Quarter Pounders: McDonald’s introduces three new versions

McDonald’s has announced it will add three new Quarter Pounder burgers to its menu and take off the Angus Prime third-pound burgers. With the new chicken wraps and egg white, whole grain McMuffins also on the menu, maybe no one will notice the new burgers have a little less meat?

The fast-food chain is trying to combat a serious slump in sales with a slew of new menu items after reporting a drop in monthly sales for the first time in nearly a decade. But to save money, it’s also cutting the meat.

The new Quarter Pounders will replace the existing third-pounder Angus burgers, which ran around $4 to $5. Two of the flavors, the bacon and cheese and deluxe, will remain the same as their Angus predecessors. There will be an addition of a new habanero ranch burger. The burgers will be priced around the same as the Angus versions.

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“Once we created these burgers, we didn’t see a need for the Angus line,” Greg Watson, senior vice president of the McDonald’s menu innovation team, told the Associated Press.

The burgers will feature new buns with 8 grams of whole grain, and a thicker applewood-smoked bacon will replace the hickory-smoked bacon on the bacon and cheese version. The original Quarter Pounder will remain the same.

The new burgers were tested in Sacramento and Toledo, Ohio, and are slated to hit menus nationwide mid-June.

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Hot and smoky clams, tri tip, a cocktail with a kick and even some Taco BellFollow Jenn Harris on Twitter or Google+