Fast food classics: Big Mac and Whopper in comparison

If you compare the most popular burgers from McDonalds and Burger King, the BigMac and Whopper, you can see some parallels. But that doesn’t mean the burgers are completely the same.

Big Mac and Whopper in comparison: This is what the McDonalds burger is made of

The BigMac is probably the most famous hamburger in the world. In 1968, the fast food in double-decker format was sold for the first time – in the USA, of course. Since then, the Big Mac has spread worldwide and is sold in countless countries.

• Due to McDonalds’ exact standardisation, every Bic Mac contains the same amount of ingredients. The burger thus weighs around 220 grams.
• The ingredients are basically not unusual: In addition to the bun and two slices of beef, there are onions, pickles, iceberg lettuce, cheddar cheese and the in-house Big Mac sauce on the burger.
• Slight variations are available for individual countries, such as India, where the consumption of beef is not permitted. The equivalent of the Big Mac there is called Chicken Maharaja Mac and is prepared with chicken meat.
• McDonalds gives the nutritional value of the Big Mac as 503 kcal – 232 kcal per 100 g.
• The Big Mac received extraordinary attention in the 1980s when the English magazine The Economist published the so-called Bic Mac Index for the first time.
• This examines the purchasing power of different currencies in the respective countries and thus determines whether a currency is overvalued or undervalued. For this purpose, the average price of the Big Mac in the country is determined and offset against the real exchange rate.
• A special characteristic of the hamburger: the bun consists not only of the bottom and the lid, but also of an intermediate piece in the middle.
• The typical price for a Big Mac in Germany is currently 4.29 euros.

Tradition since the 50s: The Whopper from Burger King

The Whopper is probably the most important product at the fast food chain Burger King. The burger was first sold in the USA in 1957 and is therefore more than 10 years older than the Big Mac.

• In contrast to the Big Mac, the Whopper weighs around 275 grams. The proportion of beef is 113.4 grams – exactly a quarter of a pound.
• The ingredient list doesn’t hold any big surprises for the Whopper either: Besides the sesame seed bun and a slice of beef, there are onions, lettuce, cucumber and tomato slices. Cheese, ketchup and mayo are also added to the burger.
• Temporarily, Burger King offers the Angry Whopper with fried onions and jalapeños.
• Burger King also sells the Whopper in various variations. The Dopple Whopper, for example, contains an additional slice of meat, while the Whopper Jr. is a reduced format for small appetites.