Fans of McDonald’s are expressing their disappointment with the fast-food chain after learning that the fries are cooked with beef flavouring, making them not suitable for vegans.
The use of “natural beef flavour” as an ingredient in the fries was recently brought to the public’s attention on TikTok by a man named Jordan, who goes by @jordan_the_stallion8 on the app.
In a video posted last week, the TikToker joked about knowing “so many fast-food secrets,” before claiming that he knows “why McDonald’s fries taste different than everybody else’s fries”.
“It’s because McDonald’s cooks [its] fries with beef flavouring mixed within their vegetable oil,” Jordan said. “So that’s why the fries taste so good, but also so different from everybody else’s.”
The TikToker then noted that the revelation was probably “bad news for vegetarians”.
In the comments of the video, which has since been viewed more than nine million times, some viewers were initially skeptical of Jordan’s claim. However, others noted that it is true, as the ingredient is listed on McDonald’s website, where it states that its fries are made using potatoes, vegetable oil, natural beef flavour, which contains wheat and milk derivatives, dextrose, sodium acid pyrophosphate, and salt.
The realisation was met with dismay from vegan and vegetarian customers, with one person writing: “Wait.. whaaaat!? I’m vegan and all I can eat from McDonald’s are fries,” while another said: “WTF. Never again.”
“Bro McDonald’s is gonna be in TROUBLE with the vegans,” someone else wrote.
However, many others revealed that it is a well-known fact that McDonald’s fries are not vegan in the US.
“I thought everyone knew this,” one person wrote, while another said: “This has been known for at least a decade.”
In the video, Jordan also noted that the ingredient is used primarily in the US, and that McDonald’s locations in the UK, Canada and Australia do not use the ingredient in their fries, which makes the menu item vegan.
“McDonald’s UK French Fries are made by McCain’s using Russet Burbank, Pentland Dell and Shepody potatoes, which are chosen for their quality, taste and long shape when cut. The fries are not coated in any fats or substances from an animal. Once at the restaurant, our fries are simply cooked in dedicated frying vats in a non-hydrogenated blend of sunflower and rapeseed oil which is 100 per cent suitable for vegans,” McDonald’s UK website reads.
“This was an emotional rollercoaster as a Canadian vegetarian,” one person joked.
As for whether McDonald’s US fries are suitable for vegetarians, the fast-food chain does not specify whether there are meat derivatives in the beef flavouring. Gary Reineccius, a food chemist specialising in flavour research, previously told Eater that the flavouring may not actually be from beef, as food scientists have previously created “beef flavour” without using meat.
“The flavour in beef is created during the cooking process. Food scientists identified the amino acids found in beef, added some very common sugars - starch hydrolysate - put it in a pot, added some citric acid to drop the pH, controlled moisture content, and heated it to the same temperature as meat. Then...*poof* we have meat flavour,” he explained.
The Independent has contacted McDonald’s for comment.
