The Big N’ Tasty is a hamburger sold by the international fast food chain McDonald's. It is designed to compete with the Whopper sandwich.[3] A similar variation called the Big Tasty, without the center "N'", which was first released in Saudi Arabia, is sold outside the United States in parts of Europe, South America, South Africa, The Middle East, and Taiwan.
Nutritional value per 1 sandwich (206 g) | |
---|---|
Energy | 526 kcal (2,200 kJ) |
31 g (14%) | |
Sugars | 15 g |
Dietary fiber | 6 g (13%) |
30 g (37%) | |
Saturated | 8 g (42%) |
Trans | 1.5 g |
24 g (43%) | |
Vitamins | Quantity %DV† |
Vitamin A | 120 IU |
Vitamin C | 8% 7 mg |
Minerals | Quantity %DV† |
Calcium | 12% 150 mg |
Iron | 11% 2 mg |
Sodium | 34% 790 mg |
Other constituents | Quantity |
Energy from fat | 220 kcal (920 kJ) |
Cholesterol | 82 mg (23%) |
May vary outside U.S. market. | |
†Percentages estimated using US recommendations for adults,[1] except for potassium, which is estimated based on expert recommendation from the National Academies.[2] Source: McDonald's |
The Big N' Tasty consists of a seasoned quarter-pound (4 oz or 110 g) beef meat patty with ketchup, mayonnaise, slivered onions, two dill pickle slices, leaf lettuce, and one tomato slice on a sesame seed bun.
The Big Tasty configuration is somewhat different, consisting of a third-pound (151 g) beef patty, 5-inch (13 cm) sesame seed bun, square-cut lettuce, two tomato slices, sliced onions, three slices of Emmental cheese, and Big Tasty sauce (which has a smoke flavor[4]).
The Big Tasty Bacon variant also contains strips of streaky bacon. This variant is not available in the U.S., only internationally.
Regional variants
Discontinued and preceding variants
The Big N' Tasty is the latest in a series of burgers that were designed to compete against the Whopper from Burger King.[3] The first sandwich in this line of products was the McDLT, launched in 1984. It was sold in a novel form of packaging where the meat and bottom bun was prepared separately from the lettuce, tomato, cheese, pickles, sauces, and top bun and both were then packaged into a specially designed two-sided container.[7] The consumer was then expected to finalize preparation of it by combining the "hot" and "cool" sides just before eating. The company discontinued it between December 1990 and January 1991 to appear more environmentally friendly as it moved away from polystyrene packaging which was integral to the McDLT "experience".[8]
The McDLT was eventually succeeded by the McLean Deluxe in 1991. This was a lower fat burger that included carrageenan to replace the beef fat in the patty, and was served without mayonnaise.[9] While it tested well, it failed to catch on after the national roll-out and was discontinued in February 1996 in favor of the new Arch Deluxe,[9] an adult oriented burger that featured a higher quality roll and a dijon mustard based mayonnaise. It was also unsuccessful and was discontinued in 1998.[10]
The Big N' Tasty was introduced in 1997 and was originally tested in the California market, while the Big Xtra was test marketed in the Northeastern United States as the MBX;[11][12][13] during the simultaneous testing phase, either one could be sold depending upon the test market.[14] The Big N' Tasty was phased in nationally in 2000, displacing the Big Xtra in the United States. The national introduction was done to coincide with the opening of Disney's California Adventure. From 2002 until 2003, the Big N' Tasty was one of the flagship products for the McDonald's Dollar Menu. McDonald's removed the Big N' Tasty from the Dollar Menu on February 1, 2003, so that the Double Cheeseburger could take its place. McDonald's removed the Big N' Tasty from its menu in the United States on January 1, 2011.[15] However, the Big N' Tasty is still on the menu at McDonald's locations in US army and naval bases, including the restaurant at the US Naval Base in Yokosuka.[citation needed]
The Big N' Tasty was first test marketed under a different name in a limited number of McDonald's restaurants in Sweden during the summer of 2003, followed by a national release during the autumn with the current name. In the UK, it launched in December 2003 with the advertising slogan "Sorry, America, but the Big Tasty is only for us Brits. I'm lovin' it. Sorry you're not". It was phased out of all restaurants in August 2005 as part of the menu clear up that made way for the launch of the Deli Sandwiches. It was reintroduced to the UK menu as part of the limited time offer program in the Autumn of 2006. It was again introduced to the menu in the summers of 2007, 2008, and continues to do so as a promotional item, generally during winter and summer when other food events (such as the World Cup or the company's popular Monopoly promotion) are not running. The Big Tasty returned in January 2013 as part of the January food promotion, and can come with/without bacon, and most recently has been made available with a barbecue sauce option ("Big Tasty BBQ") It was recently removed in Denmark and in the Netherlands for unknown reasons; it was reintroduced in the Netherlands on 2 April 2012.[17] It is still available at all McDonald's restaurants in Latvia, Norway, Greece and the majority of the restaurants in Sweden. The Big N' Tasty was also introduced to the Philippine market.
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...the fast-food chain changed course, announcing yesterday that it would do away with its plastic foam "clamshell" hamburger box and switch to paper packaging.
For the McLean Deluxe, McDonald's uses carrageenan, a seaweed extract, to bind water to lean beef to moisten what would otherwise be a dry patty.
"In fact, it's even been dubbed as a potential 'Whopper Stopper'," restaurant consultant Dennis Lombardi of Technomic said of McDonald's "Big 'n Tasty," which is being tested in California.
The company introduced the Big Xtra, a 4.5-ounce beef patty on a large sesame-seed bun, Friday in southeastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and Kent and New Castle counties of Delaware.
At the end of last year, McDonald's began regional tests of a new lettuce-and-tomato burger, the McDonald's Big Xtra or MBX.
...the chain said it would replace the Big Xtra burger nationwide in January with a faster-selling quarter-pound burger called Big N' Tasty, now sold at more than 2,000 units.
The Oak Brook-based chain has announced to its franchisees that it will be taking the Mac Snack Wrap and Big N' Tasty off its menus by the end of the year, according to a company memo obtained by Crain's Chicago Business.