French Fries are out of the pan into the fire itself, the burning problem, being the Trans-Fats. MacDonald’s, prompted by recently enforced Government directives to disclose levels of trans fats in packaged foods, chose to use a novel method to test levels of trans fat in french fries. The tests have put French fries at a disadvantage, revealing that they contain one third more ( 8 grammes as against earlier 6 grams level)trans fats than estimated and documented on the website and nutritional literature.
Trans Fats have a bad history of contributing to harmful cholesterol and heart disease. Infact, the US dietary guidelines recommend next to nil consumption of trans fats.This has not been perfect timing for the world’s largest and famous fast food chain, currently on a confidence-building drive in several markets, particularly UK. "It makes it harder to trust McDonald's if they suddenly have strikingly different Trans fat numbers.” said Michael Jacobson executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The Global Director of nutrition at McDonald’s, Cathy Kapica, has reiterated that Macdonald has believed in re-inventing testing methods and this new test was part of their endeavor to provide customers with the best in nutritional value.
Infact as quite a trend setter, Macdonald, On Tuesday at Italy's Turin Winter Olympics, became the first food chain to re-invent the nutritional labeling on most of its food packaging that displays calorie, fat and sodium content. This disclosure is also a wakeup call for improving the testing measures used to test prevalence of Trans fats and its levels, since there is presently no single standard that companies can abide by. Meanwhile McDonalds is fully gearing up to research all options that can give customers the perfect nutritional mix.
