Update (Oct. 21, 5:27PM): Former presidential candidate-turned-Trump backer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (mentioned below) released an X post Monday evening expressing his support for eliminating seed oils from McDonald’s fryers.
See a transcript of his post below:
Fast Food is a part of American culture. But that doesn’t mean it has to be unhealthy, and that we can’t make better choices. Did you know that McDonald’s used to use beef tallow to make their fries from 1940 until phasing it out in favor of seed oils in 1990? This switch was… pic.twitter.com/TzwRJFyLMB
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) October 21, 2024
Fast Food is a part of American culture. But that doesn’t mean it has to be unhealthy, and that we can’t make better choices. Did you know that McDonald’s used to use beef tallow to make their fries from 1940 until phasing it out in favor of seed oils in 1990? This switch was made because saturated animal fats were thought to be unhealthy, but we have since discovered that seed oils are one of the driving causes of the obesity epidemic. Interestingly enough, began to drastically rise around the same time fast food restaurants switched from beef tallow to seed oils in their fryers.
People who enjoy a burger with fries on a night out aren’t to blame, and Americans should have every right to eat out at a restaurant without being unknowingly poisoned by heavily subsidized seed oils. It’s time to Make Frying Oil Tallow Again
Original article appears below…
Former POTUS Donald Trump’s brief stint working at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania inspired calls for him to help make the Golden Arches great again by pushing the fast food giant to bring back beef tallow for frying.
After Trump worked the fryer and drive-thru at a McDonald’s in Bucks County on Sunday, many health-conscious, anti-seed oil advocates wondered if his “Make America Healthy Again” agenda would push the restaurant to ditch its canola-blend oil and return to beef tallow, which it once used.
Some social media users used images of Trump’s McDonald’s visit to create fake quotes claiming he’d bring back beef fat frying oil.
“I was talking to RFK Jr, you know he endorsed me, he’s a big Trump guy now. MAHA they call it, Make America Healthy Again. He was telling me these seed oils in the fryers are toxic. We want them OUT! They used to be made in beautiful tallow. We’re going to bring the tallow back folks,” wrote X user @Seedoildsrspctr.
TRUMP FOR TALLOW:
— HustleBitch (@HustleBitch_) October 21, 2024
"I was talking to RFK Jr…he was telling me these seed oils in the fryers are toxic."
"We want them out."
"They used to be made in beautiful tallow."
"We’re going to bring the back the tallow folks!" pic.twitter.com/TA6ad4tfbf
Others, including Utah Sen. Mike Lee (R), supported calls for McD’s to change their oil.
Several memes also depicted Trump-supporting health advocate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., trying to stop Trump from frying in seed oils.
RFK Jr. watching Trump cook fries in seed oil at McDonald's. pic.twitter.com/xPzOaRPeur
— 9mmSMG (@9mm_smg) October 21, 2024
RFK Jr watching Trump cook fries in seed oil https://t.co/VZ7mX4OqJJ pic.twitter.com/NdVAdwuQVd
— Mostly Peaceful Memes (@MostlyPeacefull) October 21, 2024
RFK Jr watching Trump cook fries in seed oil https://t.co/0HAJEtFKa8 pic.twitter.com/KQJJJQzSLj
— Siraj Hashmi (@SirajAHashmi) October 21, 2024
RFK Jr. when he watched Trump feed people McDonald's today:
— George (@BehizyTweets) October 20, 2024
😭 pic.twitter.com/ItfEcIEIE5
RFK seeing Trump cook the McDonald's fries in seed oils pic.twitter.com/JxvoEU1ek0
— The Rubin Report (@RubinReportShow) October 21, 2024
“Seed oils are one of the most unhealthy ingredients that we have in foods,” RFK said during a recent appearance on Fox & Friends. “And seed oils, the reason they’re in the foods is because they’re heavily subsidized. They’re very, very cheap, but they are associated with all kinds of very, very serious illnesses, including body-wide inflammation, which affects all of our health.”
Nutrition enthusiast Vani Hari, AKA The Food Babe, also made a request for Trump to have McDonald’s “just serve the same fries to us in America as they do in the UK and other countries”.
Mayday @realDonaldTrump Mayday. Could you ask @McDonalds to just serve the same fries to us in America as they do in the UK and other countries? No more silly putty in our fries pretty please!!!! pic.twitter.com/p9AJ1pq9Of
— Vani Hari (@thefoodbabe) October 20, 2024
According to Atlas Obscura, McDonald’s originally used a 93% beef tallow blend to fry their french fries, before switching to 100% vegetable oil in 1990.
“After the announcement, McDonald’s stock fell 8.3 percent,” reports Atlas, however the fry evidently lost its signature flavor, and a new oil formulation with “natural beef flavor” was used.
Via Atlas Obscura:
Even worse, the fries lost much of the contrasting soft and crunchy texture that [McDonald’s owner Ray] Kroc loved, and the new fries weren’t exactly healthier. As the public later learned, the trans fats in hydrogenated vegetable oil posed serious health threats, forcing McDonald’s to change the recipe again.
McDonald’s introduced french fry version 3.0, which is cooked in vegetable oil with less trans fat, around 2007.
As of writing, McDonald’s has not addressed calls to return to beef tallow.
Here’s footage of Trump’s full visit: