Does Burger King Use Real Eggs?

Whether you're on a road trip, navigating the airport food court, or just commuting to work, a fast food breakfast sandwich is a convenient way to fuel up for the day. At Burger King, you can choose from croissants, biscuits, and tortillas layered with a combination of eggs, cheese, ham, sausage, or bacon — and don't forget the hash browns. But when your breakfast is ready in seconds and comes expertly wrapped from beneath a heat lamp, it might make you wonder: What exactly is in this handy package?

Unlike a made-to-order restaurant, where fresh eggs are cracked and whisked before hitting the pan, Burger King relies on a liquid egg-pasteurized mixture for all of its sandwiches. This mixture includes whole eggs and additional ingredients such as water, citric acid, and xanthan gum. (You'll also notice BK's breakfast menu only features scrambled-style eggs, unlike other fast food chains.)

According to the Food Safety and Inspection Service arm of the USDA, "Food manufacturers use pasteurized egg products because of their convenience and ease in handling and storing. Because egg products are required to be edible without additional preparation to achieve food safety, institutional foodservice operators ... use egg products to ensure a high level of food safety." So your Burger King breakfast sandwich is safe to eat and easy to cook, though if you're looking for flavorful and fully scrambled eggs, you might want to just make them at home.

While we can appreciate the emphasis on food safety, a liquid egg-pasteurized mixture is never going to taste as good as the real thing, and Burger King is not the only restaurant to use similar mixtures.

At McDonald's, sandwiches like the Egg McMuffin that feature the recognizable round egg patty are made using fresh eggs cracked into molds. Folded eggs, like those on biscuit sandwiches, are made using liquid eggs that are pre-cooked and flash-frozen. This egg mixture also includes nonfat milk, modified food starch, salt, and citric acid.

Thankfully, a number of fast food joints are cracking and cooking fresh eggs for breakfast sandwiches with a little more flavor. Wendy's proudly notes that all of their breakfast sandwiches feature a freshly cracked egg. The only exception is the Sausage & Egg Burrito — but is a burrito a sandwich? The eggs are fully cooked, with the yolk broken so there's nothing runny to mess with as you eat. (Save that for a breakfast you eat with a fork, not in your car.)

And while White Castle may be best known for square sliders, you can also get breakfast. Whether you opt for a classic slider with an egg or a breakfast sandwich built on a Belgian waffle, the eggs are freshly cracked and cooked.