You Want Fries with That?
Rodrigo Arango
Prof. Ariana Bianchi
Enc 1101 9:30 Tues/Thur
20 November 2012
You Want Fries With That?
In the beginning was the potato. How it found its way from the South American highlands into those little sacks of McDonald's fries is a long, adventurous tale that remains untold. With a history dating back to when humans first realized the importance of spice trading, the artificial flavor industry has gradually become a growing industry whose members consider their trade an art form. I’m not ashamed to admit that Eric Schlosser introduced me to the flavor industry. He not only explains why McDonalds fries are so good, but he also exposed McDonald’s and other fast food businesses roles in the restaurant business. He wanted us to know how restaurant businesses have made their fattening over-greasy food into overwhelming comfort foods.
Starting out with an example about how McDonald's new fries recipes cooked with vegetable oil yet still had the same taste as the old recipes using the oil with 93% beef tallow, Schlosser pointed out that additive flavor was the main component, which makes "most of the food American eat today tastes the way it does." Additive flavors are divided into two categories: natural flavors and artificial flavors. Since most of the food processing techniques destroy the food's true taste, additive flavors are needed to compensate for that. It's amazing to me to learn that just a little more than 50 years ago McDonald's really cared about their food. The preparation of the french fry was once "religious". All that has since changed dramatically. What used to take hours to make a batch of fries now take a matter of minutes. I think his intentions were just that. It’s about time someone let us know what’s really going into our food.
I mean speaking for myself, most of the ingredients in the food we eat are even difficult to pronounce it’s like I’m reading hieroglyphics, therefore; how can we truly know what is in the foods we are
Prof. Ariana Bianchi
Enc 1101 9:30 Tues/Thur
20 November 2012
You Want Fries With That?
In the beginning was the potato. How it found its way from the South American highlands into those little sacks of McDonald's fries is a long, adventurous tale that remains untold. With a history dating back to when humans first realized the importance of spice trading, the artificial flavor industry has gradually become a growing industry whose members consider their trade an art form. I’m not ashamed to admit that Eric Schlosser introduced me to the flavor industry. He not only explains why McDonalds fries are so good, but he also exposed McDonald’s and other fast food businesses roles in the restaurant business. He wanted us to know how restaurant businesses have made their fattening over-greasy food into overwhelming comfort foods.
Starting out with an example about how McDonald's new fries recipes cooked with vegetable oil yet still had the same taste as the old recipes using the oil with 93% beef tallow, Schlosser pointed out that additive flavor was the main component, which makes "most of the food American eat today tastes the way it does." Additive flavors are divided into two categories: natural flavors and artificial flavors. Since most of the food processing techniques destroy the food's true taste, additive flavors are needed to compensate for that. It's amazing to me to learn that just a little more than 50 years ago McDonald's really cared about their food. The preparation of the french fry was once "religious". All that has since changed dramatically. What used to take hours to make a batch of fries now take a matter of minutes. I think his intentions were just that. It’s about time someone let us know what’s really going into our food.
I mean speaking for myself, most of the ingredients in the food we eat are even difficult to pronounce it’s like I’m reading hieroglyphics, therefore; how can we truly know what is in the foods we are