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McDonald's french fries

McDonald's french fries, marketed as World Famous Fries,[1] are a french fries product at the fast food restaurant McDonald's.

The french fries in a red french fry box with the Golden Arches

History

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McDonald's french fries alongside a chicken sandwich

Introduced in 1949, the french fries were cooked in a mixture of 93% beef tallow and 7% cottonseed oil.[2][3]

In the 1950s, CEO and founder Ray Kroc established quality control measures for McDonald's suppliers, ensuring potatoes maintained a solids content within the optimal range of twenty to twenty-three percent.[4] Kroc also pioneered the practice of "curing" the potatoes to convert sugars to starch, thus achieving consistently crisp french fries. This process involved storing potatoes at warm temperatures for several weeks.[4] Additionally, he introduced the "potato computer," developed by Louis Martino, to calculate the precise cooking time for fries, based on the fluctuation of oil temperature during frying.[4] Subsequently, in 1967, Kroc contracted the Simplot company to supply them with frozen fries, replacing fresh-cut potatoes.

In the late 1980s, Phil Sokolof, a millionaire businessman who had suffered a heart attack at the age of 43, took out full-page newspaper ads in New York, Chicago, and other large cities accusing McDonald's menu of being a threat to American health, and asking them to stop using beef tallow to cook their french fries.[5]

After this sustained campaign, including by the National Heart Savers Association against saturated fats and the beef tallow they were using,[6][7][8] in 1990 they switched to vegetable oil with beef flavouring.[9][2] McDonald's has not disclosed whether its beef flavouring contains meat, but it is known to contain milk byproducts.[10] In 2002, McDonald's paid US$10 million to settle lawsuits that accused the chain of mislabeling its french fries as vegetarian.[11]

The "thin style" french fries have been popularised worldwide in large part by McDonald's and Burger King.[12]

In 2008, McDonald's ceased using trans fats in both US and Canadian markets.[9] In 2013, McDonald's Canada introduced poutine nationwide, after having it in Quebec for 10 years.[13]

Product

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In the United States, McDonald's french fries are made using 19 ingredients which include dextrose, TBHQ, polydimethylsiloxane, citric acid, and sodium acid pyrophosphate.[14][15] As for their potatoes, non-GMO[16] russet and Shepody kinds are used.

As for the manufacturing process, the potatoes are first brought to the plant where they are mechanically cut, blanched, partially fried, flash-frozen, and then shipped to individual restaurants of the franchise.[16]

References

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  1. ^ "World Famous Fries". McDonald's. Archived from the original on April 27, 2020. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  2. ^ a b Schlosser, Eric (2001). Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of All-American Meal. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-97789-4
  3. ^ Grace, Francie (June 5, 2002). "McDonald's Settles Beef Over Fries". CBS News. Archived from the original on July 29, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  4. ^ a b c "The Trouble With Fries". Archived from the original on July 29, 2021. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
  5. ^ Dennis McLellan (April 16, 2004). "Phil Sokolof, 82; Used His Personal Fortune in Fight Against High-Fat Foods". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 21, 2017. Retrieved August 11, 2017.
  6. ^ "The Original McDonald's French Fry". Atlas Obscura. Archived from the original on August 15, 2020. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  7. ^ Roberts, Anna Monette (October 30, 2017). "Truth Is, No Millennials Have Tried McDonald's Original French Fries". POPSUGAR Food. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  8. ^ Saxon, Wolfgang (April 17, 2004). "Phil Sokolof, 82, a Crusader Against Cholesterol, Is Dead". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 9, 2022. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
  9. ^ a b "McDonald's world famous fries: Here's how they evolved in the past 50 years". Archived from the original on December 24, 2023. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
  10. ^ Foreman, Polly (April 19, 2023). "Are McDonald's Fries Vegan?". Plant Based News.
  11. ^ "McDonald's to beef up in India with meatless menu". CBS News. September 5, 2012.
  12. ^ "Popularization". today.com. April 21, 2011. Archived from the original on October 30, 2020. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  13. ^ "McDonald's poutine hitting menus across Canada". Archived from the original on November 30, 2023. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
  14. ^ "There are 19 Ingredients in Your McDonald's French Fries!". NDTV Food. Archived from the original on May 5, 2020. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  15. ^ Heasman, Chris (May 31, 2017). "What's really in McDonald's french fries". Mashed.com. Archived from the original on April 1, 2020. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  16. ^ a b "McDonald's Reveals Exactly How Your Beloved Fries Are Made". ABC News. Archived from the original on May 24, 2020. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
 

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