Dunkin' Donuts hasn't been doing so hot these day. The situation hasn't imploded into a Chipotle-level crisis just yet, but the company's stock prices have dipped for this financial quarter. And with McDonald's now pushing breakfast all day, the Northeast doughnut and coffee chain has felt the need to step up its game, promising a "better-tasting egg" and a reformulated bagel.
According to the Street, that better-tasting egg doesn't just mean adding a little more salt and pepper. Instead, it looks like the chain might finally start using real ingredients in a few of its products. As it currently stands, a fried egg from Dunkin' Donuts includes roughly a dozen ingredients, and only two of them happen to come in shells.
According to the company's website, an egg white flatbread contains egg whites and egg yolks, but also a host of other additives, like water, modified corn starch, natural sauteed flavor (soybean oil, medium chain triglycerides, natural flavor), salt, artificial butter flavor (propylene glycol, artificial flavor), xanthan gum, citric acid, and coarse ground black pepper. And if you think that's a lot, the chain's omelet contains twice as many ingredients, and they're not all vegetables.
Dunkin' hasn't disclosed what its plans are for making its flatbreads taste better, but we're hoping it involves subtracting ingredients, rather than adding more. But who knows, perhaps the push for "better-tasting eggs" is more trouble than it's worth. Earlier this week, McDonald's franchisees balked at the prospect of never-frozen beef patties, claiming the initiative would be a food-safety nightmare.
Still, as the Daily Meal points out, one of the current ingredients in the menu item—propylene glycol—can be found in anti-freeze, and was at the center of a recall of Fireball whiskey in 2014.
[via Grub Street, the Street]