After years of experimenting, Ronald McDonald finally has concocted a healthier oil in which to cook French fries.

McDonald's leaders announced Monday that they have selected a new oil that's free of artery-clogging trans fat, but stopped short of saying when it will show up in its 13,700 American restaurants.

The Chicago Tribune said McDonald's tested 18 varieties of oil in more than 50 blends during the past seven years and finally found a canola-based mixture. Customers in test markets said the new oil makes the fries taste like the ones that had won the chain legions of fans throughout the world, the newspaper reported.

"We're very confident in our test and taste results," said McDonald's spokesman Walt Riker, adding that the test market involved 1,200 restaurants. "We're very confident in what we're hearing back from our customers."

Catching up

The announcement catches McDonald's up with its competitors, notably Wendy's, Kentucky Fried Chicken and several lesser knowns, as well as major amusement parks, that changed to healthier cooking oils over the past two to three years.

What's more, McDonald's beat the July 1 deadline imposed by New York City health officials, who voted this past December to ban trans fat from all the city's restaurants.

The announcement even caused one consumer advocate who has needled McDonald's for years for its food said he applauded the new oil.

"So many people eat there that making this change can really provide a significant benefit to the public's health," said Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington, D.C. "It also reconfirms with the restaurant industry that trans fat is a real problem and now even the biggest chain is beginning to deal with it. Hopefully now the smaller chains and mom-and-pops will also get rid of it."

McDonald's in Australia, Europe

McDonald's had already removed trans fat from its 740 Australian restaurants by going to a blend of canola and sunflower oils. Later this year, 6,300 McDonald's in Europe will change to one of three different canola oils, according to the Tribune.

Health experts caution that just because Ronald McDonald's fries won't contain trans fat doesn't mean necessarily they'll be totally healthy. The fries may contain high levels of saturated fat, the other kind of "unhealthy" fat that's a smidgen less harmful than trans fat, they added.

Trans fat - or trans fatty acids - is created when food manufacturers pump hydrogen into vegetable oil to turn it into a solid, give it longer shelf life and make products tastier. It's also cheaper to use in food preparation when compared to other types of cooking oil, such as canola and sunflower.

However, nutritionists, dietitians and other health experts contend that trans fat can increase your "bad" cholesterol and clog your arteries, leading to heart attacks, strokes and other maladies.

For more information:

•  Thanks a Latte: Starbucks Ditching Trans Fat

•  U.S. Food and Drug Administration

•  American Heart Association

•  Center for Science in the Public Interest

Source: Chicago Tribune

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