In-N-Out said in a September 8, 2026 social media post that sesame flour is no longer an ingredient in its buns across the 10 states where it operates, and that its packets of iodized salt have been replaced with sea salt. The company did not say why it removed the sesame flour.
Not officially confirmed
- Status
- Available nowNot confirmed by the company
- Brand
- In-N-Out Burger
- Where
- US - In-N-Out's 10-state footprint
- Run
- Permanent
- In-N-Out described the changes in a post on its own social accounts on September 8, 2026.
- Sesame flour is no longer used in its buns across all 10 states where the chain operates.
- Packets of iodized salt have been replaced with sea salt, a change made earlier in 2026.
- The ketchup switch from high-fructose corn syrup to real sugar was made in 2025 and is not new in this announcement.
- In-N-Out gave no reason for removing the sesame flour.
- Fox Business reports the removal reverses a 2024 change, when In-N-Out added sesame to its buns after the FASTER Act designated sesame a major allergen.
- No prices changed and no menu items were added or withdrawn.
What was announced
In-N-Out posted on its own social accounts on September 8, 2026 that it had made changes to its ingredients. Two are changes made in 2026: sesame flour is no longer an ingredient in its buns across the 10 states where the chain operates, and packets of iodized salt have been replaced with sea salt. A third point, that its ketchup is made with real sugar rather than high-fructose corn syrup, refers to a change made in 2025. The company gave no reason for removing the sesame flour, and no prices or menu items changed.
Why it matters
In-N-Out changes its menu about as rarely as any chain in the country, so a specification change to the bun is a bigger event here than a new sandwich would be elsewhere. The useful work on this story is separating the two 2026 changes from the 2025 ketchup recipe that is being reported alongside them as though it were new, and resisting the reason everyone wants to supply: sesame allergies are the obvious explanation for the bun change, and In-N-Out did not give it.
The three ingredients, and which are actually new
In-N-Out's post covered three ingredients, but only two of them are changes made in 2026.
Buns. Sesame flour is no longer an ingredient in In-N-Out's buns across the 10 states where the chain operates. Tasting Table reports the change as effective this year. This is the substantive one.
Salt packets. The chain's packets of iodized salt have been replaced with sea salt, a swap Tasting Table reports was made earlier in 2026.
Ketchup. In-N-Out's ketchup is made with real sugar rather than high-fructose corn syrup. Both Tasting Table and Fox Business date that switch to 2025, which makes it a restatement of an existing recipe rather than a new change. Coverage that lists it as a third 2026 change is counting a year-old decision.
In-N-Out did not say why the sesame is gone
This is the part worth being precise about. In-N-Out announced what changed; it did not state a rationale for taking sesame flour out of its buns.
Much of the coverage connects the removal to sesame allergies, and the connection is a reasonable one to draw - sesame is a recognised major allergen and its presence in a bun narrows what an allergic customer can order. But that reasoning belongs to the outlets making it, not to In-N-Out. The company itself gave no explanation, and this page does not supply one on its behalf.
Fox Business adds a piece of context that makes the move more legible: In-N-Out had added sesame to its buns in 2024, after the FASTER Act designated sesame a major allergen - a step some manufacturers took so that a product could be labelled as containing sesame rather than kept free of cross-contact. Removing it in 2026 reverses that. Fox Business also notes the company did not officially cite allergies as its motivation.
Re-checked on September 30, 2026. Three weeks after the post, In-N-Out has still given no reason for removing the sesame flour, and no further company statement has appeared. The absence is now old enough to be treated as the answer rather than as a gap waiting to be filled: the chain announced what changed and chose not to say why.
What did not change
No menu item was added, withdrawn or repriced. In-N-Out's menu is unchanged in composition; what changed is the specification of two things already on it.
The chain operates in 10 states, and the bun change is described as covering all of them rather than a regional test. Nothing in the announcement indicates a phased or market-by-market rollout.
What this page could and could not verify
Re-checked on September 30, 2026.
In-N-Out's announcement was made on its social accounts, which require a login to read, so it cannot be opened and cited here. The company's own nutrition and newsroom pages were checked again on September 30 and returned no readable content — they are client-rendered and yield nothing to a plain fetch.
That leaves the two publications cited below, both of which quote the September 8 post directly and agree on what it said. Two reputable outlets quoting the same company post is corroboration of the post, not a second independent confirmation of the change, so this page holds at medium confidence and records the change as not officially confirmed. It is not a retired rumour — the announcement is real and well attested — it is a change this site has not been able to read from In-N-Out itself.
Anyone with a sesame allergy should treat In-N-Out's own allergen guidance as the authority here, not this page.
Common questions
- Do In-N-Out buns still contain sesame?
- In-N-Out said in September 2026 that sesame flour is no longer an ingredient in its buns across the 10 states where it operates. Anyone avoiding sesame for medical reasons should confirm current ingredients and cross-contact risk with In-N-Out directly rather than relying on a news page.
- Why did In-N-Out remove sesame flour from its buns?
- In-N-Out did not say. It announced the change without giving a reason. Outlets have linked it to sesame allergies, but that explanation comes from the coverage, not from the company.
- Did In-N-Out change its ketchup in 2026?
- No. The switch from high-fructose corn syrup to real sugar in In-N-Out's ketchup was made in 2025. It was restated in the September 2026 post rather than newly announced.
- Which states are affected?
- All of them. In-N-Out operates in 10 states and described the bun change as applying across that whole footprint, not as a regional test.
Sources
Tasting Table · Food publication · checked Sep 30, 2026
- In-N-Out described the ingredient changes in a September 8, 2026 Facebook post
- Sesame flour is no longer used in In-N-Out buns across 10 states, effective in 2026
- In-N-Out replaced iodized salt packets with sea salt earlier in 2026
- The ketchup switch from high-fructose corn syrup to real sugar was made in 2025, not in this announcement
- In-N-Out gave no stated reason for removing sesame flour
- Re-read on September 30, 2026: unchanged — still reports the September 8 In-N-Out post removing sesame flour from buns across 10 states and replacing iodized salt packets with sea salt, and still states no reason for the sesame removal.
Fox Business · News · checked Sep 30, 2026
- In-N-Out said it recently removed sesame flour from its buns and replaced iodized salt packets with sea salt
- In-N-Out operates in 10 states
- In-N-Out replaced high-fructose corn syrup with real sugar in its ketchup in 2025
- The sesame removal reverses a 2024 change in which In-N-Out added sesame to its buns after the FASTER Act designated sesame a major allergen
- In-N-Out did not officially cite allergies as the reason for the change
- Re-read on September 30, 2026: unchanged — still reports the September 8 In-N-Out post removing sesame flour from buns across 10 states and replacing iodized salt packets with sea salt, and still states no reason for the sesame removal.