McDonald's french fries explained

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

History

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

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] The restaurant uses non-GMO[16] russet and Shepody potatoes.

As of 2019, the french fries sold in Germany use a different recipe, withe the ingredients being listed as poatoes, sunflower oil, rapeseed oil, salt, dextrose, disodium phosphate and polydimethylsiloxane.[17]

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.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: World Famous Fries. McDonald's. 2020-04-08. 2020-04-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20200427163243/https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca/product/french-fries-medium.html. live.
  2. [Eric Schlosser|Schlosser, Eric]
  3. News: Grace. Francie. 5 June 2002. McDonald's Settles Beef Over Fries. CBS News. dead. 4 May 2011. https://archive.today/20120729020325/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/06/05/national/main511109.shtml. 29 July 2012.
  4. Web site: The Trouble With Fries . 2024-04-28 . 2021-07-29 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210729000320/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2001/03/05/the-trouble-with-fries . live .
  5. News: Phil Sokolof, 82; Used His Personal Fortune in Fight Against High-Fat Foods. April 16, 2004. Dennis McLellan. Los Angeles Times. August 11, 2017. August 21, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170821024939/http://articles.latimes.com/2004/apr/16/local/me-sokolof16. live.
  6. Web site: The Original McDonald's French Fry. Atlas Obscura. en. 2020-04-09. 2020-08-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20200815021015/https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/original-mcdonalds-french-fry. live.
  7. Web site: Truth Is, No Millennials Have Tried McDonald's Original French Fries. Roberts. Anna Monette. 2017-10-30. POPSUGAR Food. en-US. 2020-04-09.
  8. News: Saxon . Wolfgang . 2004-04-17 . Phil Sokolof, 82, a Crusader Against Cholesterol, Is Dead . en-US . The New York Times . 2022-12-04 . 0362-4331 . 2022-12-09 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221209174740/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/17/us/phil-sokolof-82-a-crusader-against-cholesterol-is-dead.html . live .
  9. Web site: McDonald's world famous fries: Here's how they evolved in the past 50 years . 2024-04-28 . 2023-12-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231224070607/https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mc-donalds-world-famous-fries-heres-how-they-evolved-in-the-past-50-years-163854625.html . live .
  10. News: Foreman . Polly . Are McDonald’s Fries Vegan? . Plant Based News . April 19, 2023.
  11. News: McDonald's to beef up in India with meatless menu . CBS News . September 5, 2012.
  12. Web site: Popularization. 21 April 2011 . 3 January 2018. today.com. 30 October 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201030090642/https://www.today.com/food/how-time-fries-have-potatoes-outlived-their-potential-1C9005243. live.
  13. Web site: McDonald's poutine hitting menus across Canada . 2024-04-28 . 2023-11-30 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231130052624/https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/mcdonald-s-poutine-hitting-menus-across-canada-1.2454323 . live .
  14. Web site: There are 19 Ingredients in Your McDonald's French Fries!. NDTV Food. 2020-04-08. 2020-05-05. https://web.archive.org/web/20200505171238/https://food.ndtv.com/food-drinks/there-are-19-ingredients-in-your-mcdonalds-french-fries-736343. live.
  15. Web site: What's really in McDonald's french fries. Heasman. Chris. 2017-05-31. Mashed.com. en-US. 2020-04-09. 2020-04-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20200401231056/https://www.mashed.com/67746/whats-really-mcdonalds-french-fries/. live.
  16. Web site: McDonald's Reveals Exactly How Your Beloved Fries Are Made. ABC News. en. 2020-04-08. 2020-05-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20200524000610/https://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/mcdonalds-reveals-beloved-fries-made/story?id=28382592. live.
  17. Web site: McDonald's Standardprodukte: Zutaten, Inhaltsstoffe und Allergene . 2024-08-02 . McDonalds Germany . de . McDonald's standard products: Ingredients, ingredients and allergens.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "McDonald's french fries".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.