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5 Restaurant Chains That Don’t Use Artificial Preservatives in Their Burgers

Evidence-Based
These burger chains use high-quality beef without artificial preservatives or fillers.

How fresh is your favorite burger? Not every chain restaurant serves hamburgers made without artificial flavors and preservatives. However, there are a handful that use high-quality beef that isn’t loaded with chemicals and other preservatives. Where can you get the freshest, most wholesome hamburger? Here are 5 restaurant chains that don’t use artificial preservatives in their burgers.

Shake Shack

Shake Shack/Facebook

Shake Shake crafts its popular burgers with 100% Angus beef that’s hormone- and antibiotic-free. “No hormones and no antibiotics ever,” it declares on the website. “Our proprietary Shack blend is freshly ground and served on a non-GMO potato bun.”

In-N-Out Burger

In-N-Out/Facebook

In-N-Out’s burgers are another super-clean burger option. Each patty is made from 100% USDA ground chuck with no additives, fillers, or preservatives, and cooked fresh to order. “Always serve only fresh – never frozen – high quality products,” as shared in a recent Instagram post. “In fact, we don’t even own a microwave or a freezer. We have always made our hamburger patties ourselves, starting with fresh, high-quality front-quarter beef chucks – no additives, fillers, or preservatives.”

Five Guys

Five Guys/Facebook

Five Guys uses fresh, never-frozen ground beef with zero preservatives, fillers, or pink slime. The buns are also clean and made without high-fructose corn syrup, and are “baked fresh at bakeries five days a week.” There are no freezers in any of their restaurants.

Culver’s

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Culver’s, a Wisconsin-based chain, is also devoted to using “fresh, never frozen beef” for its famous ButterBurger. “It’s a promise that begins with sourcing the best ingredients and continues through to the way we prepare your meal: fresh, just for you,” the chain states on its website. Beef is sourced from a network of family-owned cattle farms across the U.S. Midwest and contains no fillers or additives.

Whataburger

Whataburger/Facebook

Whataburger is so “committed to freshness” that it has a manifesto page on its website. “We don’t just tell our customers it’s fresh, we prove it every day, 24/7. Your Whataburger doesn’t hit the grill until you order it,” they write. They use only “100% fresh, never-frozen” USDA-inspected ground beef patties that contain no artificial additives, fillers, or preservatives.

Leah Groth
Leah Groth is an experienced shopping editor and journalist for Best Life and Eat This, Not That! bringing readers the best new finds, trends, and deals each week. Read more about Leah