These are the additives in McDonald's fries

Chips from McDonald's with beef flavor

01/23/2015

The fast food giant McDonald's has a new video from his image series in the US „Our food. Your question ", which shows the production of the popular French fries, says that the frits are not just potatoes, but ten other ingredients that are in part harmful to health, including a substance called polydimethylsiloxane, which is also suitable for slip coating used in condoms.

McDonald's uses questionable additives in fries
Almost every child knows that fast food is not healthy. How unhealthy it really is, shows McDonald's even using the example of his fries with an image film that could provide at least in Europe for deterrence instead of enthusiasm. Because the fast food giant explains quite naturally, that just not only potatoes - which should be according to information of the group at least GM-free - but also many other ingredients are included, which are partly suspected to be very dangerous to health.

Thus, among other things, the approved as a food additive tertiary-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) contained, which is used as an antioxidant. Many fats react with the oxygen in the air. As a result, they quickly become rancid and spoil easily. TBHQ can slow down this process and make foods last longer. In the case of chips from McDonald's, it should extend the shelf life of hydrogenated soybean oil, which is also being used increasingly in the United States for the production of biodiesel. Although TBHQ is considered harmless, it is not recommended to consume in large quantities.

Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is another additive McDonald's uses to make its fries. PDMS is one of the foaming inhibitors, it prevents the foaming of boiling oil. In smaller quantities, this additive is considered harmless. Exceeding the maximum dose should also be avoided here. The substance is used, among other things, in medicines for head lice, inflorescence and other diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Last but not least, the sliding coating of most of the condoms contains PDMS.

Preserving the color of fries at the expense of the health of consumers?
Disodium hydrogen phosphate is a sodium salt of phosphoric acid, which is used in food technology as a complexing agent, acidity regulator and molten salt. In the case of French fries, it serves to preserve the color. Otherwise they could turn gray. However, it is questionable whether the fast food customers are aware that they may be willing to accept a health risk. Disodium hydrogen phosphate is suspected to cause hyperactivity, allergic reactions and osteoporosis. Nevertheless, it is approved as an additive.

Another surprising ingredient of McDonald's frits is beef flavor from hydrolyzed wheat and hydrolyzed milk. Fries used to be fried not in vegetable oil but in beef tallow. To preserve this taste despite the vegetable oil, added beef flavors - for vegetarians and vegans in the US certainly not good news.

Making the McDonald's fries is elaborate
Actually, you only need potatoes and vegetable oil to make fries. As previously reported, the fast food giant needs significantly more ingredients to give the fries its typical flavor. This is reflected in the preparation again. First, the potato sticks are pre-fried in the production factory, then flash-frozen and delivered to the stores. There they are fried again when the customer orders the product.

A big fry has 510 kilocalories. That's almost a quarter of the daily requirement. Considering that the fewest visitors of fast food restaurants are limited to a portion of fries, it quickly becomes clear why the regular consumption of fast food can lead to a significant weight gain.

Note: These ingredients refer to the composition of McDonald's fries in the USA. In German fries of the fast food giant, however, disodium diphosphate is also included, as the online edition of „star“ reported. Here are the original videos of the company: here and here. (Ag)