For years, fast food in the UK has had some negative connotations in terms of what's inside its food.

To combat this, chains like McDonald's have been keen to advertise the fact that they use several homegrown ingredients - including beef from British and Irish farmers and British potatoes.

And now McDonald's has gone a step further in assuring customers that the items they are eating contain good quality ingredients, by creating an interactive map which shows exactly where much of its produce comes from.

Unveiled today (October 5)  Map My McDonald's  allows customers to see which ingredients used in their favourite menu items are grown in their region, reports the Mirror.

They'll also be able to meet some of the 23,000 British and Irish farmers that supply them.

The map has been created following a new  YouGov  study which shows that Brits care more about local farmers and locally sourced food following lockdown.

Well over a third (43 percent) now say that supporting local farmers and growers is important to them, while 34 percent say they want to eat out more to support local food providers and farmers.

The YouGov poll of more than 2,000 British adults also found that two fifths of people (41 percent) say their appreciation for locally sourced food has increased since lockdown, with eggs (61 percent), milk (58 percent), beef (56 percent) and potatoes (56 percent) taking the top spots for ingredients Brits most want restaurants to source from local suppliers.

McDonald's fans are now invited to  mapmymcdonalds.co.uk to learn all about the quality, fresh ingredients like beef, pork, eggs, milk and potatoes that are grown in their region and meet the farmers that live and work in their local area.

Nina Prichard, Head of Sustainable and Ethical Sourcing at  McDonald's  UK & Ireland, said: "This has been a challenging year for farmers so we wanted to shine a light on the incredible work farmers do across the UK and Ireland to produce the quality, local ingredients for our best-loved menu items. These farmers are our most essential ingredient - the local heroes who work tirelessly to deliver quality produce for our delicious menu, day in, day out."

Helen Brass, co-owner of The Lakes Free Range Eggs Company, who have supplied eggs to McDonald's for almost 20 years also commented: "After what's been a challenging time for many, it is great to get this recognition for all the hard work we put into sourcing quality ingredients from across the UK.

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"We're proud to have supplied the free-range eggs that are cracked for McDonald's breakfasts for nearly 20 years, and our work together never stops. Over the last two decades we've worked closely to innovate and continually improve our business, including planting native trees across 20 percent of the ranges on our farms to provide cover for our hens - this protection improves their wellbeing and egg quality."

McDonald's adds that customers can enjoy their favourite menu items at ease knowing the following:

  • Every egg cracked for a McDonald's breakfast is free-range and RSPCA Assured, which has been the case for over twenty years.
  • All McDonald's burgers are made using 100% British and Irish beef, sourced from over 20,000 farms, accredited by a nationally recognised farm assurance scheme, such as Red Tractor.
  • Every drop of semi-skimmed milk in teas, coffees, porridge and Happy Meal milk bottles is organic and comes from Red Tractor assured dairies.
  • Across its menu, McDonald's only serves 100% RSPCA Assured outdoor-bred pork and was the first UK restaurant to do so.
  • And McDonald's world-famous Fries are made using spuds, sourced from select 'MacFry' potato varieties, grown on British Red Tractor assured farms.