What do you think about McDonald’s oil change schedule? Or are you concerned about whether or not the oil used in your “Happy Meal” was fresh? In either case, we have satisfactory answers for you.
No matter how hard we try to limit our use of oil, we must consume it when we eat fried foods. And who can resist eating the crispy, crunchy McDonald’s fries? No one, we bet.
This raises our concerns about the quality and cleanliness of the cooking oil we eat.
Fortunately, McDonald’s maintains food standards to ensure that its customer’s meals remain healthy. To learn more about the cooking oil used in this popular food chain, scroll down and read through.
Cooking oil selection and filtration are critical for fried foods. The cleanliness and filtration of cooking oil determine its quality and health effects.
Therefore, McDonald’s maintains the quality of its food by changing the cooking oil daily.
A variety of oils are used at McDonald’s to prepare your Happy Meal. For example, canola blend, vegetable, and corn oils.
Each type of oil is cleaned through a filtration process before being reused.
In this article, we have outlined the frequency of cooking oil changes by McDonald’s, the type of oil used, and the recycling process of McDonald’s cooking oil. Read on.
How Frequently Does McDonald’s Change Its Cooking Oil?
Most restaurants and food chains in the USA have a policy of changing their cooking oil every two or three days to maintain food safety standards. However, McDonald’s has a policy of changing their cooking oil once a day to ensure food safety and sanitation.
It also depends on the daily rush to see how often the oil is filtered or if more is needed. The cooking oil in each fryer is changed every day in the morning before the lunch shift.
Want to know a trick to determine the quality and cleanliness of the oil used to prepare your McDonald’s fries? Well, that’s simple.
The color of your fries speaks of the quality of the oil they are cooked in. It means that if your French fries are white and lighter in color but cooked, they have been prepared in fresh and clean oil.
On the other hand, a darker color of fries indicates unfiltered and dirty oil.
There’s no denying that McDonald’s fries and chicken are always a light yellowish, indicating that the cooking oil is fresh and clean.
Filtering and repurposing cooking oil is permitted in restaurants by food safety officials unless the oil is sufficiently poor to be consumed.
What Oil Does McDonald’s Use?
Most people are interested in the oil used to prepare food for various reasons like health issues, allergies, or other concerns.
Also, the quality and taste of food are determined by the oil used in frying. For example, McDonald’s uses oil to prepare iconic fries, fried chicken, burger patties, and many other items.
If you were born before the 1990s, you’d agree that McDonald’s food tasted different then. It indicates that the food chain changed its cooking oil after the 1980s to enhance the quality and taste of its food.
Recently, the workers at McDonald’s have begun using canola blend oil to prepare many items on the menu. The canola blend oil combines corn, canola, and soybean oils.
The signature fries at McDonald’s are prepared in vegetable oil, and the chicken nuggets are cooked in vegetable blend oil.
McDonald’s introduced a trans-fat-free oil in 2008, which contains the following ingredients:
- Canola oil
- Corn oil
- Soybean oil
- Natural-tasting oil
How Does McDonald’s Filter Its Used Oil?
According to McDonald’s official website, the used oil goes through a filtration process to get cleaned. The oil in cooking vats is filtered to ensure it is free of food debris and crumbs.
Also, filtration maintains the quality of oil to meet food standards. Oil from each cooking vat is transferred into the filtration equipment and is cleaned before reusing.
The filtration equipment is flushed with fresh oil daily to remain clean. Also, the oil from each vat is filtered separately to avoid mixing them. For example, a vat of vegetable oil is not washed with a vat of canola blend oil.
How Does McDonald’s Reuse and Recycle Its Cooking Oil?
Don’t you want to know where the used oil ends up? Of course, you do. McDonald’s has a creative way of reusing its used oil. The oil is deposited in biodiesel, which is used to fuel the delivery trucks for the food chain.
Moreover, most of the used oil is sold or given to grease disposal companies to recycle and utilize in an environmentally friendly way. Therefore, McDonald’s makes sure to recycle its used oil responsibly.
Conclusion
Oil is an essential ingredient in all foods, especially fried foods. Its cleanliness, quality, and filtration provide consumers with long-lasting health effects. McDonald’s acknowledges the importance of clean cooking oil and ensures it is changed daily in each cooking vat.
Moreover, the food chain makes sure to use healthy and fat-controlled oils in their kitchens. And your favorite McDonald’s aMcDonald’sa role in responsibly disposing of and recycling used oil to maintain environmental standards.
