photograph from McDonald’s
By Jeanne Yacoubou, MS
In April 2024, The VRG acquired an e mail from a long-time reader about McDonald’s French fries. She requested: “I’ve seen a variety of reviews that say beef flavoring within the fries comes from beef meat, however others appear to say perhaps it’s milk flavoring however known as beef flavoring as simply the identify however milk are the precise substances throughout the parenthesis. I’ve additionally seen that perhaps McDonald’s used beef up till the early 2000s but it surely’s now milk-based … ”
This was referring to an earlier investigation by The VRG that led to the revelation that McDonald’s French fries contained a beef ingredient. We wrote on the time: “In February 1997, McDonald’s knowledgeable us by phone that the pure taste of their French fries is a ‘beef product.’ At the moment, they declined to ship us this data in writing. In July 1997, McDonald’s despatched us a fax stating that ‘[t]he pure taste utilized in French fries is from an animal supply.’”
For an replace from McDonald’s, we despatched a request for data utilizing their web site contact kind in Could 2024 by asking: Is there any beef-derived ingredient within the pure taste in your French fries?
We formulated this query based mostly on the ingredient assertion for French fries on the corporate web site:
Elements: Potatoes, Vegetable Oil (Canola Oil, Corn Oil, Soybean Oil, Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Pure Beef Taste [Wheat And Milk Derivatives]*), Dextrose, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate (keep Shade), Salt. *Pure Beef Taste Incorporates Hydrolyzed Wheat And Hydrolyzed Milk As Beginning Elements.
Incorporates: Wheat, Milk.
The VRG acquired a generic reply concerning the chain’s “sustainability efforts and dedication to the setting” that didn’t reply our query.
In December 2024, we tried once more. We acquired one other generic response, however this time it was about the place on the corporate web site you possibly can discover ingredient data. Nonetheless, there was nothing particular about their French fries. We referred to as the customer support line.
McDonald’s Buyer Service Telephone Line
After we requested if it had been potential that there could possibly be different substances current within the pure beef taste derived from beef, corresponding to tallow (beef fats), not listed in that assertion, we had been placed on maintain.
The buyer consultant then returned to the road reiterating the ingredient assertion data. After a couple of questions, she repeated that solely milk and wheat derivatives had been used within the pure beef taste.
IF READERS RECEIVE THE SAME OR A DIFFERENT ANSWER WHEN INQUIRING, PLEASE LET US KNOW.
Pure vs. Synthetic Flavors
In response to the USFDA, a pure taste or a pure tasteing could possibly be “the important oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which comprises the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or related plant materials, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy merchandise, or fermentation merchandise thereof, whose vital perform in meals is flavoring slightly than dietary.”
Against this, USFDA makes use of related language to outline what a synthetic taste or synthetic flavoring is, however utilizing the phrase not: “…Any substance, the perform of which is to impart taste, which isn’t derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or related plant materials, meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy merchandise, or fermentation merchandise thereof. Synthetic taste contains the substances listed in §§ 172.515(b) and 182.60 of this chapter besides the place these are derived from pure sources.”
These latter two pages within the Code of Federal Laws checklist the a whole lot of artificial flavoring substances and adjuvants – with complicated chemical names – which can be permissible in meals and which you see on many meals labels at this time.
In response to the USFDA, the principle distinction between pure and synthetic flavors is that pure flavors have to be derived from plant or animal materials however synthetic flavors are synthesized in a lab. In each instances, the flavors are chemical substances.
An observant reader of the definitions above will discover that the USFDA acknowledges that pure and synthetic flavors may have the identical identification by stating that chemical substances utilized in synthetic flavors is also present in nature with their phrase “…besides the place these are derived from pure sources.”
In different phrases, from a chemical standpoint, these two sorts of flavors are indistinguishable in lots of instances. Whether or not they react equally within the human physique – known as bioavailability – is questioned by some individuals. There’s some analysis that means synthetic flavors are related to damaging well being outcomes whereas their pure counterparts should not.
Because the pure taste definition states animal substances may be contained in it, vegans and other people with beef or dairy allergy symptoms need to know definitively if the pure beef taste in McDonald’s French fries comprises, properly, beef.
Different points surrounding pure vs. synthetic flavors abound. For instance:
- Pure flavors can include artificial chemical substances as processing aids or incidental components which do not need to be labeled. Artificial solvents used to extract taste elements from plant supplies, preservatives, or emulsifiers are frequent examples.
- As a result of synthetic flavors often include fewer chemical substances than their analogous pure flavors, and, consequently, are cheaper, corporations could desire to make use of synthetic flavors to maintain prices down.
- Pure flavors are required by USFDA to be labeled as synthetic if they’re added to meals with the intention to give them a style totally different from their customary taste. For instance, a pure cranberry taste in a croissant could be labeled as synthetic because it gives a novel style to this bread product.
- Many of the 1000’s of taste chemical substances – each pure and synthetic – in meals are added with none USFDA regulation or evaluate.
- Genetically modified substances (popularly often called GMOs) could possibly be utilized in pure flavors. Labeling shouldn’t be required.
The contents of this posting, our web site and our different publications, together with Vegan Journal, should not meant to supply private medical recommendation. Medical recommendation needs to be obtained from a certified well being skilled. We regularly rely on product and ingredient data from firm statements. It’s unimaginable to be 100% positive a couple of assertion, information can change, individuals have totally different views, and errors will be made. Please use your finest judgment about whether or not a product is appropriate for you. To make certain, do additional analysis or affirmation by yourself.
