The Gold Standard

Have you ever heard about the Gold Standard? It is the highest quality that McDonald's products can achieve. According to Barbara Booth, McDonald's Director of Sensory Science, "It’s when we put the sensory experience into words. Every single menu item, from our World Famous Fries to the Fruit ‘N Yogurt Parfait, has a 'taste profile.' That’s basically a description of each of our Menu offerings – how it should look, taste, smell, feel and sound. It’s a combination of an item’s ingredients, its preparation and the equipment used to prepare it – resulting in the Sensory Experience of tasting that food." Booth explains that in order to make the quality of McDonald's products consistent, McDonald's uses a Global Sensory Scoring method. It is a "system we use around the world to make sure our products are up to our high standards." This is the reason why all Big Macs taste the same all around the world. Barbara Booth is also known as being the quality ambassador of McDonald's. She is involved with improving the way food is produced in the United States. Food quality is very important for any restaurant, including McDonald's. Because of Booth's efforts, customers can enjoy the food they buy. The Gold Standard is always a priority for McDonald's. So the next time you buy a hamburger from McDonald's, take comfort in knowing that all that research has been done on making that hamburger for your eating pleasure.

Barbara Booth

Interview link: http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/food/food_quality/trends_innovation/barbara_booth.html

- Hanli Tjahyono