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Potatoes, thank goodness! That’s a good start,” exclaims Grant Imahara, former host of the show Mythbusters, before listing the 13 other ingredients in a humble McDonald’s fries. (source: dailymail)
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The TV celebrity traveled to the fast-food chain’s potato processing plant in Idaho, USA, to examine the manufacturing process from start to finish.
During his investigation, he learned that the potatoes were fried twice.
He also discovered that dimethylpolysiloxane – a type of silicone commonly found in modeling clay – was used in the manufacture of McDonald’s fries, along with a petroleum-based chemical called tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ).
Dimethylpolysiloxane is added for safety reasons to prevent cooking oil from foaming.
Tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) is a food preservative.
Another surprise ingredient: sodium pyrophosphate, an additive (found in household detergents) that could cause digestive upset in high doses.
Beef flavoring is also present. While this ingredient isn’t problematic, one might wonder what it’s doing in fries. Is it being used to mask an unpleasant taste? Furthermore, the presence of this additive may make vegetarians jump, as they thought they were eating ordinary potatoes.
Grant explains that there are many steps involved in creating McDonald’s fries.
First, the potatoes are harvested from the fields. The tubers are peeled, cut, and blanched.
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They are then propelled at over 110 km/h through a cutting grid which gives them their stick shape.
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After being cut into a perfect shape, the potato sticks are dipped in a mixture of rapeseed oil, hydrogenated soybean oil, natural beef flavors, hydrolyzed wheat, hydrolyzed milk, citric acid, and dimethylpolysiloxane.
Dextrose, a natural sugar, is then sprinkled on the sticks to keep them that golden french fry color.
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