Did One Man Really Convince McDonald's To Stop Using Beef Tallow?

While most can recognize the golden arches anywhere in the world, McDonald's menu offerings have undergone their share of changes over the years. Sometimes these shifts are for seasonal or limited-time offerings; other times, they have been caused by McDonald's mishaps throughout its history. And in certain cases, it's because of outside influences demanding change. One such influence was Philip Sokolof, who is said to be the major reason McDonald's stopped cooking its french fries in beef tallow after decades of doing so. With no official statement from McDonald's directly, the accuracy of that claim is debatable. However, what can't be denied are the events that led up to the fast food giant ceasing the practice.

A multi-millionaire from Omaha, Nebraska, Sokolof began campaigning to improve America's heart health after suffering a heart attack in 1966.  For 20 years, Sokolof spent millions of his own money on his health crusade. One of his biggest targets was McDonald's, against whom he took out full-page ads, urging the fast food chain to improve its practices and calling for Americans to stop eating there until it changed. The fast food chain wasn't Sokolof's only focus. His efforts also led to cookie and cracker manufacturers like Pepperidge Farm and Keebler to stop using coconut and palm oil in their recipes.

In 1990, McDonald's announced that it was replacing beef tallow with vegetable oil in its cooking practices after eight years of studying the benefits. In response, Philip Sokolof stated that he couldn't be happier about how the fast food company responded to the American public. He also revealed that, had the timing been different, he had already planned on spending another $175,000 on further ads. While there is no definitive statement, it can't be denied that Sokolof didn't at least play a role in their decision. Twelve years after switching to vegetable oil, McDonald's switched to a soy-corn oil, which cut the remaining trans fat in half.

Today, McDonald's fries can still be the topic of debate. After it stopped using beef tallow, the fries were said to have lost much of their flavor. This prompted the fast food giant to add a natural beef flavoring to its french fry oil. While it's far from the only ingredient that leaves you wanting more, the change was enough to make McDonald's fries one of the top fast food french fries. Beef tallow may have lost some popularity since then, but anyone wanting to see how the fries originally tasted can do so by adding some to their next copycat batch of McDonald's fries.