A man claiming to be a McDonald's employee offering a glimpse behind the scenes at the golden arches has revealed how the restaurant chain prepares its onions—and that has left fans feeling conflicted.

In a 36-second video shared to TikTok by essentialmcdonalds, viewers are taken through the process that creates the diced onions featured in many of the burgers at the world famous fast food outlet.

It proved to be an eye-opening experience for many and can be viewed here.

"I'm going to show you guys how we make our dehydrated onions today," the man on the video explains. He begins by pouring the contents of a sachet of dried-out onions into a plastic tub.

Using a standard kitchen sink tap, he then proceeds to fill the tub with water up to a designated line marked out on the tub. The visually unappetising mixture is then shown on screen with small bits of onion floating around the top of the filled up tub."Then you put a lid on it and you put it in the fridge," the man on the video explains.

According to the purported McDonald's employee, "it generally takes two hours in the fridge" before the onions are ready. At this point the mixture is poured through a strainer to get rid of any excess fluid. Once strained, the process is complete. "There's your dehydrated onions," he happily declares as the clip concludes.

The video showcasing the entire process has racked up over 8 million views in just over 24 hours. However, the responses from those watching haven't all been positive.

"Of all the fast food exposé videos this one crossed the line for me," Samantha Conley wrote. "I really thought y'all got packaged fresh diced onions or sumthin." Beth O'Conner felt similarly duped. "Why did I think there's a little man in the back dicing onions into microscopic pieces," she wrote.

Another user, posting as adaywithshay, also expressed disappointment at learning what goes on behind the scenes at the golden arches. "Man we can't even get fresh onions," she commented."

One user posting as The Jess, was stunned writing "the onions aren't real!" while Mads Plants appeared conflicted, responding: "These onions are the besttttt though."

Despite the outcry, some thought the reaction was a little overblown.

GothGrandma said: "I can't believe dehydrated onions are what some people wanna draw the line" with teukyskate declaring: "These onions are the highlight of every McDonald's burger I love them so much." Akerscm also struck out in support, commenting: "Probably an unpopular opinion but I LOVE McDonald's onions."

User7321823118967 meanwhile, poked fun at what those opposed to the idea of dehydrated onions appeared to be suggesting as an alternative. "Really disappointed these onions are not from a 50lb bag of onions that someone get paid to cut up," they quipped.

Newsweek has contacted McDonald's and essentialmcdonalds for comment.

McDonald's has previously faced criticism over its offering of unhealthy meal options. A doctor in Tampa, Florida, for example recently paid to use a billboard to discourage his patients from eating there.

According to health and nutrition website Eat This, Not That, the outlet's Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese represents the most calorific option on offer at the chain.

Erich Bargainier at Eat This, Not That writes that the burger contains "a whopping 720 calories and well over half your daily sodium intake."

"This item packs in the most amount of fat and salt out of all McDonalds burgers offered in the U.S.," he warns.

A recent viral video revealed how McDonald's cooks folded eggs compared to round ones, while another clip purported to show what workers do when a customer asks for fresh chicken nuggets.

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