Rob Cornelius

The McRib is mostly pork shoulder pressed into the shape of ribs. Lopez Foods, one of McDonald's McRib suppliers, said in 2014 that boneless pork picnic, the lower part of the shoulder, is the main ingredient. The pork is ground, shaped in a mold and frozen. A proposed class action filed in federal court in Chicago in December 2025 says the McRib doesn't contain any pork rib meat. It alleges the patty is ground from lower-grade pork products such as pork shoulder, heart, tripe and scalded stomach. The complaint cites a food blog and a 2011 Chicago Magazine post that cited a meat scientist on restructured meat in general. McDonald's says the McRib is made with 100% pork and the patty has no hearts, tripe or scalded stomach. On Oct 30 a federal judge let the fraud, consumer deception and unjust enrichment claims go forward. The patty is pork, water, salt, dextrose and rosemary extract. Salt pulls protein out of the ground pork and makes it sticky, and when the patty cooks that protein sets and holds the pieces together, the same way sausage does. Rosemary extract is an antioxidant, so the fat is slower to go rancid in the freezer. In 2014 the patty used BHA, propyl gallate and citric acid instead. The sauce is water first and high fructose corn syrup second, ahead of the tomato paste. Molasses is fifth and sugar is ninth, so the sauce has 3 sweeteners. Caramel color and beet powder are added for color. The pickles are firmed with calcium chloride and alum. The sandwich is 520 calories with 890 mg of sodium, 39% of the daily value, and 11 g of added sugar.