Are you wondering whether McDonald’s French Fries are vegan-friendly?
It’s understandable if you are. The fries are the restaurant’s most popular menu item. It has also been one of the longest-standing menu choices for the McDonalds franchise. It dates all the way back to 1940.
It certainly had some time to warm the hearts and stomachs of its customers. It’s probably why each year, McDonald’s has to buy 3.4 billion pounds of potatoes. Yes, there is a potato frenzy. But can vegans join in on the party? Continue reading to find out.
Table of Contents
Are McDonald’s French Fries Vegan-Friendly?
The answer is: No
McDonald’s French Fries are not vegan friendly and have ingredients that are from animal sources. One of the ingredients is the natural beef flavor. McDonald’s lists this ingredient as having “milk derivatives”, a clear red flag for the vegan community.
Are you shocked? You might be wondering how a product made from vegetables ends up not being vegan-friendly.
What Are McDonald French Fries Made Of?
Ingredients
Potatoes, Vegetable Oil (canola Oil, Corn Oil, Soybean Oil, Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Natural Beef Flavor [wheat And Milk Derivatives]*), Dextrose, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate (maintain Color), Salt. *natural Beef Flavor Contains Hydrolyzed Wheat And Hydrolyzed Milk As Starting Ingredients.
Why Are McDonald Fries Not vegans?
Vegans don’t eat the by-product of animals therefore milk is not vegan-friendly.
Some have argued that the natural beef flavor may be free from meat, as the process of creating the flavor may start with beef, but doesn’t end up having beef in it, only the flavor. Vegans however are concerned with the overall safety of animals. This means that the fact that beef was used initially is also a problem.
It seems a bit misleading that without knowledge of the ingredients, you would think you’re only eating a fried vegetable. This actually became a problem for the company in 2001. McDonald’s was sued by Hindus and vegetarians.
McDonald’s had incorrectly described their fries as vegetarian when they started using vegetable oil to fry the fries. They did not openly state that there was beef flavoring. The lawsuit ended with the company apologizing and paying out 10 million dollars.
Final Thoughts
The McDonalds fries gave us quite the surprise. They’re unfortunately not vegan-friendly. It contains by-products of milk and subjects animals to cruelty by using beef to enhance the flavor. You’ll have to pass on the fries the next time you visit.
Aside from not being vegan another thing to consider is that the calorie content of these fries is nothing to sneeze at either. A serving of medium-sized fries carries a total of 340 calories! The average calorie intake per day is 2000 calories. This means that a medium serving of fries accounts for 17% of your required intake for the day.
For more information head over to the official website here: