7 Fast Food Chains That Don’t Use Real Cheese

When you go to a fast food restaurant for your sandwich or hamburger, most of us can’t pass up a slice (or squeeze) of melted, yellow American cheese on top. There’s something about the creamy texture that hits just right. What you may not realize is that that so-called “cheese” is not what you think. At least not technically.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration classifies this product, and many others, as “cheese food.” According to the agency, American cheese is actually a ‘pasteurized process cheese.” To be labeled as real cheese, a product must contain at least 51% real cheese by total weight, and the common American slice doesn’t quite cut it.

“Real cheese is made with four ingredients: milk, culture, rennet and salt,” explains the award-winning cheesemaker Allison Lakinowner of Lakin’s Gorges cheese in Maine. “Processed cheese may contain some real cheese, but then contains additives that give it shelf life, meltability, and cost much less than real cheese.”

Lakin notes, “If all you see are the flavors of processed cheddar or Swiss cheese, the complexities and variations in the flavor of real cheese can be a surprise, because not all cheddar and Swiss cheeses taste the same.”

But just because it’s not the genuine article doesn’t necessarily mean you should skip this topping. “Sometimes nothing hits the spot like that melted Kraft single,” says Lakin.

Many fast food chains use so-called cheese food because it stays fresh longer and melts better with additives such as corn starch. Ahead, we look at the chains that use this product to give their sandwiches that desirable, if not entirely authentic, melt-in-your-mouth topping.

McDonald’s

That delicious, melting slice on your Big Mac, is that real cheese? Well, it’s listed on McDonald’s website as pasteurized processed American cheese. What does that mean? According to The independentwhich took a deep dive into the features of some of the chain’s popular menu items, the ingredients in Mickey D’s slices are as follows: milk, cream, water, cheese culture, sodium citrate and 2% or less salt, citric acid , sodium phosphate, sorbic acid (preservative), lactic acid, acetic acid, enzymes, sodium pyrophosphate, natural flavor, added color and soy lecithin. Ingredients such as sodium phosphate and lactic acid are added to maintain freshness and are approved by the FDA for use in food.

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Burger King

This chain appears to use real cheese on some sandwiches and not on others. Honestly: the the restaurant’s website The details of the ingredients in any of the menu items aren’t exactly known, but sandwiches like the Whopper and the Bacon Double Cheeseburger list American cheese, which isn’t considered “real cheese” by FDA standards. Current specials like Cheesy Tots are listed as “filled with melting cheese,” which seems curious. However, the Bacon and Swiss Royal Crispy Chicken uses Swiss cheese, which should qualify as real cheese.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

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Sonic Drive-in

There’s a lot to like about the classic American meals you can get at Sonic, like cheese tots and Bacon Double Cheeseburgers, but again, this is another chain that isn’t exactly transparent about the origins of its cheese. Everything on the list is called “melty cheese” or “American cheese,” which indicates that your sandwich and side cheese toppers are actually melty cheese foods. A few dishes, such as the Chili Cheese Groovy FriesSpecify that they are covered in shredded cheddar cheese, so if you’re looking for real cheese, check the menu carefully.

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Tim Hortons

The Canadian-based chain mainly deals in coffee and breakfast sandwiches. According to ChatelaineThe restaurant’s breakfast sandwiches are made with processed cheese by default, but you can customize it and switch to real cheddar cheese for a healthier breakfast option. It’s worth noting that processed cheese often contains significantly more sodium than traditionally made cheese.

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Dairy Queen

DQ is known for its frozen desserts and American fast food classics, but the ingredients aren’t always so healthy. For example, it is not without reason that the menu specifically says ‘shakes’ instead of ‘milkshakes’. The icy drinks are made with “artificially flavored reduced fat vanilla ice cream,” which by proper definition no real ice cream. Likewise, the majority of cheese on the menu is processed cheese food. The menu is transparent about this, with a small asterisk on the cheeseburger description, indicating that the topping has been processed American.

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Arby’s

The delicious cheese sauce at Arby’s is a favorite topping and is the backbone of the Classic Beef ‘n’ Cheddar sandwich. The sauce contains real cheddar, but is the fourth ingredient on the list, after water, canola oil and modified corn starch. The official site of the brand does not clarify the percentage of cheese in this sauce, but it also contains many other ingredients, including maltodextrin, sodium phosphate and mono- and diglycerides. Arby’s also uses processed American cheese on a number of other products, including several breakfast sandwiches and wraps.

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Bojangles

This Southern chain doesn’t use cheese as a topping on most menu items. However, it serves a side dish of creamy mac ‘n’ cheese with cheese of questionable origin. The The chain’s website doesn’t provide exact details what the ingredients are in the noodle dish, but an independent consumer run website claims it is a combination of processed liquid cheese with whey, modified food starch and sodium phosphate.