McDonald's US Dirty Dr Pepper (Medium): calories and sugar by portion, age and sex

Nutrition information: McDonald's US Dirty Dr Pepper (Medium)

Nutrition figures are McDonald’s USA 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.

McDonald's US Dirty Dr Pepper (Medium) is over the US per-meal added sugar limit

McDonald's US Dirty Dr Pepper (Medium) contains 64g of added sugar, 6.4 times the 10g per-meal limit in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The same guidelines recommend no added sugar at all for children aged 10 and under.

FDA Daily Values (2,000-calorie diet)

Where the sugar comes from: McDonald's US Dirty Dr Pepper (Medium)

Effectively all 64g counts as added sugar, or about 16.0 teaspoons against the 10g per-meal limit.

Added sugars come from

• high fructose corn syrup in the Dr Pepper
• cane sugar, corn syrup in the cold foam

Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025–2030: no more than 10g of added sugar per meal from age 11 and none for children aged 10 and under. FDA Daily Value: 50g a day. Sources are read from the published ingredient list for each component.

Processing and additives: McDonald's US Dirty Dr Pepper (Medium)

McDonald's US Dirty Dr Pepper (Medium) is assembled from 2 separately manufactured components, combined and served at the point of sale. Reading the ingredient list closely, it contains corn syrups and invert sugar, emulsifiers, thickeners and gums, processed cellulose, flavourings, colours, preservatives, phosphates and raising agents, protein and dairy fractions, humectants and anti-foaming agents. These are not there to add nutritional value. They make industrial production and distribution possible.

Boone classifies McDonald's US Dirty Dr Pepper (Medium) as NOVA group 4, ultra-processed, based on the additives named above. NOVA groups foods by how far they are from their whole-food form, not by how nutritious they are. A group 4 food is not automatically unhealthy, and a group 1 food is not automatically healthy. Read from the published ingredient list, September 2026.

Ingredient count by order: McDonald's US Dirty Dr Pepper (Medium)

The 19 manufactured ingredients

artificial flavor, caffeine, caramel color, carrageenan, cellulose gum, corn syrup, dimethylpolysiloxane, dipotassium phosphate, high fructose corn syrup, microcrystalline cellulose, mono and diglycerides, natural flavor, phosphoric acid, polysorbate 60, polysorbate 80, propylene glycol, sodium benzoate, sodium caseinate, sorbitan monostearate.

The 5 raw ingredients

cane sugar, canola oil, carbonated water, salt, water.

What those ingredients are, by type

Boone counts every distinct named ingredient on McDonald’s published component lists, including sub-ingredients, and removes duplicates, so salt appearing in four components counts once. Additive class names are dropped and the named substance kept, so “leavening (baking soda)” counts baking soda once. Ice and water added at the counter are not counted. Raw covers whole foods and basic kitchen staples such as flour, sugar, salt and oil. Manufactured covers substances that only exist as an output of industrial processing. Every figure here is a minimum. The build uses a Sweet ’n Sour sauce.

Ingredients by component: McDonald's US Dirty Dr Pepper (Medium)

Ingredients taken from the McDonald’s USA product pages, retrieved September 2026, with obvious spelling errors corrected. Recipes change - always check in restaurant before ordering if you have an allergy.

Allergen information: McDonald's US Dirty Dr Pepper (Medium)

Contains caffeine, but McDonald’s USA does not publish a figure. Contains = declared by McDonald’s USA. May contain = McDonald’s states the allergen may be present. McDonald’s prepares food in shared kitchens, so no item can be guaranteed allergen free. UK rules also require barley, oats, mustard, celery and sulphites to be declared; these are shown where the ingredient list names them. Retrieved September 2026.