Mcdonald's Promises Healthier Fries

CHICAGO — Under pressure to make its fast-food healthier, McDonald's said Tuesday it was reducing the amount of saturated fat and trans fatty acids in its french fries and other fried foods.

The company said that beginning in October, its more than 13,000 restaurants nationwide will use a new variety of cooking oil that significantly reduces saturated fats and trans fatty acids, which scientists believe raises cholesterol levels and increases the risk of heart disease.

The change will not affect the taste or the number of calories in any menu item, the company says. But by altering the cooking oil, McDonald's said it hoped to cut by nearly half the amount of trans fatty acids in french fries and reduce the amount of saturated fats by 16 percent.

McDonald's said the new variety of vegetable oil -- which will also be used to prepare Chicken McNuggets, Filet-O-Fish and hash browns -- will be significantly higher in polyunsaturated fats, which experts say tend to lower cholesterol levels.

"We're not afraid to do something different and something new to build on our track record of nutrition," said Walt Riker, a spokesman at McDonald's, which is based in Oak Brook, Ill. "We're reducing bad fats and increasing good fats."

Health and nutrition experts applauded the announcement.

"We're very pleased to see McDonald's take this step," said Margo Wootan, director of nutrition at the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington. "It will help reduce the risk of their customers getting heart disease, and because McDonald's is an industry leader the change should be followed by other fast-food chains and food processors."

Wendy's officials said Tuesday that the company made cooking oil improvements in 1995, and will continue to monitor new technologies. Burger King officials did not return telephone calls Tuesday.

Alice H. Lichtenstein, a professor of nutrition at Tufts University, called the McDonald's announcement a step in the right direction but warned, "Since much of the public is overweight, they should not get the message that because these are better fries, it's good to eat them with abandon."