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I worked for McDs in the '70s and we would put dehydrated onions in water for 30 minutes, drain, and use on the 10:1 patties. If the onions started to change to a pink color we would throw them out. A little more trivia. McDs used meat that was 16.7% - 17.2% fat or about 83% lean. The frozen quarter pounder that we used had a metal plate put on top of it to keep the burger from "cupping." We would cook on one side for 2 1/2 min and flip, salt and pepper, and cook 2 min more. The buns were high content sugar bun so that it would brown evenly and look good on the platen that we put them in. We never buttered the bun to make them brown.
While I'm at it... Cinnabon adds a little lemon extract and twice as much vanilla extract to their icing on their rolls.
