McDonald’s just showed us what goes into their French fries

Do you want fries with that? Now you’ll know exactly what you’re saying yes to if you opt in. Spoiler alert: they are made with potatoes.

The fast food giant, in the face of many questions about what exactly is in their food, teamed up with Grant Imahara of MythBusters to create a video that shows us exactly what goes into their fries and it’s quite enlightening.

Imahara reverse engineers the making of McDonald’s fries, starting in a restaurant and tracking it back to it’s roots (literally). Here’s what we learned:

The fries are frozen before they get to you; they’re partially fried before they get to the restaurant which gives them the crisp outer shell;  they add dextrose to the fries so they’re a uniform color and sodium acid pyrophosphate to keep them from graying after freezing; and the fries are not molded from goo into that shape, they are precision cut by a water knife.

It’s all about uniformity, it seems, in the process of making a McDonald’s french fry.

In the end Imahara not only sees where their potatoes come from, but he digs some out of the ground himself. Pretty nifty. McDonald’s is teaming with him for a whole suite of videos to address your questions about their food, so you are invited to keep asking.

Take a look for yourself:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=el0EDgyO39w

This all could be part of an initiative by McDonald’s to revamp their image, healthify the menu (or at least make it more transparent), and let their customers know they’re listening. Earlier this month, the fast food company announced they would start using solely cage-free eggs by 2025. And after years of begging, McDonald’s is FINALLY serving all-day breakfast in some locations. Oh, and then the company launched a “gourmet” burger that looks pretty amazing. We see you’re trying, McDonald’s!

(Image via Shutterstock)