FILE - In this Sept. 12, 2012 file photo, items on the breakfast menu, including the calories, are posted at a McDonald's restaurant in New York. Wondering how many calories are in that hamburger? Chain restaurants still don't have to tell you, despite a six year-old law requiring calorie labels. The Food and Drug Administration said earlier this month that it will delay menu labeling rules, again, until next year. Pushback from supermarkets and convenience stores that will be required to put calorie labels on take-out foods have slowed the process. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

NEW YORK | McDonald’s, which is trying to shake its image for serving processed junk food, says it’s purging some unpalatable ingredients from its most popular menu items.

The moves announced Monday include making Chicken McNuggets and other items without artificial preservatives, and removing high-fructose corn syrup from its burger buns. The tweaks come as the world’s biggest burger chain fights to win back customers.

It’s just the latest evidence of major restaurant chains scrambling to step up the image of their food as competition from smaller players intensifies. Dunkin’ Donuts has said it will introduce an egg patty with a higher concentration of egg. And as part of its vow to remove artificial ingredients, Taco Bell said it would switch to actual black pepper instead of “black pepper flavor.”

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