Global Mexican fast food chain, Guzman y Gomez, has announced that its Australian menu is to eliminate “unacceptable additives” in a review of its usage of food preservatives, colours or artificial flavours.

With research revealing that over 17 million Australians eat fast food on a regular basis, Guzman y Gomez says “it is offering everyday Aussies a menu without compromising on quality or nutrition.”

“At Guzman y Gomez, we’ve always used real, fresh, quality ingredients, and today, I’m so proud to say that we’ve achieved another significant milestone in our journey to reinvent fast food, with the removal of all added preservatives, artificial flavours, added colours and unacceptable additives from our food.” says Steven Marks, Founder and global CEO of GYG.

“GYG is taking a strong stance against additives and says that for more than 3 years, it has been going through the transition to a 100% additive-free food menu. “

“This involved teaming up with new suppliers as well as working with a number of current suppliers to make changes to products, challenging them to, at times, create entirely new products to fit within GYG’s strict guidelines,” a company spokesperson told Australian Food News.

There has been extensive work involved sourcing, testing and trialing new menu alternatives over the three years during which GYG removed all added preservatives from its tortillas, corn chips and hard tacos, trialing several iterations in-store before transitioning to “products with no added preservatives” nationally. This work also resulted in products like fries, cheese and even sauces and marinades with no added preservatives.

Its marinades and salsas are being directly sourced from Mexico for greater authenticity. GYG launched Skin-On Fries with Chipotle Seasoning that are 100% free from added preservatives and unacceptable additives. After consulting with eight suppliers locally, two in the United States, and reviewing over 30 cheeses, GYG rolled out an Australian preservative-free cheese in May 2019.