McDonald's French Fries Aren't What They Used To Be

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

McDonald's fries are famously snackable, even ranking as the chain's top-selling menu item– but, as Mickey D's fans from the '80s might recall, they used to be even tastier. Consumers younger than 34 have never even tasted what many consumers revere as a "true" McDonald's fry. In a literal sense, McDonald's one of the fast food french fries that aren't what they used to be, for better or for worse – and according to fans, they aren't as good as the original.

Before 1990, the chain had been following the same fry recipe since opening its doors in the 1940s – a recipe that even predated the chain's now-iconic Golden Arches. Prior to July 23, 1990, the crispy fries were cooked in beef tallow, a fast-food trend which has returned to the industry en masse in recent years under support from the current U.S. federal cabinet. That beef tallow, which the company referred to as "Formula 47," gave McDonald's fries a signature richness that delighted palates, but grew to displease health-conscious consumer trends of the '90s. Enter: Phil Sokolof.

After a heart attack in 1966, businessman Sokolof built a career financing condemning ads and billboards to spread consumer awareness about the dangers of cholesterol, putting the lean on major food corporations to axe saturated fats. His lobbying campaign encompassed multiple years and $14 million. As Sokolof's efforts garnered public traction, McDonald's relented and altered its prized fry recipe. From then on, instead of savory beef tallow, the chain's "World's Famous Fries" would be cooked in a blend of corn, soybean, and canola oils.

Soon after, fellow fast-food giants Wendy's and Burger King also made the switch from animal fats to vegetable oils. In 2007, McDonald's once again switched to a trans-fat-free cooking oil, which is still used today. This watershed event is made more momentous considering McDonald's was initially founded on fries. In his memoir "Grinding It Out" founder Ray Kroc notes that the original McDonald's brothers gave him tight preparation directions for their iconic fries, including not reusing the fat – a strict, guarded assemblage. To quote Kroc from the book: "The French fry would become almost sacrosanct for me, its preparation a ritual to be followed," and "The quality of our French fries was a large part of McDonald's success." 

Fast-forward four decades, and the beef-tallow-to-vegetable-oil switch yielded a noticeably different taste and texture. Now, McDonald's fries had (and continue to have) a more neutral flavor than the rich, savory, buttery taste that foodies pre-1990 had come to know and expect. Texturally, they weren't nearly as crispy on the outside nor as pillowy on the inside, and the overall profile was altered fundamentally. As a bandaid, McDonald's tried to emulate the abandoned taste by adding the "natural beef flavor" that now appears in the fries' ingredients list, making them not vegetarian-friendly — alongside the "0 grams of trans fat per serving" label. Still, those hydrolyzed wheat and milk proteins just didn't hit like the tallow did. 

As outspoken fry fan Julia Child herself lamented in a 1995 interview, "I thought when they first started out the French fries were very good, and then the nutritionists got at them, which turned out to be erroneous that beef tallow fat was bad ... and they've been kind of limp ever since ... It's too bad. I'm always very strong about criticizing them, hoping maybe they'll change." Following the switch, Mickey D's stock even fell $3.

Worse, the nutrition profile wasn't even necessarily improved, despite the alleged harmfulness of beef tallow insisted upon by Phil Sokolof's campaign — because both seed oils and beef tallow have pros and cons. Seed oils have a high smoke point, but can form harmful byproducts and their trans fat contents can increase. Beef tallow is comparably higher in saturated fats, but retains more of its beneficial nutritional elements, including omega-3 and vitamins K2 and E. 

Canadian journalist and multi-time New York Times bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell of the Revisionist History podcast calls McDonald's cooking-fat switch a "betrayal," noting that "everything about it was a mistake ... My heart is full of sadness again to think about how many millions and millions and millions of people around the world have never tasted that." Fortunately, given the recent trend of fast food chains "RFK"-ing fries, McDonald's original fries may just return.