The McRib is a barbecue-flavored

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the domestic pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooked and preserved ...

sandwich periodically sold by the international

fast food restaurant A fast-food restaurant, also known as a quick-service restaurant (QSR) within the industry, is a specific type of restaurant that serves fast-food cuisine and has minimal table service. The food served in fast-food restaurants is typically ...

chain

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...

. It was first introduced to the McDonald's menu in 1981, following

test marketing A test market, in the field of business and marketing, is a geographic region or demographic group used to gauge the viability of a product or service in the mass market prior to a wide scale roll-out. The criteria used to judge the acceptabilit ...

the year before. After poor sales, it was removed from the menu in 1985. It was reintroduced in 1989, staying on the menu until 2005 in many countries. Since 2006, it has generally been made available for a short time each year in most markets where it is sold, typically during the fall season, although it is a permanent menu item at McDonald's restaurants in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

and

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

Product description

The McRib consists of a restructured boneless pork

patty A patty or burger (in British English) is a flattened, usually round, Serving size, serving of ground meat and/or legumes, grains, vegetables, or Meat analogue, meat alternatives. Patties are found in multiple cuisines throughout the world. ...

shaped like a miniature rack of ribs,

barbecue sauce Barbecue sauce (also abbreviated as BBQ sauce) is a sauce used as a marinade, basting, condiment, or topping for meat cooked in the barbecue cooking style, including pork or beef ribs and chicken. It is a ubiquitous condiment in the Southern ...

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the on ...

s, and pickles, served as a sandwich on a 5½ inch (14 cm) roll. Meat restructuring was developed by the US Army to deliver low-cost meat to troops in the field. The process was refined by a Natick Army Labs meat scientist, Dr. Roger Mandigo, leading to the McRib patty. It is primarily composed of

ground Ground may refer to: Geology * Land, the surface of the Earth not covered by water * Soil, a mixture of clay, sand and organic matter present on the surface of the Earth Electricity * Ground (electricity), the reference point in an electrical c ...

pork shoulder A Boston butt is the slightly wedged shaped portion of the pork shoulder above the standard picnic cut which includes the blade bone and the "lean butt" (which is boneless), both extensions of the tenderloin cut and can be used in place of the te ...

Government doesn't patent their intellectual property, so anyone can use it. They (the Natick Center) presented material at technical meetings...The military allowed us to use the processes they'd developed.
− Roger Mandigo, Natick Center contractor and meat scientist

In an attempt to give pork "the same stature as beef in the institutional market," the National Pork Producers Council funded Mandigo to show how to apply the new technique. Using his roadmap, McDonald's then developed "a patty of pork made from small flakes of meat taken from the shoulders of a pig"

The McRib Jr. was available briefly in 2000. This version replaced the roll with a standard hamburger bun, and was served with two pickles and a smaller pork patty.

History

1981–2004

The McRib made its debut in the United States in 1981, as a limited-time item. It was first added to menus around Kansas City. It was developed by McDonald's first

Executive Chef A chef de cuisine (, French for ''head of kitchen'') or head chef is a chef that leads Lead is a chemical element with symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead or The Lead may also refer to: Animal handling * Leash, or lead * Lead (leg), ...

René Arend, a native of Luxembourg who invented

Chicken McNuggets Chicken McNuggets are a type of chicken nuggets sold by the international fast food restaurant chain McDonald's. They consist of small pieces of reconstituted boneless chicken meat that have been battered and deep fried. Chicken McNuggets w ...

in 1979. "The McNuggets were so well received that every franchise wanted them," said Arend in a 2009 interview. "There wasn’t a system to supply enough chicken. We had to come up with something to give the other franchises as a new product. So the McRib came about because of the shortage of chickens." It was his inspiration to shape the McRib patty "like a slab of ribs," despite the fact that a round patty would have been cheaper to

manufacture Manufacturing is the creation or Production (economics), production of goods with the help of equipment, Work (human activity), labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary secto ...

and serve on standard

hamburger A hamburger, or simply burger, is a food consisting of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. Hamburgers are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, ...

buns. A packet of McRib Hot Sauce was also available when the sandwich was first being sold. The sauce was a clear liquid in a semi-chrome packet the size of a standard ketchup packet. The McRib was not immediately successful. It test-marketed very well in the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

, and was added to the restaurant's permanent menu for the United States in 1981. Sales were mediocre, however, and it was removed in 1985 as McDonald's executives determined that pork is not eaten frequently enough in the United States to stay on the menu. After several years, it returned for a promotion. It is more popular in

and

, where it remains a permanent item. The McRib was also brought back occasionally in 1989, 1990 (together with the "BBQ in a Bag" promotion), 1991, 1992 (with the Western Omelette McMuffin as part of a Western promotion), and 1993. In summer 1994, McDonald's brought back the McRib nationally, as a tie in with the theatrical release of ''

The Flintstones ''The Flintstones'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The series takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the activities of the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighb ...

'', comparing the appearance of it with the rack of ribs that topples the Flintmobile in both the

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

and

live action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ...

productions. McDonald's (which was featured in the film as "RocDonald's") supported the return with McRib packaging featuring the

Flintstones ''The Flintstones'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The series takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the activities of the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighbor ...

characters and a television commercial featuring

Rosie O'Donnell Roseann O'Donnell (born March 21, 1962) is an American comedian, television producer, actress, author, and television personality. She began her comedy career as a teenager and received her breakthrough on the television series '' Star Search'' ...

in her role as Betty Rubble. After that promotion, the McRib was also sold as part of various limited time regional offerings at selected restaurants in the US and Canada from 1995 until 2004.

2005–present

On November 1, 2005, McDonald's issued a

press release A press release is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public release. Press releases are also considere ...

announcing that the McRib would be permanently removed from the menu following a "McRib Farewell Tour". McRib.com, a

website A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google, Facebook, Amazon, and W ...

registered to McDonald's, featured a

petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offi ...

to "Save the McRib", which was facetiously sponsored by the "Boneless Pig Farmers Association of America". On October 16, 2006, the "McRib Farewell Tour II" site appeared. The McRib reappeared in the United States in October 2007, beginning a third "farewell tour". McDonald's sold 30 million made with over 7 million pounds (3 million kg) of pork in 2007. Its fourth reintroduction was in the end of October 2008, across the United States, Hong Kong, and Japan, with a promotional website featuring music sponsored by a "McRib DJ Plowman" in tribute to its creator. Additional limited time regional offerings, in various regions of the United States as well as in Canada, were made throughout 2008 and 2009. On November 2, 2010, McDonald's began six weeks of nationwide McRib availability at the ''Legends of the McRib'' event in New York City, honoring three superfans: Joey Erwin, aka Mr. McRib; Alan Klein, founder of the McRib Locator website; and Adam Winer. The promotion ended December 5, 2010. McDonald's credited it with boosting their November 2010 sales by 4.8%. It was the first national offering of the McRib since 1994. The McRib was offered in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

from June 21 to August 1, 2011. On October 24, 2011, McDonald's once again made the McRib available for three weeks in a promotion ending November 14. In celebration of the

London Olympics 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, McDonald's Australia and New Zealand reintroduced the McRib as the Atlanta Pork McRib. The McRib was one of six limited edition McDonald's items named after previous host cities. It was released on May 23 and ran until June 5. Sales of the McRib in New Zealand exceeded expectations, exhausting supplies within days of the release of the burger with restaurants running out of their allocations of stock. For 2012, McDonald's announced that the McRib's annual release would be delayed until the December 17, as opposed to its traditional autumn release (which would instead be used to debut the Cheddar Bacon Onion Angus Burger, or "CBO"). The move was an effort to boost sales during the December period in an attempt to match 2011's abnormally high restaurant wide sales figures. The McRib wasn't released nationally and was sold only in a few cities in a few states in the United States (a la the 2005 "McRib Farewell Tour" promotion) in 2013 due to the company introducing several new products (such as the Mighty Wings). The McRib was sold again starting on October 20, 2014, and ending on January 4, 2015, but only in a few cities in a few states in the United States (a la the 2006 "McRib Farewell Tour II" promotion). The McRib made a return in the United Kingdom on December 31, 2014, until February 3, 2015. The McRib was sold again starting in October 2015 and ending in January 2016, but only in a few cities in a few states in the United States (55 percent of McDonald's locations). It became available again in November 2016, but at a limited number of McDonald's locations; and once more since October 2017, but in most areas. Local McDonalds Twitter accounts announced in Southern California and Hawaii that the McRib would be returning to these locations on November 2 and 9, 2017 respectively. The McRib once again made a limited return in the United States and Australia at participating locations starting in October 2018. The McRibs rolled out once again for a limited time beginning October 7, 2019. For 2020, McDonald's announced that the McRib would be made available nationwide in the United States for the first time since 2012, beginning on December 2. It was dubbed as "the most important sandwich of the year." It also returned for a limited run, along with the "El Maco Burger", in Australia. On September 30, 2021, McDonald's announced on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

that the McRib was returning on November 1 for a limited time. The previous day on September 29, the company tweeted that there was important news coming. The McRib was available at some locations before November 1. On October 23, 2022, McDonald's announced that the McRib would return on October 31, 2022, for what is being called "The McRib Farewell Tour", the fourth such after the 2005 and the 2007 ones. The McRib was available until November 20.

HSUS lawsuit

In November 2011, the

Humane Society of the United States The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is an American nonprofit organization that focuses on animal welfare and opposes animal-related cruelties of national scope. It uses strategies that are beyond the abilities of local organizations. ...

filed a complaint with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission against the producer of McRib meat,

Smithfield Foods Smithfield Foods, Inc., is an American pork producer and food-processing company based in Smithfield, Virginia, in the United States, and an independent subsidiary of WH Group. Founded in 1936 as the Smithfield Packing Company by Joseph W. Luter ...

, alleging cruel and unusual treatment of the animals used in the McRib patty production. The complaint cites the use of

gestation crate A gestation crate, also known as a sow stall, is a metal enclosure in which a farmed sow used for breeding may be kept during pregnancy.Wilson G. Pond, Fuller W. Bazer, Bernard E. Rollin (eds.), ''Animal Welfare in Animal Agriculture'', CRC Press ...

s and poor and unsanitary living conditions, as well as a lack of proper animal welfare. McDonald's responded by requiring its U.S. pork suppliers to eliminate the use of gestation crates.

Limited availability

Speculation on the limited availability of the McRib includes theories concerning the fluctuating price and unreliable supply chains of bulk pork, manipulation of availability windows to turn the product into a better

loss leader A loss leader (also leader) is a pricing strategy where a product is sold at a price below its market cost to stimulate other sales of more profitable goods or services. With this sales promotion/marketing strategy, a "leader" is any popular arti ...

for the company, and the generation of renewed enthusiasm and higher sales as a result of scarcity. An informal study from 2011 entitled "A Conspiracy of Hogs: The McRib as

Arbitrage In economics and finance, arbitrage (, ) is the practice of taking advantage of a difference in prices in two or more markets; striking a combination of matching deals to capitalise on the difference, the profit being the difference between t ...

" illustrates a correlation between the price of pork and the timing of McDonald's offering the sandwich; all five of the US McRib offerings between 2005 and 2011 occurred during low points in the price of bulk pork. According to McDonald's, the sandwich's limited availability is due to their desire to provide a varied menu throughout the year.Why isn't the McRib sold year-round?
Retrieved November 6, 2014.

In popular culture

The sandwich, as well as the cultural phenomenon of "chasing the McRib", were the subject of a

subplot In fiction, a subplot is a secondary strand of the plot that is a supporting side story for any story or for the main plot. Subplots may connect to main plots, in either time and place or thematic significance. Subplots often involve supporting c ...

in ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, ...

'' episode " I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can", in which it is parodied as the "Ribwich" and gains a cult following.

References

External links

McRib
menu item at McDonald's
McRib
menu item at McDonald's Germany, with in-depth product description
McRib Locator
by Alan Klein {{McDonald's American sandwiches McDonald's foods Food and drink introduced in 1981 Products introduced in 1981