Burger King's Whopper Vs McDonald's Quarter Pounder: Which Burger Is Healthier?

Burger to burger, Burger King's Whopper and McDonald's Quarter Pounder with Cheese look pretty much the same apart from the wrapping. They both come with a quarter-pound patty, a toasted sesame-seed bun, pickles, and onions. Fans of both chains have spent decades arguing not just over which one tastes best, but also which is the "healthiest" — or least disruptive to a diet. Good thing we have the nutrition panels to settle that part of the fight.

If you're watching your calorie intake, a Whopper can quickly eat into your daily allowance at 710 calories. McDonald's Quarter Pounder with Cheese comes in at just 520. And despite both burgers containing a quarter-pound of beef, the Whopper has 42 grams of fat, compared with 26 in the Quarter Pounder. This could potentially mean the Whopper uses a fattier meat ratio for its patties than McDonald's. McDonald's UK said on its website that it uses patties that contain "20% naturally occurring fat," making it a fairly standard 80/20 blend. Burger King hasn't published its ratio of choice yet, but according to one former BK crew member on Quora, they used a 75/25 ratio. That extra 5% of fat could very well explain the extra calories (and why, in our side-by-side taste test, the Whopper won, as fat is where most of a burger's flavor comes from).

Also, a Quarter Pounder arrives with two slices of American cheese by default. A standard Whopper arrives with none (though it can be customized in many ways if desired), so a true apples-to-apples comparison pushes Burger King's numbers higher still.

Most people need around 2,000 calories a day. One of these burgers will handily demolish a quarter of this goal. However, calories aren't the be-all and end-all of nutritional measurements, so we'll have to take a look at other metrics.

Look at saturated fat, for instance. At around 12 grams each, both burgers nearly reach the American Heart Association's recommended daily limit of 13 grams for a 2,000-calorie diet. One sandwich spends about 92% of that allowance before you even reach for the fries. Sodium runs the same way. The Quarter Pounder's 1,140 milligrams is half the FDA's daily value of 2,300. The Whopper's 1,250 is a little past half. Measured against the Heart Association's optimal target of 1,500 milligrams instead, those burgers eat 76% and 83% of a day.

So, even though there are certain pros to picking up a Whopper (it delivers 4 grams of fiber to the Quarter Pounder's 2 and edges McDonald's on protein, with 34 grams against 30), a Quarter Pounder with Cheese is the more healthful order. The smaller burger comes in 190 calories lower than a Whopper and has less sodium, while the saturated fat and cholesterol are about the same. If you are choosing between the two, it is the easier one to justify.