Boone’s analysis puts McDonald's Double Cheeseburger at 22% of an adult’s daily calories, 67% of the daily salt limit for a child aged 4 to 6 and 1.8 teaspoons of sugar.
How many calories are in a McDonald's Double Cheeseburger? It contains 436 kcal, 22g of fat (10.5g saturated), 7g of sugar and 2g of salt. This sits in the middle of the range for the core menu.
Build a full meal with our nutrition calculator
A Double Cheeseburger is rarely ordered on its own. Use the calculator below to add fries, a drink, dips and a dessert, and see what the combined order adds up to against daily guidelines for calories, saturated fat, sugar and salt.
Nutrition information
Nutrition information: Double Cheeseburger
| Energy | 436 kcal |
| Fat | 22g |
| of which saturates | 10.5g |
| Carbohydrate | 33g |
| of which sugars | 7g |
| Salt | 2g |
| Protein | 25g |
Nutrition figures are McDonald’s UK published data, per item as sold and before any optional sauces or extras. Boone converts them to the portion and age comparisons on this page.
A McDonald's Double Cheeseburger contains 436 kcal, which is 22% of the 2,000 kcal adult daily reference intake. It provides 22g of total fat, of which 10.5g is saturated, 7g of sugar, 2g of salt and 25g of protein.
At 10.5g, the saturated fat content is high, representing 53% of the adult daily guideline of 20g from this single item alone.
Doubling the patty and cheese roughly doubles the saturated fat to 10.5g, which is more than half the adult daily guideline of 20g from a single sandwich.
High in saturated fat relative to other items
A McDonald's Double Cheeseburger contains 436 kcal and 10.5g of saturated fat, 53% of the adult daily saturated fat guideline of 20g. Doubling the patty and cheese roughly doubles the saturated fat to 10.5g, which is more than half the adult daily guideline of 20g from a single sandwich.
Adult daily reference intakes (Reference Intake, RI)
Calories2,000 kcal
Total fat70g
Saturated fat20g
Total sugars90g (free sugar limit: 30g)
Salt6g
Boone compares each item against EU-wide Reference Intakes for an average adult (2,000 kcal) and the NHS/SACN free sugar and saturated fat guidelines. reference Intakes are EU-wide guideline daily amounts for an average adult (2,000 kcal). The free sugar limit of 30g is the NHS/SACN guideline, which is stricter than the 90g total sugars RI as it excludes naturally occurring sugars in whole foods and dairy.
Sugar, salt and protein by age group
The table below shows how the sugar, salt and protein in a McDonald's Double Cheeseburger compares to daily guidelines for different age groups and life stages.
Sugar, salt and protein by age group: McDonald's Double Cheeseburger
| Age group | Sugar (g / % limit) | Salt (g / % limit) | Protein (g / % target) |
|---|
| Age 4 to 6 | 7g / 37% | 2g / 67% | 25g / 125% |
| Age 7 to 10 | 7g / 29% | 2g / 40% | 25g / 89% |
| Age 11 to 17 | 7g / 23% | 2g / 33% | 25g / 60% |
| Adult | 7g / 23% | 2g / 33% | 25g / 50% |
Boone calculates sugar and salt against NHS/SACN daily limits and protein against estimated daily targets. Boone bands each figure red at 75%+ of the limit, amber at 20-74% and green under 20%. Protein is beneficial and has no upper limit, shown for reference only.
Protein
Double Cheeseburger provides 25g of protein. For comparison, a general guide for adult daily protein intake is around 50g, so this item alone provides 50% of that target.
Salt
Double Cheeseburger contains 2g of salt, 33% of the adult daily limit of 6g. This is a substantial share of the daily limit from one item, before any fries or sides are added.
Ultra-processed food: what is really in it
A McDonald's Double Cheeseburger is assembled from 4 separate components, each manufactured and prepared separately, often at different factories, before being combined and cooked at the point of sale. The component is close to a single ingredient, with comparatively little additional formulation.
None of this means the ingredients are unsafe; all additives used are approved for use in UK food. What it indicates is the degree of industrial formulation involved. A home-cooked equivalent, made from a small number of fresh or minimally processed ingredients prepared in one kitchen, would typically involve far fewer steps and far fewer additives. The version sold at McDonald's reaches a comparable end result using a longer list of industrially processed components, several manufacturing sites, and a number of functional additives designed to keep the product consistent across thousands of restaurants.
What's in it: Double Cheeseburger
Bun
Same wheat flour bun as the Cheeseburger
Beef patties (x2)
Two 100% beef patties, seasoned with salt and pepper after cooking
Cheese slices (x2)
Two processed cheddar cheese slices
Onions, pickle, ketchup, mustard
Same as Cheeseburger
Looking at the ingredient list rather than just the nutrition panel tells a different story. Even where individual macros (sugar, salt, calories) look moderate, the number of separately manufactured components, and the additives used to bind, emulsify, preserve, colour and flavour them, place almost every hot item on the McDonald's menu in the most processed food category under the NOVA classification system.
Processing (NOVA classification)
A McDonald's Double Cheeseburger falls into NOVA group 4, ultra-processed food. The NOVA classification system groups foods by the extent and purpose of the processing involved, rather than by their individual nutrients. Group 4 covers products that are formulated mostly or entirely from substances derived from foods, plus additives, using a series of industrial processes with little or no whole food remaining recognisable in the final product. In this item, that is reflected in the breaded or formed components, processed cheese, and multi-stage assembly typical of fast food production. This classification applies to almost all hot menu items at McDonald's, and indeed to most fast food and packaged convenience food generally; it is not a finding specific to this item.
Ingredients
McDonald's Double Cheeseburger is assembled from 7 separately manufactured components.
Ingredients by component: McDonald's Double Cheeseburger
Regular bun
WHEAT flour, water, sugar, yeast, rapeseed oil, salt, WHEAT fibre, emulsifier, pea protein, WHEAT starch, WHEAT maltodextrin, dextrose, maize maltodextrin, maize starch, antioxidant.
Beef patty
100% pure beef, seasoned with salt and pepper after cooking, with no additives, fillers, binders, preservatives or flavour enhancers.
Processed cheddar cheese slice
vegetarian cheddar (51%) (MILK), water, vegetarian cheese (MILK), butter (MILK), whey or skimmed MILK powder, emulsifying salts, MILK protein, natural cheese flavouring (MILK), salt, colours, anti-caking agent.
Pickle slices
gherkins, water, spirit vinegar, salt, firming agent, natural flavouring, preservative.
Tomato ketchup
60% tomato puree, glucose-fructose syrup, spirit vinegar, salt, spice extracts.
Mustard
water, spirit vinegar, MUSTARD seed (14%), salt, spices, spice extract.
McDonald's lists more than one approved formulation for the bun and cheese slice; the version shown is the primary one and the allergen table below covers all variants. Ingredients taken from the McDonald's UK product page, retrieved 17 August 2026. Recipes change - always check in restaurant before ordering if you have an allergy.
Allergens at a glance
McDonald's Double Cheeseburger contains wheat, milk and mustard.
Allergen information: McDonald's Double Cheeseburger
| Allergen | Status |
|---|
| Wheat | Contains |
| Rye | May contain traces |
| Barley | May contain traces |
| Oats | Not present |
| Sesame | May contain traces |
| Soya | Not present |
| Milk | Contains |
| Eggs | Not present |
| Fish | Not present |
| Crustaceans | Not present |
| Celery | Not present |
| Mustard | Contains |
| Molluscs | Not present |
| Lupin | Not present |
Contains = declared as an ingredient. May contain traces = McDonald's states the allergen cannot be excluded. McDonald's prepares food in kitchens where all 14 major allergens are present and equipment is shared, so no item can be guaranteed allergen free, even when ingredients are removed on request. Buns, rolls and tortilla wraps are toasted in the same toaster as sesame-topped buns.
