OAK BROOK, Ill. After five years of testing, McDonald’s Corp. says it has found a trans-fats-free frying oil that will not negatively affect the taste of its food. A spokesman would not divulge a timetable for a changeover to the new frying medium, a blend of canola, soybean and corn oils. But The Chicago Tribune reported that the company intends to complete the switch in all 13,700 domestic stores by early 2008. Some 1,200 units in the United States are already using the blend, the paper said.
“It’s a zero-trans-fat blend that works for us, as well as our customers, and does not adversely affect taste or quality of the McDonald’s French fry,” said Bill Whitman, spokesperson for the franchisor here. “We are very encouraged by what we are seeing and hearing from our customers in test markets.”
Whitman would not reveal the locations of test markets, where customers were not alerted that the oil is different from the partially hydrogenated oil adopted by the chain in 1992. Scientists have medical authorities have since determined that PHOs are laden with artificial trans fats that can contribute to coronary disease.
Though McDonald’s publicly has focused on the issue of taste in explanations of its long-delayed plan to reduce trans fats, the company previously has acknowledged that cost and supply issues also were strategic factors. Two years ago McDonald’s paid more than $10 million to settle two lawsuits accusing it of failing to adequately publicize its February 2003 decision to delay its planned chainwide reduction of trans fats in fried foods by nearly half, which it had said with much fanfare some months earlier that it would do.
Three different trans-fat-free oil blends will be introduced in McDonald’s 6,300 European restaurants, following the lead of the 740 units in Australia, which switched last November. Different blends will be used in different parts of the world due to regional differences in oil production.
Jim Skinner, chief executive, previously said publicly that McDonald’s will meet the July 1, 2007 trans-fats ban on restaurants in New York City. Other quickservice chains that have announced a switch to trans-fat-free oils include Wendy’s International, Taco Bell and KFC.