McDonald’s shows Moms the production of its World Famous French Fries

Recently, the Moms' Quality Correspondents concluded their second year of unprecedented access to the McDonald's® system of owner/operators, executives and Supply Chain with Lamb Weston, one of McDonald's Potato Suppliers for McDonald’s Hash Browns and World Famous Fries®. The Moms toured a potato farm, processing facility and Research and Development Center to see first-hand McDonald's and its supplier’s joint commitment to food quality, safety, nutrition and sustainable farming practices.

"I’m sure I wasn’t the only mom to have questions about the nutritional value, allergen content and quality of McDonald’s French Fries. It was important to me to ask the tough questions,"said Gilda McHenry, Moms' Quality Correspondent and mother of three children ages eleven, six and four, the youngest of whom has food allergies. "I wanted to see whether McDonald's held the same strict standards for their French Fries that I've come to expect as a Moms' Quality Correspondent. I wasn't disappointed. I was also pleased to learn more about the change to Trans Fatty Acid free cooking oil that McDonald’s made earlier this year and of course the quality of the ingredients used to make one of my family’s favorite menu items.”

With nutrition top-of-mind for the Moms, they met with Lamb Weston's Vice President of Research and Development, Janet Olson, to learn more about the new 0-gram TFA canola oil blend developed by McDonald’s and its suppliers, such as Cargill and Lamb Weston, used to cook the fries. They also performed a sensory test, discovering for themselves how McDonald’s is able to maintain the same great taste, texture and quality with 0-grams trans fat per labeled serving.

Additionally, McDonald's and Lamb Weston Quality Assurance Technicians conduct multiple inspections on potatoes for shape, natural sugar content, taste and other quality-specific attributes. The Moms also learned about innovations in the production process like steam peelers and cutting systems developed to control the French Fries’ size and appearance as well as reduce waste.

“We saw first-hand that not every potato meets McDonald’s standards to become McDonald's French Fries. In fact, they use several varieties of potatoes, such as the popular Russet Burbank, to make McDonald's French Fries and the potatoes used naturally provide a fresh- baked potato taste. At the restaurant, they are lightly salted before serving – nothing else is added,” added McHenry.

The Moms learned about the many sustainable farming practices and advanced technology used to create McDonald’s World Famous Fries – from soil moisture to irrigation which is centrally controlled and monitored to maximize efficiency with every potato crop harvested.

"We were proud to open our doors to the Moms to show them how we select the perfect potatoes for McDonald's World Famous Fries and build in quality control from our farms to our processing facilities,"said Jim Knauf, vice president of Lamb Weston's McDonald's Business Unit.

Lending her behind-the-counter knowledge of the McDonald's French Fries cooking process, McDonald's Restaurant Manager and mother of three, Crystal Hanson, joined the Moms' Quality Correspondents on their trip. Hanson will also share her experience with McDonald's crew members and other employees via Station M™, McDonald's internal social networking Web site. Throughout their experiences, the Moms chronicled their behind-the-scenes activities through online journals, photos and videos on www.mcdonaldsmoms.com. More than 12,000 consumers continue to follow their journey through regular e-mail updates as part of the McDonald's Quality Community.

The Moms’ experiences in 2008 were developed based on their feedback to learn more about Chicken McNuggets®, French Fries, Ronald McDonald House Charities® and nutrition.

McDonald's World Famous Fries® come from trusted, dedicated suppliers including Lamb Weston, J.R. Simplot, and McCain Foods. McDonald's works closely with all of its potato suppliers to ensure stringent food quality and safety standards are followed delivering high-quality potato products in our restaurants, everyday.