Yes, McDonald's Fries Are Made With Real Potatoes. And A Lot Of Other Things, Too.
McDonald's, the beleaguered fast food behemoth, is on a mission to make you feel better about eating its products. On Tuesday, the company released a new video, promising a behind-the-scenes look at how its "World Famous Fries" get made. The five-minute clip, hosted by former Mythbusters star Grant Imahara, is the latest in a series of segments designed to ease lingering health concerns in the wake of rather unappetizing reports about pink slime and, of course, Morgan Spurlock's disturbing 2004 documentary Super Size Me. Prior videos have dealt with the chain's McRib and McNuggets.
In the fries spot, Imahara spends a lot of time focusing on the idea that these salty sides actually begin as honest-to-goodness potatoes, grown in the ground, the way nature intended. Meanwhile, his breezy tour of the chain's french fry facility, a charmingly antiseptic-looking place called Simplot, simply confirms just how highly processed those pristine spuds become. Part of the process involves an "ingredient dip," whereby chemicals like dextrose (described as a "natural sugar") and sodium acid pyrophosphate (said to prevent the fries from "graying" after freezing) are added. The video makes no mention of various other ingredients listed on McDonald's website, like the "antifoaming agent" dimethylpolysiloxane. Nor does it attempt to explain why "natural beef flavor" (made from wheat and milk derivatives) is needed. We're not talking about steak fries, after all. Check out the full video below:
Read more about fast food on Food Republic: