"If you keep eating those you are going to turn into a French fry!" It's a fact - kids love French fries. (Sadly, they may have started this habit as teething toddlers.) I remember the actual physical craving I felt for them when I was a teenager. Now I am the mother of two teenagers. I don't buy them fast food very often, but have always felt that it is better not to altogether ban anything. Occasional treats are okay. Yesterday, I pulled through McD's drive thru to get Grace, who was hungry, a large order of fries and a yogurt parfait. It never occurred to me that in so doing I was giving her food which violates her commitment to vegetarianism. Today I learned that their fries are not vegetarian. They have always been cooked with a bit of beef flavoring. How could this not be common knowledge?! I am rather outraged. The following is a quote that seems to be the consensus from the vegetarian community. I did check the McDonald's official web site, but found their nutritional information to be much less than forthcoming. Surprise, surprise.
"McDonald's fries are not vegetarian. They add beef powder to the fries, in the factory, before it is shipped to the restaurants. They then fry their fries in vegetable oil, once it gets to the locations. A lot of companies secretly add animal products to their foods, by listing the animal products as "enzymes", "mono-and diglycerides" or "natural flavors." McDonald's lists natural flavors, instead of writing beef powder, because they don't want to hurt their image or lose customers that would get freaked out, if they knew that even their potatoes have animal products in them. McDonald's was sued in 2002 for lying to vegetarians and Hindus about their use of beef products in their fries and hash browns. You're better off going to Burger King. They have vegetarian fries that are cooked in separate oil from their meat, and they have a BK Veggie burger value meal. They also have vegan Dutch apple pie slices."
So I offer up this alternative from our friends at Meatless Monday which we are going to try at home;
Baked Zucchini Fries. They look really yummy, and so does the superfood dip.
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