That's Right, McDonald's Fries Have 19 Ingredients

McDonald's is trying to give their consumers an inside look into what their food is really made of, and they've hired Mythbusters star Grant Imahara to help.

The giant fast food company is releasing several videos of how their food is made, with Grant Imahara laying out what's happening in each step. One interesting fact from the videos is that while yes, those crispy McDonald's fries are made of real potatoes, they also have 18 other ingredients.

The freezing process for McDonald's fries. (Photo Credit: Screen Grab)

Here's the full list of what goes into the fries. A couple items are mentioned twice because they're used in two different parts of the process, particularly for the different stages of frying. Items 2 through 9 are used to partially fry the fries at the supplier, while items 13 through 19 make up the oil to finish up the frying at the restaurant.

Ingredients

1. potatoes
2. canola oil
3. soybean oil
4. hydrogenated soybean oil
5. natural beef flavour
6. hydrolyzed wheat
7. hydrolyzed milk
8. citric acid
9. dimethylpolysiloxane
10. dextrose
11. sodium acid pyrophosphate
12. salt
13. canola oil
14. corn oil
15. soybean oil (twice)
16. hydrogenated soybean oil
17. TBHQ
18. citric acid
19. dimethylpolysiloxane

Check out Imahara's rundown in the video below of what the different ingredients are used from, with answers varying from flavour, colour, and keeping the potato from going grey after freezing.

Though the ingredients are interesting, McDonald's also made a video showing how the fries are made—and they showed it in reverse. The frying is done in the restaurant of course, but before that the fries are frozen through a tunnel of about 50 yards. Right before they're frozen, the fries are partially fried for a crisp outer shell, and before that they have an ingredient dip to control the golden colour and the consistency.

Finally, McDonald's debunks the myth that potatoes are actually different ingredients squished into the uniform shape, showing the whole potatoes going through a cannon-like water knife at 60 to 70 mph for that perfect shape. Imahara finishes off at the potato farms, digging up real potatoes.

It's an interesting process, with McDonald's giving consumers an inside look into their operations though. The real question, however, is whether all this information (such as the 19 different ingredient revelation) turns people off McDonald's fries or makes them trust a company that at least starts with real potatoes.