McDonald's Cuts Ties With Heinz Ketchup

Heinz brought in a former CEO of Burger King to run the ship a few months ago—and now McDonald's has severed ties with the ketchup company after 40 years, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. That means nobody eating at McDonald's will be slathering their fries with a Heinz product, although the newspaper points out that the vast majority of Americans won't notice. Only two US markets in the chain—Pittsburgh (where Heinz is based) and Minneapolis—were using Heinz ketchup anyway.

McDonald's did serve Heinz in overseas stores, and that's where the move will likely sting. "As a result of recent management changes at Heinz, we have decided to transition our business to other suppliers over time," says a McDonald's statement. As for Burger King, it remains a loyal Heinz customer and uses its products in about 80% of all its stores, reports Reuters. (More McDonald's stories.)