McDonald's French Fries Healthy-er?

Oil passes muster on McDonald's fries
By early 2008, they'll be just as tasty, but healthier

While Wendy's, Taco Bell and KFC each has announced a switch to new cooking oils free of heart-clogging trans fats, McDonald's Corp. stood by.

Until now.

After testing 18 varieties of oil in more than 50 blends during the last seven years, McDonald's told the Chicago Tribune last week that it finally struck gold. It found a suitable trans fat-free oil that won't change the taste or texture of its top-selling menu item: french fries.

Already, McDonald's says it is supplying about 1,200 of its American restaurants with the new oil after starting to secretly test it last summer.

By early 2008 in the United States, the golden arches plans to be cooking all its fries, as well as chicken nuggets and other fried items, in the vegetable oil blend that doesn't have the same unhealthful effects as trans fat.

"We don't want to jeopardize the iconic nature of the french fry, which is so important to our brand," Jim Skinner, McDonald's chief executive, said at a recent investor conference. "Yet we have a responsibility to serve the best french fry ... that balances between value and nutrition."

McDonald's executives, citing customer reaction in test markets, say that fries cooked in the new oil remain true to their traditional taste, appearance, texture and aftertaste.

"Our customers don't want better," said Barbara Booth, director of the sensory science laboratory for McDonald's. "They want the same."

The company's 13,700 U.S. restaurants alone use more than 75 million pounds of oil each year to prepare the chain's french fries, chicken McNuggets, chicken strips, and fish fillets.

By John Schmeltzer
McClatchy News Service
Originally posted on February 20, 2007