McDonald's French fries contain one-third more trans fats than previously thought after the company used a new method to test for the harmful ingredient still widely used in many foods.
The disclosure comes as food companies are implementing new US government rules in force since last month requiring all packaged food labels to specify the level of trans fats in food products.
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McDonald's said that after using a new method to test the level of trans fats in its fries in December, the level of trans fats in a portion of large fries was 8 grammes, up from 6 grammes previously displayed on its website and printed on nutritional literature.
US dietary guidelines call for consumers to keep their intake of trans as close to zero as possible. Trans fats have been shown to raise levels of harmful cholesterol, contributing to heart disease.
The disclosure comes at an awkward time for the world's largest fast food operator, which has been attempting to rebuild trust among consumers in some markets – notably the UK – in its ingredients and food preparation methods.
Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nonprofit food and nutrition lobby group, said: "It makes it harder to trust McDonald's if they suddenly have strikingly different [trans fat] numbers."
Cathy Kapica, global director of nutrition at McDonald's, said the company "continually enhanced" its testing methods. The new method was used "as part of our ongoing efforts to provide our customers with the best science-based information".
"The new tests produced the results that we believe are the most accurate today. As a result, we promptly updated the information on our web site. We will continue to provide our customers with the most current, accurate nutrition information possible," she told the FT.
On Tuesday at Italy's Turin Winter Olympics, McDonald's kicked off a global campaign to put nutritional labeling on most of its food packaging, becoming the first fast food chain to put calorie, fat and sodium content on its burger wrappers.
The disclosure also calls into question the US system used for testing for substances like trans fats. There is no single standard, with food companies free to choose from a range of US government-approved testing organisations.
Trans fats are created when hydrogen is passed through a liquid cooking or vegetable oil in a process known as hydrogenation. The process is commonly used by food manufacturers to extend the shelf life of processed foods, margarine and fries.
Richard Cantrill, technical director at the American Oil Chemists' Society, a non-profit group that provides testing methodologies for oil and fat, said a 10 per cent swing in the trans fat content of fries between different testing methods "would be what you could quite reasonably expect".
But he said there were likely to be "mitigating circumstances" in the McDonald's case, where the swing was 33 per cent. "They have been changing the fat they fry in many times and they have been experimenting," he said.
Dawn Jackson-Blatner, spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, said: "When it comes to being 6 grammes, or 8 grammes, it's still a considerable amount more than what we would want in someone's typical day."
Asked what progress McDonald's had made on reducing trans fats from its French fries Mitch Smith, director of quality systems at McDonald's said the company hadn't yet "fully implemented" its plan to eliminate trans fats.
He said: "We're working on trans fat oils, we are looking at all the options to find the right answer."
Copyright 2006 Financial Times
McDonald's Fries have even more trans-fats than previously thought
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