# Mcdonalds Burgers Contain Sawdust? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 30, 2006, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-burgers-contain-sawdust/382300 "2006-11-30T06:53:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-burgers-contain-sawdust/382300/21 "2006-11-30T17:05:19Z")
[QUOTE=Canadjun] No cite, but I thought I read somewhere that recent rules prohibit “downer” cattle from being slaughtered for food (due to BSE concerns). [/QUOTE] Yep. [U.S. Bans Downer Cattle for Human Consumption.](http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jan2004/2004-01-02-02.asp) January 2, 2004. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-burgers-contain-sawdust/382300/22 "2006-11-30T17:12:31Z")
If there is sawdust in their burgers, it’s a good bet it has been processed into body parts by cattle first. ---
**Author:** ![Mikemike2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikemike2/32/305_2.png) [@Mikemike2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikemike2)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-burgers-contain-sawdust/382300/23 "2006-11-30T17:32:53Z")
I’m curious? Would a Mcdonalds controlled processing plant use all the meat of a cow in its burgers? I would think that they would sell the expensive cuts of steak separately “as is” because it is worth 4 to 10 times more than ground beef. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-burgers-contain-sawdust/382300/24 "2006-11-30T17:39:01Z")
[QUOTE=BubbaDog] I was told that the hides are sold to leather processors, the bones and guts were turned into feeds for chicken and cattle (extreme case of recycling)/QUOTE] The bones and guts may be turned into blood meal which is added to chicken feed. But beef products are not added to ruminant feed anymore to stop the spread of BSE. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-burgers-contain-sawdust/382300/25 "2006-11-30T19:02:35Z")
McDonald’s hamburgers are most assuredly **not** 100% beef. The hamburger _patties_ may well be, but the burger is more than just the patty. If there’s sawdust anywhere in the burger (which isn’t actually all that implausible), the most likely place would be the bun. Bread products often have “insoluble fiber” as an ingredient, and sawdust is one possible source for insoluble fiber. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-burgers-contain-sawdust/382300/26 "2006-11-30T20:19:15Z")
[QUOTE=Mikemike2] I’m curious? Would a Mcdonalds controlled processing plant use all the meat of a cow in its burgers? I would think that they would sell the expensive cuts of steak separately “as is” because it is worth 4 to 10 times more than ground beef. [/QUOTE] The meat you see in grocery stores comes from young cattle, harvested at the peak of the ratio of feed consumed to meat weight grown. Past that age, the only cattle that survive are dairy cows, breeding stock, and the occasional rodeo bull. Those older animals are not only less efficient feed users, but their meat is tough. They can’t be sold as steaks, but some cuts might become stew meat. The rest is ground beef. As **Cheesesteak** and \*\*Cecil’s link \*\*said, some nicer beef must be mixed in to bring up the fat content for better taste. As a pocket knife collector, I know that some knife handle sides are made from cattle shin bones ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-burgers-contain-sawdust/382300/27 "2006-11-30T21:09:44Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] McDonald’s hamburgers are most assuredly **not** 100% beef. The hamburger _patties_ may well be, but the burger is more than just the patty. If there’s sawdust anywhere in the burger (which isn’t actually all that implausible), the most likely place would be the bun. Bread products often have “insoluble fiber” as an ingredient, and sawdust is one possible source for insoluble fiber. [/QUOTE] Although I agree about there could be some fiber in the bun, having there be sawdust in the hamburger patty is completely implausible, other than trace accidental amounts. McD’s advertises “100% Beef”, and their meat is FDA inspected. There is just no way McDonalds could be adding sawdust to their hamburgers, what with the media spotlight being on them like it is. I checked Google Scholar and the FDA site- no record at all of any McDonald’s beef/hamburger adulterations. No sawdust. Sawdust is not even on the list of McDonald’s Urban Legends: > **[McDonald's urban legends](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald's_urban_legends)** > > This is an accepted version of this page > > There are multiple urban legends centering around the fast-food chain McDonald's. These legends include claims about the food and allegations of discrimination by the company. Large companies have been the subject of rumors that they substitute unusual or unethical substances in their products, usually to decrease costs. McDonald's is not immune to such claims. An untrue but pervasive claim is that McDonald's buys its meat from a company called "100% Bee... “One common thread that ties many stories like these together, is the fact that they were not reported to the easily accessible mainstream media, police, medical services, or even government-run food or health inspection agencies, such as the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These agencies and services are legally obliged to act on such extreme cases.” And even Snopes doesn’t even have any UL’s about McDonalds and sawdust adulterated meat (they do have the worm UL, however). The mdeia and the FDA would be all over McD’s in a nanosecaond if any burger patty had \*anything \* added to it other than “100% beef”. ---
**Author:** ![xiix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/d6d6ee/32.png) [@xiix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xiix)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-burgers-contain-sawdust/382300/28 "2006-12-01T05:22:32Z")
Could humans safely digest the amounts of sawdust that would save mcdonalds money to substitute for beef? ---
**Author:** ![lokij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5e9695/32.png) [@lokij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lokij)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-burgers-contain-sawdust/382300/29 "2006-12-01T05:35:46Z")
[QUOTE=xiix] Could humans safely digest the amounts of sawdust that would save mcdonalds money to substitute for beef? [/QUOTE] Yes, during both world wars Germany used sawdust as a filler to save flour in making bread. It can be done, it’s undigestible I believe but would fill you up and probably pass right through you. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-burgers-contain-sawdust/382300/30 "2006-12-01T05:37:52Z")
[QUOTE=DrMemory] Lips and Asshole’s are Beef, Too. Or am I thinking of Hot Dogs? [/QUOTE] U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations stipulate that _only meat from skeletal muscle_ may be used in hot dogs distributed interstate. If any meat byproduct is used in the hot dog ingredients, the name of the product has to be changed from “Hot Dogs” to “Hot Dogs With Byproducts” or “Hot Dogs With Variety Meats” in the same size typeface. P.S. Why the apostrophe? ---
**Author:** ![Chotii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@Chotii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chotii)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-burgers-contain-sawdust/382300/31 "2006-12-01T05:38:10Z")
But it would not go undetected. It’d be like eating…oh, uncooked oatmeal, times ten. You would _notice_ it in your hamburger. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-burgers-contain-sawdust/382300/32 "2006-12-01T10:21:00Z")
[QUOTE=FordPrefect] The bones and guts may be turned into blood meal which is added to chicken feed. But beef products are not added to ruminant feed anymore to stop the spread of BSE. [/QUOTE] Doesn’t that mean I now have to worry about mad chicken disease? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-burgers-contain-sawdust/382300/33 "2006-12-01T14:24:47Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] McDonald’s hamburgers are most assuredly **not** 100% beef. The hamburger _patties_ may well be, but the burger is more than just the patty. [/quote] Interesting. So to you a typical “hamburger” includes patty, bun, pickle, ketchup, mustard, onions, etc.? I thought we were talking only about the patty all along, not the added ingredients, and the sawdust, if used, would be a part of the meat. Checking with [Mickey D’s ingredients list,](http://www.mcdonalds.com/app_controller.nutrition.categories.ingredients.index.html) that is indeed the terminology they use (a hamburger is more than just a meat patty). ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-burgers-contain-sawdust/382300/34 "2006-12-01T15:07:31Z")
I really don’t think sawdust would be all that big of a deal… I mean, because it’s sawdust? :dubious: We’re not talking about Fleet selling glass shard enemas or paint thinner in your Aunt Jemima… Sawdust. I’m fairly sure that no commercially sold meat contains any sawdust in any significant amount, but even if it did and it was somehow ground to the point of being undetectable, can anybody provide a cite that a hamburger with wood pulp is in any way less healthy than eating just a hamburger with no wood pulp in it? It’s sawdust! I mean, to me that sounds about as appealing as bran or rice in a burger or by itself, and while I certainly don’t want any bran or rice in my burger (or by itself), I wouldn’t flip out if there was some. (Allergies not withstanding) ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-burgers-contain-sawdust/382300/35 "2006-12-01T16:07:56Z")
I went on a temp job at the McDonald’s plant in Toronto one time. I saw the entire process happen. A vat of steaks and cuts of beef is upturned into a funnel, ground up in a machine, shaped into patties by another, run on a conveyor belt through a freon chamber, frozen into hockey pucks and dropped off at the end, where a person stacks them into boxes, seals the boxes and stacks them on a pallet. At no stage was there a provision for additives of any kind. No humans are involved in the process, except for the one at the end. There is nothing in a McDonald’s patty that isn’t 100% beef. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-burgers-contain-sawdust/382300/36 "2006-12-01T16:17:42Z")
[QUOTE=chorpler] Doesn’t that mean I now have to worry about mad chicken disease? [/QUOTE] (Just in case you’re not joking,) No, chickens don’t get the spongey-brain diseases. I thought of prattling on about standards of sanity among chickens, but it’s not funny enough to bother. [QUOTE=groman] I really don’t think sawdust would be all that big of a deal… I mean, because it’s sawdust? We’re not talking about Fleet selling glass shard enemas or paint thinner in your Aunt Jemima… Sawdust. I’m fairly sure that no commercially sold meat contains any sawdust in any significant amount, but even if it did and it was somehow ground to the point of being undetectable, can anybody provide a cite that a hamburger with wood pulp is in any way less healthy than eating just a hamburger with no wood pulp in it? It’s sawdust! I mean, to me that sounds about as appealing as bran or rice in a burger or by itself, and while I certainly don’t want any bran or rice in my burger (or by itself), I wouldn’t flip out if there was some. (Allergies not withstanding) [/QUOTE] You are right, and wrong, depending on the viewing angle. From the **physical harm** angle, it’s perfectly safe. Cellulose is the indigestible fiber that makes up plant cell walls, whether it’s in wheat, celery, or trees. There is no nutrition in it, and it’s good to eat some cellulose every day. Is it **legal?** Generally, adding fiber to a food is okay if the label says it is there. A while back, there were a few “high-fiber, low-carb” breads in the stores. The labels clearly said there was “cellulose fiber from wood” in there. Clearly, though, if the label says “100% beef,” the product must legally be just that. If you stretch meat by adding crackers, oatmeal, or sawdust, you have to say so. When Euell Gibbons was pitching Grape-Nuts® cereal, he said, “Ever eat a pine tree? Many parts are edible.” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-burgers-contain-sawdust/382300/37 "2006-12-01T18:29:12Z")
> [@](#): > > Interesting. So to you a typical “hamburger” includes patty, bun, pickle, ketchup, mustard, onions, etc.? I thought we were talking only about the patty all along, not the added ingredients, and the sawdust, if used, would be a part of the meat. Of course. If I order a hamburger, I’m going to get the bun, pickle, etc. along with the patty, and if I say “I’m eating a hamburger”, or “I had a hamburger for lunch”, I probably don’t mean just the meat. It may be moot, though, since, according to [McDonald’s ingredient lists](http://www.mcdonalds.com/app_controller.nutrition.categories.ingredients.index.html), no part of their burgers would contain sawdust. A few other menu items do include “powdered cellulose to prevent caking”, though, which is probably sawdust. ---
**Author:** ![xiix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/d6d6ee/32.png) [@xiix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xiix)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-burgers-contain-sawdust/382300/38 "2006-12-01T18:57:09Z")
googling ‘powdered cellulose’ & ‘sawdust’ returns “powdered cellulose often known aswood flour”…I can’t believe they actually have a name for it! egads. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-burgers-contain-sawdust/382300.md?page=1)