McDonald’s TikToker Angers Viewers With ‘How We Make Our Large Fries’
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Daniel Villarreal
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A self-described McDonald’s employee has caused disagreement among commenters by posting a video that allegedly shows a way for the fast-food restaurant’s employees to serve fewer fries when customers order a large-sized container.
@nnennaaaa6, a TikTok user with over 12,000 followers, posted a video that shows them scooping up fries in a mostly empty silver heating tray, then depositing the fries into a large container. However, the employee appears to not unfold the container to its full size.
The text laid over the TikTok video reads, «How we make our large fries … don’t open the cardboard all the way saves you more fries for others.»
@nnennaaaaa6
? shhhhh ? #virał #trending #elfitup #RufflesOwnYourRidges #comedy #ArbysDiabloDare #CloseYourRings #fyp #fypシ #mcdonalds #jokes #essentialworker
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An order of large fries at McDonald’s is supposed to weigh approximately 150 grams, which converts to roughly 5. 3 ounces or a third of a pound. An unscientific investigation by the U.K.-based news site Leicestershire Live found that two McDonald’s locations in England served anywhere between 84 to 100 fries in their large containers.
Newsweek contacted McDonald’s for comment.
Numerous TikTok commenters on the aforementioned video expressed anger at being «ripped off.» Others asked why fast-food employees can’t simply refuse to sell large sizes if they don’t have enough food to fill the containers.
Other commenters who claimed to work at McDonald’s said that they were trained to not completely unfold large fry containers in order to conserve fries.
A self-described McDonald’s employee on the video-sharing platform TikTok has alleged that one can serve smaller portions of fries in large containers by not unfolding the containers to their full size. This photo shows a McDonald’s employee filling a container of large fries.
Mark Peterson/Corbis via Getty Images
In response to the video, one TikTok commenter named Wilton In Real Life wrote, «Wrong.
I worked at McDonald’s for 6 years and our head manager would have had our heads if we had tried to pull something like that.»
Someone responding to their comment pointed out that perhaps the practice only applied to the McDonald’s location where the TikTok user works.
Another commenter named tiffanyhudkins wrote, «not all mcdonalds are lazy, you guys are giving all us other hard workers a bad name!»
Internationally, McDonald’s is facing a potato shortage that has limited the sale of large fries in its Japanese and Malaysian locations, according to the ViacomCBS news site PopCulture.com.
The shortage in the Asian countries was caused by a delay in potato shipments caused by «large-scale flooding near the Port of Vancouver … and the global supply chain crunch caused by the coronavirus pandemic,» McDonald’s Japan CEO Tamotsu Hiiro announced at the end of last month.
From December 24 to December 30 last year, Japanese McDonald’s locations only sold small portions of fries.
On January 24, 2022, McDonald’s Malaysia informed customers that locations would temporarily halt the sale of large fry portions. The country’s locations continued selling medium- and small-sized portions.
U.S. McDonald’s locations haven’t been affected by the potato shortage.
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What Size Is Best to Order?
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It’s the best deal in the world of fast-food fries.
It’s impossible to hate fries. When done right, fries are equal parts crispy and carby, with a bit of flavor and warmth from the oil. Paired with your favorite dipping sauce, they’re just about irresistible. Every type of fry has its merits, but shoestring fries from McDonald’s really stand out. There’s even science to explain why McDonald’s fries are so good!
If you want the best deal at the McD’s drive-thru, be sure to order a large fry.
Large Fries Give You the Most Bang for Your Buck
YouTubers The Food Theorists tested small, medium and large fries from four chains in three different cities: McDonald’s, Chick-fil-A, Wendy’s and Arby’s. This allowed them to test shoestring, waffle, thick cut and curly fries. The testers individually weighed the fry orders using a digital scale to find out the exact weight and volume of each type and size. The goal? Find the most cost-effective fry order.
The Food Theorists found that the large McDonald’s fry was the best deal money-wise, at $1.26 per gram.
Close behind were Wendy’s large fries, at $1.32 per gram and Arby’s medium fries, which offered more fries than the large at $1.35 per gram. If you want the best deal on shoestring fries, go with the large at McDonald’s. You can also use this hack to get fresh fries at McD’s every time.
See all the secrets McDonald’s employees won’t tell you.
Small Fries Have Their Place, Too
The Food Theorists found that McD’s small fries were the most effective at filling up the container, because they have the only bag made of paper.
It’s not as much bang for your buck you’ll get in a large, but the small is still a pretty good deal. Overall, the medium orders weren’t as cost-effective and didn’t fill their containers as evenly. So if there’s one fry size you shouldn’t order, it’s the medium (unless, you know, you’re at Arby’s).
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Originally Published: July 15, 2022
Sarra Sedghi
Sarra Sedghi is a Birmingham-based writer and editor specializing in food, travel, and history.
Her work has appeared in Allrecipes, Atlas Obscura, Eater, MyRecipes, Polygon, and Tasting Table. She excels at narrative writing, and received her MFA in Narrative Nonfiction from the University of Georgia in 2017.
«Delicious — and that’s it» removes french fries from the menu. Is there a shortage of potatoes in Russia?
- July 10, 2022 at 11:13
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It is expected that potato dishes will return to all restaurants of the network «delicious — and point in the fall, when they remove the new crop .Photo: CHINE NOUVELLE/SIPA, Scanpix
Some restaurants of the Vkusno i Tochka chain, which replaced McDonald’s in Russia, will not have French fries, the company’s press service said.
Some fast food outlets will also remove village potatoes from the menu. Prior to this, the sale of French fries and rustic large and medium sizes was also suspended by KFC, writes VC.
“This is due to the fact that 2021 in Russia has become a lean year for potato varieties, which are used for the production of french fries at the network’s enterprises. Over the past eight years, the company has focused on Russian suppliers and purchased products from them. In addition, it has become impossible to import from markets that could become temporary suppliers of potatoes for enterprises in Russia,” said representatives of Vkusno – and that’s it.
Potato dishes are expected to return to all of the chain’s restaurants in the fall, when the new crop is harvested, the fast food chain said. Vkusno — i dot believe that other market participants will also face a shortage of potatoes, Meduza reports.
For fries, fast food chains need a special kind of potato: its size and starch content are important, Nikolai Burdin, director of development at Doner 42, told vc.ru. For example, McDonald’s, which replaced «Tasty — and that’s it», used tubers of the «Innovator» variety.
The main supplier of fries for McDonald’s and others was the American-Dutch Lamb Weston Meijer.
Is there really a shortage of potatoes?
The Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation believes that no — the Russian market is fully provided with potatoes, including processed ones. At the same time, according to the Potato Union, there is also no need to import fries.
In Russia, they have already begun to harvest a new crop, the Ministry of Agriculture notes. But what varieties we are talking about, do not specify.
McDonald’s and everyone who sold these french fries were forced to use imported varieties, although there are also our normal Russian varieties. There are certain problems, but not on a global scale. There will be french fries, but not so smooth, not so neat.
Sergey Lisovsky
member of the Agrarian Committee of the State Duma of the Russian Federation
According to RTVI, although potatoes are grown in Russia, Lamb Weston Meijer used seeds from Belgium and Poland.
And because of sanctions with deliveries there were problems. According to Aleksey Krasilnikov, executive director of the Potato Union, this season logistics has become more complicated and more expensive, and trucks with potato seeds stand idle on the border between Poland and Belarus for up to ten days.
Dependence on imported varieties is also confirmed by Sergey Lisovsky, member of the State Duma Agrarian Committee. In his opinion, the problem arose, among other things, due to the fact that Western companies lobbied for the interests of their own suppliers, although there are “normal varieties” of potatoes in Russia.
Will Russians be without French fries in the future?
Krasilnikov believes that the problem with fries is temporary: Lamb Weston Meijer has stocks of the product, which the company plans to increase in the future. Russian farmers, he said, are already trying to reduce dependence on imports and are increasing the production of their own seeds.
Russian breeding technologies are in no way inferior to foreign ones, says Ivan Starikov, scientific director of the VEB RF Center for Sustainable Development. He is also sure that there will be no shortage of potatoes: this year the forecasts for the harvest are good, and besides, contracts with other countries for the supply are maintained.
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“How does McDonald’s make such long fries when regular fries are small and oval?” — Yandex Kew
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9000 9000 9000 years 12 years in audience in audience in audience food enterprises. Ask me what’s in your fridge! Nov 3, 2020
McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC and other fast food chains do not make their own potatoes. For them, frozen slices are produced by external suppliers.
Long straw can only be obtained from varieties with a large tuber. Another condition is a rather high protein content, compared to popular «food» varieties.
Specific varieties, you can hardly find them in the store. I think that such huge potatoes will only frighten ordinary buyers: if the potatoes are large, people will think that there are only nitrates and they won’t buy for the family at home.
In fact, this is the result of selection. For the frozen french fries business, these varieties are very effective
From left to right, popular varieties for french fries: Russet Burbank, Innovator, Santana, Fontane, Agria
(photo from https://www.
farmfrites.com)
The potatoes will be washed at the factory, peeled, cut into strips, frozen, and then hermetically packed and, just in case, passed through a metal detector — to be sure that no metal impurities got into the product during mechanical cleaning-shredding.
In restaurants, these potatoes will be deep fried without defrosting, salted and put on your order.
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Anton Nekrasov
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I’m looking for a car 26 Oct 2020
For McDonald’s, they don’t use large potatoes crosswise. Since there are very large varieties of potatoes in stores, it will not be difficult to cook such potatoes on your own.
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Ekaterina Gonta
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To live life is not to impose in the field.