Before being sued over a customer's third-degree burns, McDonald's required all coffee to be served between 180 and 190 degrees Fahrenheit.

Between 1989 and 2001, a security guard dubbed 'Uncle Jerry' rigged the McDonald's Monopoly sweepstakes by handing out 60 winning pieces worth more than $24M.

Woman sues Kraft over mac and cheese instructions

A woman in Florida has sued Kraft Heinz over its Velveeta Macaroni and Cheese microwaveable products, saying the marketed cooking time is incorrect.

Until late 2024, the company that makes McDonald's ice cream machines held an elusive repair monopoly on them, the culprit behind the frequent outages that fueled widespread social media discourse.

Fast-food prices have increased more over the past 10 years than both full-service restaurants and inflation

Apparently, according to experts on the subject, rising labor costs are to blame. Fast-food giants like McDonald's are now seeing the consequences in their underwhelming earnings reports.

Why Coke tastes different at McDonald's

Fans of the sugary soda Coca-Cola have noticed significant differences between its canned variety versus what pours forth from the fountain at McDonald's. Is there anything to the claim? Weird History Food takes a dive into this essential fast-food...

Despite meeting as ambulance drivers in WWI, Ray Kroc and Walt Disney weren't the driving forces behind McDonald's and Disney's numerous business partnerships.

The original McDonald's served barbecue

Barbecue was a popular roadside cuisine in the early days of the US highway system, and McDonald's, while it was still a small enterprise in San Bernardino, California, served it as a part of its fast food menu.

Ray Kroc proposed the idea of franchising McDonald's as a way to sell more of his multimixers 7 years before buying the McDonald's brothers out of the company for $2.7M.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute guarantee was discontinued after a string of delivery-driver accidents

The chain's promotional gimmick offered customers free or reduced pizzas if their pizzas weren't delivered in 30 minutes or less. That policy led to the chain's popularity, but it also led to reckless driving: In the late '80s, the National Safe Workplace claimed its drivers had the same death rate as miners. After Domino's was found liable in 1993 for nearly $79M in damages, it discontinued the policy.

See photos of McDonald's locations all across the world from the 'McAtlas.'

McDonald's intentionally avoids using the word 'milkshake'

The restaurant's US menus use an abbreviated term: the simple "shake." Conspiracy theorists suggest this means the chain doesn't use actual milk, but the truth is a bit more complicated and—much to their displeasure—mostly related to dairy regulations.

Why coffee prices have reached record highs in 2026

Coffee beans reached $9.46 per pound in February 2026, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the highest price since the Bureau began tracking the price in 1980. Experts blame bad weather in Brazil and Vietnam (the world's largest producers) and heightened US tariffs.

Watch a recreation of the 'Speedee Service System,' the assembly line production method pioneered by the McDonald's brothers that revolutionized fast food in the US.

McDonald's was the first American fast food restaurant to open in the Soviet Union in 1990.

Acrylamide forms naturally during high-heat cooking through the Maillard reaction

While studies have shown it can damage DNA and potentially cause cancer in mice, humans absorb and metabolize acrylamide at different rates, introducing uncertainty in the research's applicability to humans. Some international health agencies have nonetheless recommended avoiding darker roasts when cooking starchy foods.

Explore 'McBroken,' an online map of which McDonald's ice cream machines are broken in the US.

Unlike other franchises, the McDonald's Corporation owns the land and the buildings of individual stores, and franchise owners lease those assets—resulting in McDonald's often being called a real-estate company.

Is Domino’s pizza inflation-proof?

A Big Mac Extra Value Meal is nearly $11 in 2025, compared to $4.59 in 1993. A Taco Bell crunchy taco costs $1.79 today, but was only 59 cents in 1990. Inflation impacts the price of many fast-food items—but the price of a Domino's pizza hasn't changed much at all in the past two decades.

Freezer burn is the result of moisture leaving ice cream

The ice cream death knell occurs when water crystals melt and then refreeze on the surface of the treat, creating a crunchy (but far from delectable) shell. The best way to prevent this unfortunate outcome is by storing your ice cream in a freezer that’s colder than 0°F.

The Fair Labor Standards Act established a minimum wage—but it didn't cover everyone

A 1966 amendment created the “tip credit,” which allowed restaurants to pay below minimum wage if tips compensated the difference. However, this federal tipped minimum wage has remained frozen at $2.13 per hour since 1991, whereas the regular minimum wage has increased multiple times since then.

Former LuLaRoe vendors have accused the clothing multilevel marketing company of operating a pyramid scheme, resulting in more than 50 lawsuits and a $4.75M settlement.

Soda is one of the most overpriced items at restaurants

All restaurant food is marked up—that's how they turn profits, after all—but soda is one of the most egregious. Fountain soda is remarkably cheap, with restaurants often paying a few cents for each glass before selling it for a few dollars. Food publication The Takeout estimates that the typical markup is around 1,000%.

The WHO labeled aspartame as 'possibly carcinogenic' but US regulators consider it safe

The International Agency for Research on Cancer, an arm of the World Health Organization, labeled aspartame—the artificial sweetener in Diet Coke—as one of several hundred possible cancer-causing substances in 2023. The determination was based on animal and human studies and "limited" evidence linking it to liver cancer. The WHO and US Food and Drug Administration both say the substance is safe at moderate levels. The FDA says a person weighing about 132 pounds would need to have 75 packets daily to reach an unsafe level.

Heatstroke occurs when the body reaches 104°F or higher and can't cool itself

Untreated, this medical emergency can result in permanent disability or death. Someone suffering from heatstroke—defined as a core temperature of 104 degrees Fahrenheit but sometimes as high as 106 degrees Fahrenheit—may appear confused and require immediate cooling, ideally with an ice bath.

Jeff Bezos started his career working at McDonald’s

He now claims that his high school gig at the fast food restaurant taught him about efficiency, customer service, and other valuable lessons that he took with him when building Amazon.

Heatstroke deaths may be massively undercounted—perhaps by a factor of 10

One often-cited average estimate of annual American heat deaths—roughly 1,200 per year—is based on death certificate data, but it may be a significant undercount because heat kills through cardiovascular, kidney, and respiratory causes that are more likely to be cited on those documents. (Separate analysis that looked at data from 1999 to 2023 found that the highest number, in 2023, was 2325.)

Opioid epidemic 101: lawsuits and settlements

State and local governments trying to address the opioid epidemic have sued organizations they believe started and supported the crisis. Companies that made, distributed, or contributed to sales of the highly addictive painkillers are expected to pay more than $50B in settlements. These settlements specifically state that at least 85% of settlement funds must be spent on addressing the epidemic, though where exactly the money is going is unclear.

The history of the McDonald's Happy Meal

The McDonald's Happy Meal is the quintessential fast food kids meal, serving up child-appropriate portions and prizes all within a portable, fun container. So where did this pop culture icon begin? Watch this quirky 13-minute history of the Happy...

In the 19th century, ice-cream-related illnesses were somewhat regular in America

Ice cream was a popular dessert, but it was also a dangerous one, with numerous reports of vomiting, diarrhea, and—in some cases—death. Historians argue this was likely due to vendors' poor hygienic practices.

Watch an animation of what happens inside cookies as they bake in an oven

As temperatures rise and butter melts, trapped water expands, spreading the dough, which remains held together by a network of proteins. Maillard reactions produce browning on the surface beyond 310 degrees Fahrenheit (154 degrees Celsius), while caramelization can be triggered by baking past 356 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius).

McDonald's releases a new adult Happy Meal

Some McDonald's restaurants in Ohio began a nostalgic campaign in late 2023, reviving chicken nugget-style doll toys famous in adult-themed Happy Meals over a quarter-century before. The company collaborated with artist Kerwin Frost to create the toys. Read more and see photos here.

In 2014, there were more payday loan stores than McDonalds

That year, there were more than 20,000 payday lenders in the US, according to the St. Louis Federal Reserve, and 14,267 McDonald's locations. Politicians and consumer advocates frequently cited this statistic as a selling point for increased regulation.

Following the NFL's concussion settlement, numerous victims were denied payouts

In 2015, the NFL finalized a landmark settlement with former players alleging concussions suffered in games were causing brain diseases. The settlement promised to pay every former player who developed dementia or diseases linked to concussions. This Washington Post investigation interviewed former players who filed claims under the agreement, but said they were rejected based on definitions in the settlement.

Exclusionary ads can help win over customers, some marketers argue

Slogans like "if you don't like dark roast, this coffee isn't for you," also known as "dissuasive framing," can entice specific groups of customers, some marketers say. The shift comes from the perceived authenticity of a company admitting that a product is not perfect for everyone.

McDonald’s 1990 opening in Moscow symbolized the USSR’s fading isolation

When McDonald’s arrived in Moscow in 1990—an icon of Western capitalism—it became a cultural shock. NPR’s Invisibilia recounts how the chain asked new Russian employees to greet customers with American-style smiles, exploring the clash between Soviet norms and Western service culture (segment starts around 42 minutes in).

Mark Rothko demanded a high-end restaurant remove his paintings

The artist was commissioned to paint murals for a Four Seasons restaurant on the ground floor of New York's Seagram Building. After attending the restaurant, he demanded his paintings be taken down and agreed to return his $35K payment, saying, “anybody who will eat that kind of food for those kind of prices will never look at a painting of mine.”

Soybean oil fraud almost decimated American Express in 1963

A New York commodities trader who had defrauded the American government over uninspected meat for school lunches, Anthony "Tino" De Angelis, used American Express warehouses to sell soybean oil. However, Angelis had actually filled the tanks with water and placed just enough soybean oil on top of the tanks to pass inspection. American Express was liable for many of the tanks and its stock faced a huge downturn, opening the door for a then 33-year-old Warren Buffett to make his first purchase in the company.

Malaysia is home to a massive McDonald's museum

Top Fast-Food Toy Collections Museum in the city of Alor Setar houses over 80,000 McDonald's items, including Happy Meal toys, employee uniforms, and ketchup packets.