what are mcdonalds fries made of?

Question

Don't tell me potatoes!.. I've justed watched a clip off of Super Size Me and after 10 weeks inside a untouched jar.. the fries remained nearly free of mold!.. while the fries from other another restaurant molded in 1-2 weeks. Ten points for a REAL SMART answer.

Answer 1

the fries are partially cooked, then frozen- I do not know much about hte actual freezing process but I am sure that , though the fries started out as potatoes, there is something added to it to keep them from getting grainy and gross in the freezing process- whatever this is , probably some unhealthy chemicial concoction, also hinders the growth of mold.
Before the cooking and freezing, the fries are also soaked - I don't know everything in the soaking solution but beef fat and gluten and dairy ingredients are a part of the mix. I unfortunately found this out after my daughter was found to be gluten intolerant and we were led to believe that McD's fries were gluten free. It is not that the fries are not potatoes- it is the processing that it goes through and possibly the oils used to fry them in that hinders the growth of mold or the rotting of the potato.
Of course, Mcdonalds lied to the gluten intolerant, dairy free and vegans about the actual ingredients of their fries so it may be that we will never know the truth about everything in those particular fries. I have read that McDonald's is the largest buyer of potatoes in the US I believe that at least the fry started out to be an actual potato.

Answer 2

Probably some sort of Potato Gluten - similar to the Wheat Gluten that tainted all the pet food...

I know that eating too much McDonald's will make you sick ;);)

One other possibility is that Fries are typically pre-fried, and then frozen - and while checking into this, I found the following...

"In an interview, Burger King president Donald Smith said that his chain's fries are sprayed with a sugar solution shortly before being packaged and shipped to individual outlets. The sugar carmelizes in the cooking fat, producing the golden color customers expect. Without it, the fries would be nearly the same color outside as inside: pasty white. Smith believes that McDonald's also sugar-coats its fries."

Answer 3

the oils mcdonalds uses to cook there fries which are made out of potatoes contains certain umm pesticides? chemicals the reduce mold and bacteria build up its very bad for your stomach because it kills bacteria your body needs and small children below the age of 5 can obtain certain disorders were there body will not digest foods good enough.

on the other hand yogurt will counter act there pesticide filled sunflower oil the pesticides are simply to reduce the amount of oil they use which makes there frys cheaper with these pesticides and keeping the oil hot they dont have to change oil for weeks

now im guessing the pesticides in the oil are killing any bacteria that try to set up on the fry but lets not forget its inside a jar and isnt exsposed to very many bacteria or mold particles

Answer 4

They are made from potatoes but from chemically altered ones which dont allow for the oxygen to mold them very easily as seen on Supersize me. They get their flavor from meat extract. Yes from meat. McDonald's in seattle were getting suied for this but They ended up winning because they never said they were appropriate for vegetarians which were the ones suing. McDonald's French fries are essentially cooked twice. Central suppliers wash, steam-peel, cut, blanch, dry, par-fry and then freeze the potatoes that make the famous golden slivers. During the par-frying, ''a minuscule amount of beef extract is added,'' the company said.

Answer 5

How smart an answer does 'preservatives' sound? If you think McDonald's fries are bad...leave a cup of Sunny Delight out for about a week.

Seriously...if you cut a potato into fries the same size as McDonalds, fried them only PARTIALLY...then froze them...then removed them from the freezer and fried them again (which is what they do), your fries wouldn't mold as fast as fresh potatoes, peeled, cut and fried.

Answer 6

Mold free potatoes

Answer 7

Perhaps they just had less bacteria on them to begin with. Food that is cooked at less than optimum temperatures begin to decay much faster. McDonald's may have the superior and cleaner product.

Also, as most of us who have conducted experiments know---variables can effect that experiment to extremes. What were the controls? How was bacteria cleaned from the inside of the jars before the experiment started? Were hands washed in the same manner? What kind of sanitation was used in preparing BOTH samples and equipment?

I am contemptuous of "pseudo-science", especially when it's used to market a movie. This was art, not research.

Answer 8

Potatoes, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, natural flavor (beef source), dextrose, sodium acid pyrophosphate (to preserve natural color). Cooked in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, (may contain partially hydrogenated soybean oil and/or partially hydrogenated corn oil and/or partially hydrogenated canola oil and/or cottonseed oil and/or sunflower oil and/or corn oil). TBHQ and citric acid added to help preserve freshness. Dimethylpolysiloxane added as an anti-foaming agent.
OH AND TONS OF TRANS FAT!!! Did I mention all of the "Naturaul flavor". I believe that the FDA approved the common phrase Naturaul flavors, and Organic if only 1 single ingredient comes from nature. To make a long story short you could buy an apple ( ever wonder why an apple barley tastes like an apple anymore) the can stick a needle with sugar and all kinds of crap into the center, (ever wonder why the center of your apple had so much flavor) and as long as it "tastes" like an apple, since apple is a natural flavor.........

Answer 9

!!!!!!
moisture is way less and salt is way more..the reason that the fries taste so good is their thin slicing..the cut is real thin and all the h2o gets fryed out during deep frying..its the moisture that causes mold...then the attendant adds the salt and the frys that have a greasy surface accept the salt in an even coating this also retards mold....comparatively the thicker fries still have water in them...
jeb
!!!!

Answer 10

I worked at mcdonalds....I can tell you they are frozen, put in a fry hopper, then put in hot oil for 3 minutes 15 seconds, then they are coated heavily in salt, then if they sit there for more than 7 minutes they're thrown out!!!

Lol, I htink it's because of all the salt, it has something to do with osmosis...I just learned it in biology, but forgot. The salt draws out all the water in the fungus cells, and then they cant multiply...