But this didn't used to be the case. Beef tallow was initially used because the supplier for the chain couldn't afford vegetable oil. As health concerns over saturated fat grew in the 1990s, McDonald's finally made the switch to vegetable oil.
In 1990, the company announced that they would replace the beef tallow with 100 percent vegetable oil. After the announcement, McDonald's stock fell 8.3 percent. The new fry didn't stack up. As it turns out, the beef tallow had added more than just cholesterol to the signature french fry.
Beef tallow was initially used because the supplier for McDonald's couldn't afford vegetable oil. In the 1990s, as health concerns over saturated fat reached an all-time high, McDonald's faced a backlash against the use of beef tallow, and worried about losing customers, the chain switched to vegetable oil.
Yes, beef fat tallow was eliminated from the cooking oil, but since the change affected the flavor that many other consumers loved, the franchise found itself on shaky ground.
The taste will be familiar to Americans 40 and older who visited fast-food restaurants before 1990, the year McDonald's stopped using animal lard to cook its popular fries.
Once at the restaurant our fries are simply cooked in dedicated frying vats in a non-hydrogenated blend of sunflower and rapeseed oil which is 100 percent suitable for vegetarians (McDonald's French Fries are officially accredited by the Vegetarian Society).
Over time, McDonald's and other fast-food joints made the beef fat part of their signature fry flavors. But in the 1980s, fast-food restaurants took the ingredient out when health advocates criticized how much “bad” saturated fat it added.
For decades, McDonald's fries were cooked in animal fat (lard) which was supposedly what gave them their famous flavor. Eventually, the chain switched to vegetable oil, but customers complained that the fries were no longer ... No. Our fries are not coated in any fats or substances from an animal.
Nutritionally speaking, canola oil is a healthier every-day choice. If that's less important to you and you're looking for a rich, flavorful fat with a high smoke point, beef tallow is an excellent choice.
Did you know McDonald's uses old cooking oil to power its deliveries? McDonald's collects used oil from its kitchens and turns this into enough biodiesel to fuel more than half of their delivery fleet.
Over the decades, the fast-food giant has changed the oil used to cook those signature fries, often in response to public pressure for a "healthier" French fry, resulting in a product that many swear doesn't taste quite as good as it once did (not that we've stopped eating them, mind you).
Once at the restaurant, our fries are simply cooked in dedicated frying vats in a non-hydrogenated blend of sunflower and rapeseed oil which is 100 percent suitable for vegetarians. In fact, McDonald's French Fries are officially accredited by the Vegetarian Society.
KFC will make the switch to low-lin oil in its 5,500 U.S. restaurants in order to reduce trans fats in its fried food products. With the announcement, KFC becomes the second major U.S. corporation to make a switch to low-lin soybean oil.
In 1990, faced with Sokolof's campaign and growing public concerns about health, McDonald's gave in. Beef tallow was eliminated from the famous French fry formula and replaced with 100% vegetable oil.
In general, the buns used for McDonald's burgers contain soybean oil. The fries are usually made in a blend of canola and other oils. The patties and sausages do not contain seed oils, but the crispy patties do. This means that if you're ordering a burger with a crispy patty, it will likely be fried in seed oil.
Vegetable Oil
Before the 1990s, McDonald's fries were actually cooked in straight beef fat to give them their world-famous taste. But they moved to a vegetable oil blend after consumers complained about the amount of saturated fat in McDonald's foods.
By the late 20th century lard began to be considered less healthy than vegetable oils (such as olive and sunflower oil) because of its high content of saturated fatty acids and cholesterol.
What Does Tallow Taste Like? Beef tallow has a distinct, rich flavor that is similar to butter or other animal fats. It adds a depth of beefy flavor to dishes that other vegetable oils and types of fat can't achieve.
Unfortunately for vegan American McDonald's fans, the fries there aren't plant-based. This is because one of the ingredients is “natural beef flavoring,” which contains milk. “When our suppliers partially fry our cut potatoes, they use an oil blend that contains beef flavoring,” the McDonald's website states.
The US McDonald's fries are not vegan, but the process still involves the highest FDA safety regulations. Besides the potatoes and salt for flavoring, the cooking involves vegetable oils like corn, soybean, and canola. They also have chemical preservatives and natural beef additives from milk and wheat.
We stick to a gold standard that helps us ensure we deliver you a great tasting McDonald's fry. It starts with the right potatoes, which we cut exactly right, and then use a canola-blend oil with just the right amount of flavoring. Check out our World Famous Fries®.
As health concerns over saturated fat grew in the 1990s, McDonald's finally made the switch to vegetable oil. Unfortunately, customers noticed that the fries didn't taste how they used to. To mimic the chain's original oil blend, the oil is laced with natural flavoring to replicate that mouthwatering smell.
"It's because McDonald's cooks their fries with beef flavoring mixed within their vegetable oil," divulged the content creator.
Animal fat is more stable at high temperatures but was phased out in the great fat scare of the late 20th century. At this time McDonald's in the US did use beef tallow in its fries but replaced it with vegetable oil in the 1990s.