Why McDonald's Fries Taste So Good ?

The Story of Fries

The french fry was "almost sacrosanct for me," wrote Mc Donald’s founder Ray Kroc in his autobiography, "its preparation a ritual to be followed religiously"(pg 114). The fries are an integral part of Mc Donald’s. At first Mc Donald’s was just producing familiar traditional fries, which were delicious and healthier. But after a while the company started to expand and the bigger Mc Donald’s got, the more supplies it needed. This is the reason why the company began to sell Simplot’s frozen French fries (1966). Even if they were not as good as the traditional familiar fries, they were much cheaper and easier to serve. Most American people didn’t even notice the difference. The fries still tasted the same — maybe even better.

Why did Mc Donald’s fries taste so good? Schlosser argues that the reason was the cooking oil and I agree, because the other fast food chains were using the same potatoes and almost the same fryers in their kitchens. But their fries didn’t taste the same. For a long time Mc Donald’s cooked its french fries in a mixture of seven percent cottonseed oil and ninety-three percent beef tallow (pg 120). This is the reason why its flavor was unique. However it contained too much cholesterol. In 1990, Mc Donald’s changed their mixture and started to use pure vegetable oil. There was only one problem left: how to make fries taste the same without cooking them in tallow. So the answer was devised quickly. “Natural flavor” this unknown, mysterious ingredient is now commonly used by all fast food chains. It’s the reason why fast food is delicious.
Health experts have recently suggested that Mc Donald’s fries are the healthiest. But in my opinion fries are somewhat unhealthy and they contain too much fat. So I think the value is all it matters when buying fries. Think about the cost, ingredients and the amount of fries. I think Burger King’s fries are the best and the most valuable ones. They are cheap and they are suitable for vegetarians. Burger King has removed the meat flavor from its natural flavoring a while ago. Its fries contain less fat than most of the other fast food chains’ fries.
I decided to go three fast food chains’ local shops and compare their fries. In a day I went to Wendy’s, Mc Donald’s and Burger King. Before I left my apartment to go get some fries I’ve done a short research on the internet about these three companies’ fries and how many calories each of the fries have. When comparing the fries my criteria were the amount of fat (calories), saltiness, heath serve, speedy serve, cost and amount of fries.
My first destination was Wendy’s. I ordered small fries. Wendy’s fries had a natural baked potato taste. They tasted just liked the ones I used to make at home. The fries were not really salty but it was okay. Serving was fast enough. It took a little more than two minutes to get my fries and they were hot. So Wendy’s serves fast and its fries are tasty, hot and somewhat salty. When it comes to the question of “Should Wendy’s be our first choice when buying fries?” most of us will readily agree that yes we should, the fries taste good and nothing is wrong with them. However after taking a close look at the ingredients and how many calories the fries have. One must say Wendy’s fries are not a good choice. Wendy’s small french fries have 440 calories. This is 80 calories more than Burger King’s medium french fries have. And there were around fifteen fries which cost $1.29. The cost per fry is more expensive than Burger King. On the other hand since Wendy’s use vegetable oil, most vegetarians tend to believe that the fries don’t contain any meat product and eatable for vegetarians. But Wendy’s fries are fried in the same fryer where chickens are fried. Regular fries become non vegetarian due to cross contamination.
My next destination was Mc Donald’s. There was a line when I got there. My order of small french fries were ready in about two to three minutes (except extra couple minutes on the line). The fries were pretty hot. I think there are only couple facts that explain why people like Mc Donald’s fries. The fries are hot and usually Mc Donald’s serves fast. Also Mc Donald’s small french fries have 230 calories which is not bad. But I have more reasons to dislike Mc Donald’s fries. First of all they are too salty and even the fries don’t contain too much fat; they always taste like straight oil. The fries cost only a $1.00, but since Mc Donald’s never serves its customers more than ten or twelve fries per serving (small).So the cost per one fry is almost the same as Wendy’s. Mc Donald’s fries are more expensive than Burger King’s. Many people contend that Mc Donald’s has been using pure vegetable oil to fry their potatoes. I agree it does use vegetable oil, but the natural flavor in Mc Donald’s french fries is form an animal source. So Mc Donald’s fries are not a good choice for vegetarians and for those who want to stay healthy.

My last stop was Burger King. I walked in and ordered my small french fries. Then I was holding my hot french fries in two minutes. The saltiness was really good and the fries were delicious. Burger King’s small french fries contain only 230 calories. Also, not like most of the other fast food chains’ fries, Burger King’s fries don’t have natural flavoring derived from meat product and Burger King uses only vegetable oil to fry its potatoes. Therefore the fries are completely suitable for vegetarians. An order of small french fries cost $1.00. It comes with 14-17 fries. The cost per fry is much cheaper than Mc Donald’s and Wendy’s. These are some of my reasons to like Burger King’s french fries.
Wendy’s french fries are unhealthy and they have too much fat. Mc Donald’s fries are too salty. Therefore it’s hard to eat them and they don’t even taste good. At the end of the day, I believe that Burger King’s fries won the competition. Burger King’s fries are the best ones. They taste really good. They don’t contain too much fat. And they are cheap. “The rise and fall of corporate empires — of soft drink companies, snack food companies, and fast food chains — is frequently determined by how their products taste,” says Schlosser (pg 123). And I totally agree. I don’t know about Mc Donald’s or Wendy’s but I think during the next few decades we will be seeing lots of Burger King Stores around.






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"Calorie Count." Calorie Counter Database. About.com. Web. 08 Mar. 2010. .

Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: the Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. Print.