McDonald's Just Launched 4 Exciting New Menu Items—But There's a Catch

As the world’s largest restaurant chain, McDonald’s never fails to make a splash in the fast-food community when it adds new options to its menu. But the chain may generate even more buzz than usual with the recent launch of not just one, but several exciting new items.

Four new food and beverage offerings just hit menus at the burger giant: a Creamy Parmesan & Bacon Quarter Pounder, Passionfruit Orange Guava Real Fruit Smoothie, Churros McShaker Fries, and Masala McShaker Fries. The catch with these new items is that they’re exclusively available at McDonald’s restaurants in Canada. So, Americans will have to crave them from afar for now and hope that McDonald’s eventually expands them to menus in the United States.

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The limited-edition Quarter Pounder (670 calories) features a 100% Canadian beef patty topped with a creamy parmesan and black pepper sauce, hickory-smoked bacon, crispy onions, pickles, ketchup, mustard, and two slices of cheddar cheese on a toasted sesame bun. Meanwhile, the new tropical smoothie (370 calories per medium drink) is a combination of real guava purée, yogurt, ice, and the flavors of passionfruit and orange.

The most exciting of the new McDonald’s items, however, might just be the two flavor spins on its famous fries. McShaker Fries come with seasoning packets that customers are meant to toss with the classic McDonald’s side for a flavor boost. The innovation debuted in Hong Kong back in 2005, but the recent Canadian launch is giving customers in the Great White North the opportunity to sample them.

The seasoning pouch in the new Churros McShaker Fries (370 calories) features sugar, cocoa, and cinnamon, offering customers a unique sweet and salty flavor combo. The Masala McShaker Fries (370 calories) seasoning mix is an aromatic blend of cinnamon, cardamom, cumin, cayenne pepper, garlic, and other curry-inspired flavors.

All four new items will only be available at participating Canadian McDonald’s locations for a limited time, so interested customers shouldn’t wait too long before trying them.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

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While McDonald’s fans in America won’t have access to the new Canadian food and beverage options, some exciting developments are taking place at the chain’s outposts in the United States. Earlier this month, McDonald’s launched a limited-edition Grandma McFlurry (600 calories) that combines creamy vanilla soft serve, butterscotch-flavored syrup, and butterscotch-flavored crumbles. The flavors pay homage to “grandma’s favorite treat that she hid in her purse,” according to a press release.

McDonald’s is also reportedly gearing up to introduce a new $5 value meal on June 25 to win back customers after a recent barrage of price complaints. An anonymous source told CNBC that the bundle will include a 4-piece Chicken McNuggets (170 calories), fries (230 calories per small order), a drink, and the customer’s choice of either a McChicken (400 calories) or McDouble (400 calories). The deal will only stick around for about a month, according to the source.

Zoe Strozewski