# Why hasn't anyone pitted fries made from potato flour? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 7, 2013, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-anyone-pitted-fries-made-from-potato-flour/652257 "2013-03-07T02:49:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2013, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-anyone-pitted-fries-made-from-potato-flour/652257/62 "2013-03-09T03:07:09Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > Ok, if you guys insist on a cite, here’s an informal one from wiki-answers: … and there we have it. the reason why there isn’t a scandal over substituting unicorn for beef. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2013, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-anyone-pitted-fries-made-from-potato-flour/652257/63 "2013-03-09T03:07:52Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > Freezing something kinda dries it out, you know. :dubious: These words you’re using. I do not think they mean what you think they mean. And I’ll just add, I think McDonald’s officials were total douchebags for [representing their fries as a vegetarian option](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald%27s_legal_cases#Beef_French_fries) for so long - oh yeah, and their hash browns are beef-ified too. So you’re **making me defend them** and I feel icky about it. Thanks a lot. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2013, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-anyone-pitted-fries-made-from-potato-flour/652257/64 "2013-03-09T03:13:21Z")
What is it with the food threads and exaggerated and incorrect claims made therein here lately? I mean, I have issues with the food industry, but lately I find myself siding with them on most of the threads I read here on the Dope. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2013, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-anyone-pitted-fries-made-from-potato-flour/652257/65 "2013-03-09T03:16:12Z")
That’s what I mean by corrupted taste buds. That’s two of you in sequence. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2013, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-anyone-pitted-fries-made-from-potato-flour/652257/66 "2013-03-09T03:22:35Z")
So you’ve gone from claiming that someone, somewhere makes french fries from potato flour to criticizing people for defending McDonalds? That’s some amazing backtracking. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2013, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-anyone-pitted-fries-made-from-potato-flour/652257/67 "2013-03-09T03:26:35Z")
In my specific case, I saw workers in the Air Force airport cafeteria in Torrejon Spain pour a powder and water into a mixer, let it mix, and then saw the resulting dough extrude from a former, sort of like Play Doh. These shapes were then fried. I saw this happen multiple times, but only at this particular location. I wouldn’t swear that the powder was potato flour, maybe it was potato powder, like instant mashed potatoes. But what they cooked up was definitely some sort of potato that had been powdered or flaked before being reconstituted and fried. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2013, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-anyone-pitted-fries-made-from-potato-flour/652257/68 "2013-03-09T04:01:34Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > So you’ve gone from claiming that someone, somewhere makes french fries from potato flour to criticizing people for defending McDonalds? That’s some amazing backtracking. This. As noted earlier in the thread, I think McDonalds’ fries suck, but that isn’t the issue. McDonalds’ fries, whatever their drawbacks, are made by _frying sliced potatoes_. Any badness they may have has _nothing to do with potato flour_. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2013, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-anyone-pitted-fries-made-from-potato-flour/652257/69 "2013-03-09T04:41:06Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > So you’ve gone from claiming that someone, somewhere makes french fries from potato flour to criticizing people for defending McDonalds? That’s some amazing backtracking. Well that’s obvious. And it wasn’t a real criticism. I just thought it was funny (and so did they.) ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2013, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-anyone-pitted-fries-made-from-potato-flour/652257/70 "2013-03-09T05:38:25Z")
My office cafeteria has reconstituted fries, and they are NASTY. One tipoff is that they’re almost all exactly the same length, and they stick in your teeth. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2013, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-anyone-pitted-fries-made-from-potato-flour/652257/71 "2013-03-09T05:38:44Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > And I’ll just add, I think McDonald’s officials were total douchebags for [representing their fries as a vegetarian option](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald%27s_legal_cases#Beef_French_fries) for so long - oh yeah, and their hash browns are beef-ified too. So you’re **making me defend them** and I feel icky about it. Thanks a lot. But if you look at the\_diego’s quote, they are are only beefified if you object to milk. The other ingredients in the “natural beef flavoring” are plant-based. My wife worked for years doing quality control at a company that made flavorings and she says that “natural” flavors only need to be made from things that started out as food, not coal tar, and there is no requirement that the flavor actually contains a single molecule of the thing that it is mimicking. If you are a lacto vegetarian you can eat all the McFries you want. As long as you ignore the legally-permitted-within-limits insect parts and rat hairs. For my money, they hit the skids when they stopped frying them in suet. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2013, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-anyone-pitted-fries-made-from-potato-flour/652257/72 "2013-03-09T13:34:56Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > But if you look at the\_diego’s quote, they are are only beefified if you object to milk. The other ingredients in the “natural beef flavoring” are plant-based. I’m running out the door, but I don’t think that’s right. I could have sworn some sort of beef extract, not milk, was used. Otherwise, the Hindu brouhaha about this wouldn’t have happened, as Hindus are generally lacto-vegetarian. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2013, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-anyone-pitted-fries-made-from-potato-flour/652257/73 "2013-03-09T13:45:36Z")
Exactly. Those warnings are not to warn vegetarians; they are **food allergen** alerts, and beef is not counted as one. You’ll see similar fish/shellfish alerts, peanut and tree nut alerts, etc., in relevant products. Foods that contain beef/chicken/pork do not have similar labeling. If they were just adding “natural flavor” as a flavor-booster they’d probably list it as “natural flavorings” (which can sometimes hide animal products from vegetarians) or “spices” or something similar. McDonald’s is, at my last research, intentionally adding beef concentrates/broth/etc. (mixed with dairy and wheat as extenders/to make a smoother mix/etc.) to their fries to add more flavor. That’s fine for them, but fuck 'em for misrepresenting their products for so long. Oh yeah, and **the\_diego**? You don’t know my tastebuds. I’m a vegetarian so I don’t even **eat** their fries. Maybe if you had done some research about what you were talking about in the first place, people wouldn’t be jumping down your throat. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2013, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-anyone-pitted-fries-made-from-potato-flour/652257/74 "2013-03-09T14:29:03Z")
> [@shijinn](#): > > and there we have it. the reason why there isn’t a scandal over substituting unicorn for beef. What really pisses me off is when they substitute beef for unicorn. If I’m paying unicorn prices, I want unicorn quality, y’know? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2013, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-anyone-pitted-fries-made-from-potato-flour/652257/75 "2013-03-09T14:55:09Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > In my specific case, I saw workers in the Air Force airport cafeteria in Torrejon Spain pour a powder and water into a mixer, let it mix, and then saw the resulting dough extrude from a former, sort of like Play Doh. These shapes were then fried. I saw this happen multiple times, but only at this particular location. I wouldn’t swear that the powder was potato flour, maybe it was potato powder, like instant mashed potatoes. But what they cooked up was definitely some sort of potato that had been powdered or flaked before being reconstituted and fried. This was the system used by Carl’s Jr. in California 30 or 40 years ago. The flavor was what you’d expect from a normal french fry but they were a lot more resistant to sogginess. Someone brought a bag of the Carl’s fry flakes on a camping trip I was on and with a little water and a skillet turned them into some rather tasty hash browns. ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2013, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-anyone-pitted-fries-made-from-potato-flour/652257/76 "2013-03-09T22:05:45Z")
In my high school days the story went around that McDonald’s made their “shakes” out of whipped lard and potato powder. Even though I now know this not to be true, I have a really hard time with eating/drinking them and now I mostly don’t. I go decades between them I think the last time I had one was after some dental surgery 7 years ago and I took my son to McD’s for supper/run around in the Playland until you get tired. It wasn’t a horror show but I don’t like them. If I’m going to do the calories I might as well do DQ. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2013, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-anyone-pitted-fries-made-from-potato-flour/652257/77 "2013-03-09T22:38:09Z")
Shakes? You mean [partially gelatinated non-dairy gum-based beverages](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwuSGvfN0T4)? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2013, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-anyone-pitted-fries-made-from-potato-flour/652257/78 "2013-03-09T23:47:32Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’m running out the door, but I don’t think that’s right. I could have sworn some sort of beef extract, not milk, was used. Otherwise, the Hindu brouhaha about this wouldn’t have happened, as Hindus are generally lacto-vegetarian. [Here it is](http://www.commondreams.org/headlines.shtml?/headlines01/0504-02.htm) from 2001: > [@](#): > > McDonald’s French fries are essentially cooked twice. Central suppliers wash, steam-peel, cut, blanch, dry, par-fry and then freeze the potatoes that make the famous golden slivers. During the par-frying, ‘‘ **a minuscule amount of beef extract is added** ,’’ the company said. Emphasis mine. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-anyone-pitted-fries-made-from-potato-flour/652257.md?page=3)