Are McDonald's french fries really made with BEEF byproducts?

Question

I just read that McDonald's French fries are made with Beef byproducts...is this really true?
I'm vegetarian and I eat French fries occasionally, that's why I'm wondering.

Answer 1

No. The French fries are potatoes. But McDonald's used to fry them in animal fat. I believe all fast food places now use vegetable oil. There was quite an outcry from customers and health professionals about using animal fat. (Not totally sure, but you should check into that.)

***** added info *****

I was thinking about your question, and remembered In n-Out burgers. They make the fries in front of you. You can watch them peel, then run through a cutter that forms the fries in one stroke. They then go directly to the oil. So I do know they have no additives, but I don't know what kind of oil they use. Go to this page. It has nutritional information on their fries. At the top right, there's an icon you can click to send them an Email. Ask them what kind of oil they use. There's also an icon you can click to find their locations.

http://www.in-n-out.com/nutritional_info.asp

***** more added info *****

They do use 100% vegetable oil.

http://www.in-n-out.com/freshness.asp

Answer 2

Before the 90s, McDonald's fried their fries in a mixture of 93% beef tallow and 7% cottonseed oil. That's what gave them their distinctive flavor. I really miss that flavor; now they use only vegetable-based oils, and the taste is quite different. Or maybe my pallet has just changed. Either way, they're slightly healthier now than they used to be. But only slightly (they're still deep-fried, and they're still coated in sugar and preserved with weird chemicals).

Answer 3

They used to cook the fries in animal fat, but they don't do that now, apparently.

However, they do add something called "beef flavoring." I'm told it's made from dairy and doesn't really contain beef. That's just too confusing to me; I don't eat at McDonalds.

Answer 4

Yes they are. The confusion stems from the fact that they used to fry them in animal fat (like, last century). They don't anymore, but they STILL add beef fat to their fries when they are frozen at the processing plant.
Although the so-called beef flavor lists "milk and hydrolyzed wheat protein" as starting ingredients, there is beef fat in them. They lost a lawsuit a few years ago. If it was just "milk and wheat protein", they wouldn't have lost the suit.

Answer 5

Most places have chips fried in vegetable oils of some kinds, due to healthier eating policys and things like that. I doubt that you eating fries from McDonalds will affect your vegetarian diet at all. ++ about what the person above me said, about them using the same Vats, diffrent McDonalds do diffrent things, my local McDonald has seprate fryers for these, the meats are cooked in one the potatoe based products are cooked in a nother etc etc.

Answer 6

at one point, mcdonald's was actually using LARD to cook their fries

they don't anymore, but they still use beef to flavor both their fries and their hash browns. carl's jr's, burger king's, and jack in the box's french fries are vegetarian friendly.

if you buy frozen fries at the store, be sure to check for mono-and diglycerides, which is a common additive in processed foods. there's no way of knowing for sure where these ingredients are derived from, unless you call the company. if it is not plant-based, then it is cow or pig-sourced.

Answer 7

It is determined by the fruit or veggie involved with a comparison. In the event you compare a farreneheit to a carrot, the carrot is the better of the two nutritional. When you compare an avocado to the carrot, then your avocado is better. The two the apple and avocado, are fruits.

Answer 8

No they have beef flavoring in them---

http://www.mcdonalds.com/app_controller.nutrition.categories.ingredients.index.html#1

Answer 9

if you aren't sure whether something was made with beef byproducts or not, don't eat it

Answer 10

THEY ARE FRIED IN VEGETABLE OIL, BUT THEY ARE FLAVORED WITH BEEF! I AM WRITING IN CAPS BECAUSE I WANT TO GET MY POINT ACROSS! THEY ARE NOT VEGETARIAN