You might think (or at least hope) that the only ingredients needed for truly tasty french fries would be sliced potatoes and hot oil. But in the realm of fast food, it takes a little more than that short list to get the distinct flavor so many of us crave. Take, for example, McDonald's "World Famous Fries," as the chain calls them.
A sprinkle of salt is not all that's needed to make them famous; in fact, it takes around a dozen ingredients to nail that unique flavor profile. The popularity of the chain's fries has made the Golden Arches a giant in the fast food industry; in fact, french fries are the brand's top-selling item across the world. McDonald's sells 9 million pounds of this side order daily, which equals almost 3.
3 billion pounds a year. Wendy's even once ran a whole campaign in an attempt to dethrone McDonald's fries, touting a study in its commercials claiming people two to one. Although Wendy's never released details regarding the study, a representative told The Takeout that the results came from a national taste test conducted by a third-party research company.
Per the nutritional info listed on , the ingredients used to make its fries are: potatoes, vegetable oil (specifically canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil, and "Natural Beef Flavor"), dextrose, sodium acid pyrophosphate (for color), and salt. The chain clarifies that what it refers to as Natural Beef Flavor "contains hydrolyzed wheat and hydrolyzed milk as starting ingredients." .
