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Nothing stays the same, even in the world of fast food. Iconic dishes may suddenly be reinvented to suit evolving tastes and food quality standards. Classic recipes at popular fast food restaurants are often tweaked or completely overhauled for one of two reasons. Firstly, some chain restaurants revamp their menu offerings in response to changing taste preferences, introducing flavors more in line with customer demands. Secondly, many fast food restaurants update their recipes to align with new health and wellness trends, offering items with fewer calories and reduced sodium. Whether welcomed or criticized by customers, menu shifts are inevitable, reflecting the continual effort made by chain restaurants to remain competitive. For some, these changes offer culinary novelty, for others they represent a disappointing shift away from the comfort and nostalgia of yesteryear. No matter your perspective, one thing is clear — even when it comes to fast food, progress is inevitable. Curious to find out more about the most memorable and controversial recipe changes in the world of fast food? Keep reading. French fries at McDonald's Many fast food enthusiasts expressed their disapproval when McDonald's switched from using vegetable oil to beef tallow in its French Fry recipe. Prior to 1990, the McDonald's menu item was fried in 93% beef tallow and 7% canola oil, a blend that gave it a distinctively rich umami flavor. Derived from rendered cow suet, beef tallow is packed with nutrients and has a high smoke point, which makes it ideal for frying. Given its numerous benefits, one might wonder why the fast food giant transitioned from cooking its iconic French fries in beef tallow to using vegetable oil. The answer lies in the growing concerns about health during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Perhaps the most damaging blow for McDonald's came when Phil Sokolof, a millionaire who blamed his heart attack on the fat and cholesterol in fast food, used full-page newspaper advertising to blame the chain for contributing to America's health crisis. With such immense pressure, McDonald's decided to shift gears, replacing beef tallow with vegetable oil. Since the oil was hydrogenated, it didn't only taste bad, but was also packed with unhealthy trans-fats. Due to this fact, the chain ended up changing its frying oil in 2002 and again in 2007. Today, McDonald's makes its French fries in vegetable oil that contains less than 1% trans-fats. And while the frying oil may not be as bad for you as it used to be, the will never taste quite the same as they did in their beef tallow heyday. Bread at Subway While not everyone may have picked up on this recipe change, Subway updated the composition of its bread in 2014. Unlike many other fast food recipe alterations, this change focused on the bread's ingredients rather than flavor. The move took place after food blogger, Vani Hari, brought to light the fact that Subway's bread contained azodicarbonamide, also sometimes referred to as a "yoga mat" chemical because it's used in the production of yoga mats. Hari's petition to remove the product from the chain's bread recipe ended up garnering over 50,000 signatures. This wasn't the only time was embroiled in controversy. In 2020, the Supreme Court in Ireland ruled that the product could not be classified as "bread" due to its high sugar content. The ruling that the bread was a "confectionery" for tax purposes was based on a law that defines bread as a staple food as long as its sugar content doesn't exceed 2% of the weight of its flour. This definitely wasn't the case for the chain's bread, as noted by the Supreme Court, which stated: "In this case, there is no dispute that the bread supplied by Subway in its heated sandwiches has a sugar content of 10% of the weight of the flour included in the dough," (via ). Hot sauce at Taco John's Taco John's has earned a place in history as the chain to coin the phrase "Taco Tuesdays." The restaurant first used the words "Taco Twosday" to promote a deal that offered two tacos for $0.99 on its least busy day of the week. Taco John's ended up trademarking the term "Taco Tuesdays" in 1989. The chain only relinquished the trademark in 2023, allowing other establishments to legally use it in their advertising. Letting go of the trademark hasn't been the only noteworthy shift Taco John's has made in recent decades. More recently, . While the old version of the sauce contained tomatoes, tomato paste, jalapeños and green chiles, the newer condiment offers a more complex flavor profile. Aside from tomato paste and jalapeño purée, the current version of the hot sauce gets its kick from powders of chile arbol, guajillo, and habanero, as well as garlic purée, paprika, vinegar, cayenne pepper, oregano, cumin, and thyme. While this change doesn't sound at all bad — although some may disagree, comparing the new sauce to that of Taco Bell's — it's not the only bold change the chain has made in recent years. In an under-the-belt cost-saving effort, Taco John's has also decreased the size of its sauce packets from 9 to 5 grams, so be sure to grab a few extra packets next time you're ordering your tacos. Apple pie at McDonald's had a loyal fan base before it was discontinued in favor of a baked version in 1992. First introduced in 1968, with its crispy exterior and molten filling for over two decades. Many speculate that the pie recipe was altered for health reasons, although as noted in an article published at the time, the new pie featured the same amount of fat and more calories than its fried counterpart. It did, however, have less sodium and cholesterol. It's safe to say that many McDonald's customers weren't happy with the new version of the apple pie. For instance, one pleaded with McDonald's to bring the fried version of the menu item back, saying, "I am health conscious most days in my late 50s, however there are evenings like tonight where I NEED one of these apple pies from back in the day." While tricky to find, McDonald's fried apple pies haven't completely disappeared. In fact, there is one McDonald's location in the continental U.S. that still serves the crunchy pie. The oldest surviving McDonald's, which opened in 1953 in Downey, California, offers the deep-fried apple snack as part of its retro-inspired menu. Similarly, fried apple pies can still be purchased at McDonald's in Hawaii, as explained by Victor Lim, a McDonald's Hawaii franchise owner, in an interview with . "The baked pie is more doughy. The fried pie is very nice and crispy. People did not like [the baked] as much as the fried pie [...] That's the reason we've been allowed to keep our fried apple pies," he said. Big Mac at McDonald's The Big Mac story goes back to 1968, when the double-decker started being served at McDonald's across the U.S. The burger actually made its debut in 1967 when its creator and a McDonald's franchise owner, Michael James 'Jim' Delligatti, tested it out at his restaurant in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. The original recipe for what would become the chain's most iconic burger consisted of two beef patties, onion, lettuce, pickles, and a "secret sauce," nestled in a sesame-seed bun. The "secret sauce" recipe was tweaked in the early 70s, along with the condiment's name, which was changed to "Big Mac Sauce '72." McDonald's made the most significant changes to its Big Mac recipe in 2023, after its burgers were criticized for being overly dry. Firstly, the fast food restaurant increased the amount of sauce on each Big Mac to enrich the menu item's texture and flavor. Secondly, the chain switched its toasted burger bun recipe to make them softer. The chain also introduced a new cooking method to improve the quality of its melted cheese. Finally, by topping the patties with onion while they are still on the grill to achieve a caramelized taste. Unfortunately, many McDonald's customers haven't embraced the new version of the chain's Big Mac, complaining that it's now too messy to eat. A case in point is who said: "I feel like they don't get the layering right. Every time I get a Big Mac the insides are sliding around everywhere and it gets super messy/hard to keep together/hard to get everything in one bite." Gravy at KFC While KFC has been pretty good at staying true to its , with the exception of switching to no-trans-fat oil in 2007, the same can't be said for its gravy. Created by Colonel Sanders himself, , although the word is that it was pretty delicious. So what was the issue with Colonel Sanders' take on gravy? The simple answer is that it took too long to prepare. As the franchise expanded, the gravy became unsuitable for a fast food setting. Apparently, the Colonel wasn't too happy with the new version of the gravy, although having already sold the chain, he had little say in the matter. Nevertheless, at one point, he did refer to KFC's potatoes and gravy as "sludge," as reported by . While we can't be 100% sure what goes into KFC's current gravy recipe, Anne Walker, who oversees gravy production at a KFC location in Lancashire, U.K., has revealed to the that it's made with "crackling" or the chicken scraps and juices from the bottom of the fryers. The "crackling" is whisked with water and an undisclosed "magic ingredient." Pizza at Domino's Domino's is one of the greatest fast food success stories of all time, achieving a revenue of 4.48 billion in 2023, per . However, things didn't always look so rosy for the fast food chain. In fact, in 2009, Domino's was forced to change its pizza recipe to keep the business afloat. This was after some of the chain's customers described its pizza as "cardboard" and "the worst excuse for pizza I've ever had," (via ). Unlike many other chains, which normally only tweak their recipes, Domino's pizza underwent a complete overhaul, from the crust to the toppings. "We tried scores of different sauces, cheeses, and doughs, with the idea of improving each of them. In each case, the market research found that the new elements recorded double-digit improvements in terms of purchase intent," Russell J. Weiner, Domino's chief marketing officer, told CBS News at the time. The recipe revamp, coupled with a very honest marketing campaign that pinpointed Domino's previous failings, did the trick. The company's sales increased by 16.5% shortly after, as customers flocked to try the new and improved product. This surge in customer interest was also reflected in the value of Domino's stock, which experienced significant growth soon after the recipe overhaul. French fries at Burger King Just like the French fries at McDonald's, the fries at Burger King have also experienced their fair share of change. Arguably, Burger King might have even revamped its fries to set them apart from competitors such as McDonald's. To cut a long story short, Burger King made two substantial changes to its French fry recipe. Back in 1998, the chain introduced a potato-based coating that was sprayed on freshly-sliced potatoes prior to freezing. The fast food company said that this would improve the menu item's crispness and heat retention. The fries were also made thicker and less salty. Not quite satisfied with the new recipe, Burger King changed its French fries again in 2011. Just like the revamp in 1998, the overhaul focused on making the fries thicker, crispier, and lower in sodium. At the time the chain's vice president of global innovation, Leo Leon, boasted: "With the launch of our new fries, the home of America's favorite burger now has the best fries in the business," (via ). In reality, the new take on Burger King's French fries didn't go down all that well with diners. For instance, one said that the new fries "sucked," adding, "Anyone know why they made the change, and am I the only one who [thinks] the new fries blow?" Whopper at Burger King Burger King's Whopper has experienced one major change since it was first introduced in 1957, an entire decade before the debut of the Big Mac. , when the fast food chain announced that it was . While customers probably didn't notice a change in the Whopper's flavor, they were made aware of the shift in an advertisement campaign that featured a time-lapse of the burger's decaying process. Created to emphasize the absence of preservatives, showed the Whopper naturally decomposing over a 34 day period. While many were put off by the daring campaign, it definitely succeeded in bringing attention to what could be hiding in our fast food. Huib van Bockel, a food marketing executive, applauded the transparency of the ad in a statement to , saying, "I love it. It's about time. It's so important to be open and honest. Of course, food perishes [and] what is controversial about that? Only thing that worries me is: were there actually artificial preservatives in there [before]?" Pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks While this may come as a shock to some, the Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks didn't always contain pumpkin. When the seasonal menu item was first introduced in 2003, it was made with a blend of pumpkin pie spices including cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove, but lacked actual pumpkin in its list of ingredients. To make it look the part, the latte also contained caramel coloring. The Pumpkin Spice Latte was an instant hit, selling 200 million cups in its first decade. However, once the word that the beverage didn't actually contain real pumpkin spread, some critics and customers began to voice their criticism. Many complained not just about the lack of the namesake ingredient in the latte but also about some of its more questionable ingredients like the caramel coloring. The critique didn't go unheard. In 2015, , adding pumpkin purée into the mix. The chain also removed the questionable caramel coloring from the ingredient lineup, replacing it with fruit and vegetable juice. However, if you think the latte is now healthy, you've got another thing coming. The beverage remains a high-calorie indulgence, with a grande size containing 390 calories, 50 grams of sugar, and 14 grams of fat. Beyond this, the drink also includes 52 grams of carbohydrates and 240 milligrams of sodium. Pizza at Sbarro Founded in 1956 by Italian immigrants from Naples, Gennaro and Carmela Sbarro, the first Sbarro was an Italian grocery store in Brooklyn, New York, that sold pizza by the slice. , focusing on high-traffic locations like shopping malls. The fast food chain did reasonably well until the early 2000s when malls started losing their popularity. The Great Recession of 2008 didn't help matters, leaving food court restaurants struggling. In order to get the chain back on track, Sbarro replaced its pizza recipe with Neapolitan-style pizza in 2012. This new take on pizza featured natural ingredients including vine-ripened tomatoes and freshly-shredded whole milk mozzarella cheese. The chain also started making its dough from scratch on a daily basis. "By going back to our roots, we're improving what set us apart from the very beginning, great pizza made from quality ingredients and served in a warm and welcoming environment," said James Greco, CEO of Sbarro, in a . In 2014, Sbarro tweaked its pizza recipe by increasing the amount of its mozzarella topping by 20%. RecommendedMan accused of threatening to kill, attempting to run over someone in car parkDeveloped nations offer $300 billion annually after 10 years to Global South
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Emergency blood transfusion saved my baby daughter’s life... now she’ll celebrate her first Christmas
I f 2024 was the year of large language models (LLMs), then 2025 looks like the year of AI “agents”. These are quasi-intelligent systems that harness LLMs to go beyond their usual tricks of generating plausible text or responding to prompts. The idea is that an agent can be given a high-level – possibly even vague – goal and break it down into a series of actionable steps. Once it “understands” the goal, it can devise a plan to achieve it, much as a human would. OpenAI’s chief financial officer, Sarah Friar, recently explained it thus to the Financial Times : “It could be a researcher, a helpful assistant for everyday people, working moms like me. In 2025, we will see the first very successful agents deployed that help people in their day to day.” Or it’s like having a digital assistant “that doesn’t just respond to your instructions but is able to learn, adapt, and perhaps most importantly, take meaningful actions to solve problems on your behalf” . In other words, Miss Moneypenny on steroids. So why are these automated Moneypennys suddenly seen as the next big thing? Could it have something to do with the fact that the tech industry has spent trillions of dollars building colossal LLMs with – as yet – no plausible return on that investment in sight? That’s not to say that LLMs are useless; for people whose work involves language they can be really helpful. And computer programmers find them very useful. But for many industries, at the moment they still look like a solution in search of a problem. The arrival of AI agents may change that. Using LLMs as the basic building-blocks of virtual agents that can efficiently carry out many of the complex task-sequences that constitute “work” in organisations everywhere might prove irresistible. Or so the tech industry thinks. And so, of course, does McKinsey, the mega-consultancy that provides the subliminal hymn sheet from which CEOs invariably sing. Agentic AI, burbles McKinsey , “is moving from thought to action” as “AI-enabled ‘agents’ that use foundation models to execute complex, multistep workflows across a digital world” get adopted. If that is indeed what is going to happen, then we may need to rethink our assumptions about how AI will change the world. At the moment we are mostly obsessed about what the technology will do to either individuals or humanity (or both). But if McKinsey & Co are right then the more profound longer-term impact might come through the way AI agents change corporations – which, after all, are really machines for managing complexity and turning information into decisions. The political scientist Henry Farrell, an astute observer of these things, has sussed this possibility. LLMs, he argues , “are engines for summarising and making useful vast amounts of information”. Since information is the fuel on which large corporations run, they will adopt any technology that provides a more intelligent and contextual way of handling information – as opposed to the mere data that they currently process . So, says Farrell, corporations “will deploy LLMs in ways that seem dull and technical, except to those immediately implicated for better or worse, but that are actually important. Big organisations shape our lives! As they change, so will our lives change, in a myriad of unexciting seeming but significant ways.” At one point in his essay, Farrell likens this “dull and technical” transformative impact of LLMs to the way the humble spreadsheet reshaped large organisations. This provoked a genteel outburst from Dan Davies, an economist and former stock analyst whose book The Unaccountability Machine was one of the nicest surprises of this year. He points out that spreadsheets “made a whole new style of working possible for the financial industry in two ways”. First, it enabled the creation of much bigger and more detailed financial models, and therefore a different way of budgeting, compiling business plans, assessing investment options, etc. And second, the technology enabled one to work iteratively. “Rather than thinking about what assumptions made the most business sense, then sitting down to project them, Excel [Microsoft’s spreadsheet product] encouraged you to just set out the forecasts, then sit around tweaking the assumptions up and down until you got an answer you could live with. Or, for that matter, an answer that your boss could live with.” The moral of that story is clear. The spreadsheet was a revolutionary technology when it first appeared in 1978, just as ChatGPT was in 2022. But now it’s a routine, integral part of organisation life. The advent of AI “agents” built from GPT-like models looks like following a similar pattern. In turn, the organisations that have absorbed them will also evolve. And then the world may eventually rediscover that famous adage attributed to Marshall McLuhan’s colleague John Culkin: “We shape our tools and then the tools shape us.” Talking economics Transcript of a fascinating interview with the remarkable economist Ha-Joon Chang, on economics, pluralism and democracy. AI or A-nay “The phoney comforts of AI scepticism” is a vigorous essay by Casey Newton on the two “camps” in the arguments about AI. What Trump did next “I have a cunning plan...” Charlie Stross’s blogpost is a sketch for a truly dystopian story about the aftermath of Trump’s inauguration.
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