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McDonald's Experimenting With Healthier Oil For Fries
Company Pledged To Switch To Lower-Fat Oil In 2002
POSTED: 3:52 pm EDT May 17,
2005
CHICAGO -- McDonald's says it's trying to live up to a nearly three-year-old promise to serve healthier french fries that are lower in harmful trans fatty acid.
At a small number of its restaurants, McDonald's is testing a new blend of oil and gathering customer feedback.
The company pledged in September 2002 to switch to a lower-fat oil by February 2003. But McDonald's delayed the plan, citing concerns of product quality and customer satisfaction.In July 2004, BanTransFat.com Inc. filed a lawsuit in a San Francisco federal court, claiming McDonald's didn't disclose that it didn't switch to a new, healthier cooking oil.Once thought to be safer than saturated fat, trans fat is now known to have much more adverse effects on blood cholesterol levels. In 2003, the National Academies' Institute of Medicine concluded that people should consume as little trans fat as possible.Although small amounts of trans fat occurs naturally in beef and dairy foods, most trans fat in Americans' diets comes from partially hydrogenated oil, such as that used in fried foods and many packaged products.The Food and Drug Administration has required that all packaged food products list trans fat on nutrition labels by Jan. 1, 2006.
Survey: Glad McDonald's Is Changing Oil? The company pledged in September 2002 to switch to a lower-fat oil by February 2003. But McDonald's delayed the plan, citing concerns of product quality and customer satisfaction.In July 2004, BanTransFat.com Inc. filed a lawsuit in a San Francisco federal court, claiming McDonald's didn't disclose that it didn't switch to a new, healthier cooking oil.Once thought to be safer than saturated fat, trans fat is now known to have much more adverse effects on blood cholesterol levels. In 2003, the National Academies' Institute of Medicine concluded that people should consume as little trans fat as possible.Although small amounts of trans fat occurs naturally in beef and dairy foods, most trans fat in Americans' diets comes from partially hydrogenated oil, such as that used in fried foods and many packaged products.The Food and Drug Administration has required that all packaged food products list trans fat on nutrition labels by Jan. 1, 2006.
Previous Stories:
- May 25, 2004: Want Apple Slices With That? Happy Meals Get Healthier
- April 15, 2004: Forget Fries: McDonald's Pushes Healthier Choices
- January 6, 2004: McDonald's Posters Feature Low-Fat Meal Ideas
- September 17, 2003: Healthful Happy Meals Geared Toward Adults
- September 3, 2002: McDonald's To Boost Nutrition Of Fried Foods
Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
