There's no better way to treat yourself than by getting your favorite meal from McDonald's. And, every Mickey D's lover knows that no meal is complete without an order of their World Famous French Fries. These golden fries are always super crispy and perfectly salted, but it looks like there's a lot about them that customers aren't aware of -- like the fact that they may contain PESTICIDES!
[Photos: Shutterstock]
Yup, you read that right. It looks like there are some toxic pesticides lurking in your order of McDonald's fries. According to Michael Pollan, an author, journalist and professor at UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, the potatoes used to make the popular fries are sprayed down with a pesticide that is so toxic that it can't be eaten until six weeks after being sprayed.
Pollan says that McDonald's only uses the Russet Burbank potato for all of their french fries, as its long and thin shape gives McDonald's fries their signature look. “That’s what they want because, when you’re McDonald’s, you like those red boxes with a little bouquet of very long chips," Pollan says in a YouTube video of his lecture.
[Photo: Instagram]
But, McDonald's is very selective about their potatoes. In fact, Pollan says that they will only purchase the Russet Burbank potatoes that are free of spots and blemishes, which is hard to come by with this certain type of potato. "There’s a very common defect of Russet Burbank potatoes, called net necrosis, and you’ve seen potatoes with little brown lines sometimes or spots that come through it,” Pollan continued. “Well McDonald’s won’t buy them if your potatoes have that.”
To prevent this from happening, the potatoes are doused in Monitor, a pesticide "that is so toxic that the farmers that grow these potatoes in Idaho won’t venture outside into their fields for five days after they spray," according to Pollan.
“When they harvest they have to put them in these atmosphere-controlled sheds the size of a football stadium because they are not edible for six weeks,” Pollan says, after explaining that the pesticides remain in the potatoes for weeks after they are initially applied. “They have to off-gas all of the chemicals in them.”
Not only should you be concerned about the pesticides used on the potatoes, but you should also familiarize yourself with the ingredients used to make the actual fries. Certain ingredients, including Dimethylpolysiloxane, Tertiary Butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), and Hydrogenated Soybean Oil have been linked to brain damage, autoimmune disease and cancer.
[Photo: McDonalds.com]
Wow, this is a lot to take in all at once. Were you surprised to hear about the pesticide that is used on McDonald's potatoes? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!