McDonald's US Quarter Pounder with Cheese: calories, sodium and protein by portion, age and sex

Nutrition information: McDonald's US Quarter Pounder with Cheese

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 Quarter Pounder with Cheese carries a large share of a child’s daily sodium

McDonald's US Quarter Pounder with Cheese contains 1,140mg of sodium, which is 76% of the daily limit for a child aged 4 to 8. It is also high in saturated fat.

FDA Daily Values (2,000-calorie diet)

Where the sugar comes from: McDonald's US Quarter Pounder with Cheese

8g of the 10g counts as added sugar, or about 2.0 teaspoons. The other 2g is naturally occurring.

Added sugars come from

• sugar, dextrose in the quarter pound bun
• high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup in the ketchup

Naturally occurring sugars come from

• lactose in the pasteurized process American cheese
• sugars naturally present in the onions

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 Quarter Pounder with Cheese

McDonald's US Quarter Pounder with Cheese is assembled from 7 separately manufactured components, combined and served at the point of sale. Reading the ingredient list closely, it contains corn syrups and invert sugar, dextrose, maltodextrin, modified starches, emulsifiers, thickeners and gums, flavourings, colours, preservatives, emulsifying and buffering salts, firming agents and protein and dairy fractions. These are not there to add nutritional value. They make industrial production and distribution possible.

Boone classifies McDonald's US Quarter Pounder with Cheese 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 Quarter Pounder with Cheese

The 31 manufactured ingredients

alum, ascorbic acid, calcium chloride, citric acid, color added, corn syrup, datem, dextrose, enzymes, extractives of turmeric, faba bean protein, folic acid, guar gum, high fructose corn syrup, maltodextrin, modified food starch, mono and diglycerides, natural flavor, niacin, pea protein, polysorbate 80, potassium sorbate, potato protein, reduced iron, riboflavin, rice protein, sodium citrate, soy lecithin, spice extractive, thiamine mononitrate, wheat gluten.

The 22 raw ingredients

beef, black pepper, cream, cucumber, cultures, distilled vinegar, malted barley flour, milk, mustard seed, onion, paprika, salt, sesame seeds, soybean oil, sugar, sunflower and/or canola oil, tomato concentrate from red ripe tomatoes, turmeric, vinegar, water, wheat flour, yeast.

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 Quarter Pounder with Cheese

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 Quarter Pounder with Cheese

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.