Home|About Us|Donate|Signup|Archives|Search
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Headlines
Printer Friendly Version
E-Mail This Article
Published on Friday, May 4, 2001 in the Boston Globe
McDonald's Confirms Its French Fries AreMade With Beef Extract
by Eli Sanders
SEATTLE - Facing a class-action lawsuit from angry vegetarians, McDonald's thisweek confirmed that its French fries are prepared with beef extract, a disclosure thecompany said is not new.Although the fast-food giant has been saying since 1990 that its fries are cooked inpure vegetable oil, company spokesman Walt Riker said Wednesday thatMcDonald's never said its fries were appropriate for vegetarians and always toldcustomers that their flavor comes partly from beef.The list of French-fry ingredients that McDonald's offersat its franchises and on its Web site includes potatoes,partially hydrogenated soybean oil and ''natural flavor.''The list does not mention that the ''natural flavor'' comesfrom beef. To discover that, one would have to contact aMcDonald's customer-satisfaction representative.Harish Bharti, the Seattle lawyer who filed the suitagainst McDonald's Tuesday, said the confirmation thatthe company uses beef extract to flavor its fries validateshis case.Bharti argues that a reasonable person who heard thatMcDonald's fries are prepared in ''100 percent vegetableoil'' and read the list of ingredients would assume thefood is suitable for vegetarians.Yesterday, after news of his suit spread across thenation, Bharti said he was receiving hundreds of calls from vegetarians who thinkthey were misled by McDonald's and want to join the suit. Some of them, he said,say they were told by McDonald's employees that the fries were vegetarian.Beef extract, not beef tallow, as the suit alleges, is the only natural flavor inMcDonald's French fries, Riker said. Asked why the company simply did not write''beef extract'' on its list of ingredients, he replied, ''It's a good question. We'resensitive to all our customers' needs and concerns. We try to be as forthcomingand user-friendly as possible. We'll review it. We'll take a look at it.''He added that using ''natural flavor'' as a synonym for beef extract is within federalFood and Drug Administration guidelines.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 thefamous golden slivers. During the par-frying, ''a minuscule amount of beef extract isadded,'' the company said.Later, after being shipped to McDonald's franchises, the frozen fries are cooked inpure vegetable oil.
A class action suithas been filed for''emotional distress''caused tovegetarians, someof them vegetarianfor religiousreasons, whothought McDonald'sfries were in linewith their strongfeelings about noteating meat.
Leave a Comment