When is an artisan burger not an artisan burger? When it’s a McDonald’s special in Ireland.
Yesterday, McDonald’s hailed the creation of its first artisan Irish burger, the McMor, which broadly translates as a Big Mac. The McMor contains Ballymaloe Relish and Charleville Cheddar Cheese, and its “potato-flaked bun” is layered with shredded cabbage atop beef and bacon, the company said.
Trouble is, the artisan tag quickly ran into trouble in Ireland, where food authorities provide guidelines on what deserves that description. The term only applies if the product is made in limited quantities by skilled craftspeople, the processing method isn’t totally mechanised and locally grown or produced food is used when available.
"The usage of the term artisan is, as we are now aware, inaccurate in so far as it is in breach of some of the recently launched, voluntary guidelines around the usage of the term in the marketing of food,” McDonald’s said in a e-mailed statement. “This specific term will no longer be used in any news release around the limited-edition McMor.”
The Irish Times earlier reported the decision. The McMor will be available in all McDonald’s outlets in Ireland starting Wednesday for six weeks.
News by Bloomberg, edited by Hospitality Ireland
