides showing real gusto and imagination in what they've been able to throw into bread dough. And yet...we declare Burger King's Whopper bun to be even more fake than the Big Mac bun -- nearly twice as many unnecessary chemicals and other health-threatening additives.

Congratulations to our hometown BK fast food cronies for their impressive victory! And congrats, too, to the valiant showing by McDonald's. Let this contest be a reminder: When it comes to fattening and sickening the public, Taco Bell isn't the only game in town.

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