After Reading This, You May Never Touch Another McDonald’s French Fry Again

If you’re ever tempted to fall off the horse of good health and treat yourself to a crispy batch of McDonald’s French fries, a recent PR campaign by the behemoth fast food chain may give you pause for thought. In the video, a perky McDonald’s rep assures us that, yes, their fries are actually made with potatoes. He adds with a smile that an impressive 19 ingredients are used — one of which is also found in Silly Putty. Although the rep fails to make a connection with the anti-foaming agent dimethylpolysiloxane and the beloved childhood clay, he does make a point to list it twice as an ingredient.

Apparently, it’s used several times during the process of frying up those real potatoes. If dimethylpolysiloxane features prominently in frankenfries, you’re probably wondering what else is lurking in the engineered food. Here you go:

potatoes
canola oil
soybean oil
hydrogenated soybean oil
natural beef flavor
hydrolyzed wheat
hydrolyzed milk
citric acid
dimethylpolysiloxane
dextrose
sodium acid pyrophosphate
salt
canola oil
corn oil
soybean oil
hydrogenated soybean oil
tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ)
citric acid
dimethylpolysiloxane

Creating ‘magic’ through chemistry

Beyond the GMO- and Roundup Ready-laden soy, canola and corn ingredients, you might be curious about such exotic elements like sodium acid pyrophosphate and tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ). The first is used as a leavening agent in bakery products, seafood canning and potato treatment, according to Aditya Birla Chemicals, otherwise known as the corporation that’s “creating magic through chemistry.” Sodium acid pyrophosphate is an edible phosphoric salt. If consumed in excess, it can lead to heart, bone and kidney problems. Continue >>