What’s Going on with McDonald’s New Protein Badges?

But weirdly, most burgers didn’t get one.

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With high-protein meals becoming a major focus on food trends, a lot of fast-food and casual dining spots have been emphasizing the protein levels of their food. And McDonald’s has become the latest store to adopt the trend by adding yellow “protein badges” to 17 of its menu items.

The badges are only awarded to the menu items that have a high-enough protein count to justify it—which seems to be about 13-30 grams of protein. Surprisingly, that doesn’t include most burgers. For example, the Quarter Pounder With Cheese is listed as having 30 grams of protein, but doesn’t get a badge. However, the Egg McMuffin made the list with only 17 grams of protein. Maybe they were focusing on items that had comparatively lower fat, compared to total protein?

If you’re curious, here’s the list of all the items on the menu with badges currently listed on their online menu. (Only some of them sport a badge on the main menu, while the rest have a badge when you click on them.)

3-piece McCrispy Strips: 30 grams of protein

4 Piece McNuggets Happy Meal: 19 grams of protein

6-piece Chicken McNuggets: 14 grams of protein

10-piece Chicken McNuggets: 23 grams of protein

Cheeseburger: 15 grams of protein

Egg McMuffin: 17 grams of protein

Filet-O-Fish: 16 grams of protein

McDouble: 22 grams of protein

Ranch Snack Wrap: 17 grams of protein

Sausage Burrito: 13 grams of protein

Spicy Snack Wrap: 17 grams of protein