Fast Food Chain Makes Significant Change to Fries Across Ilinois

A fast food restaurant that has been in business for over 90 years is making a significant change to a quintessential item on their menu. On top of that, they are publicizing the change in a risky way, by stroking the ever-touchy political tensions of the current social climate.

Of all things that come to mind when the name Steak 'n Shake is brought up, one of their staples are their shoestring French fries. Their fries practically beg to be eaten in multiples. You pinch anywhere from three to eight or more at a time and plop them in your mouth. Following that is an explosion of hot potato taste, salt, and zesty seasoning. It's quite an experience. Can you tell I haven't had them in a while?

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Steak 'n Shake took to social media last week to say they've "RFK'd" their fries," in reference to Robert F. Kennedy Jr, the new Secretary of Health and Human Services (more on him in a minute). Going forward, instead of frying their trademark shoestring French fries in vegetable oil, Steak 'n Shake fries is adopting a new (yet old) way of frying their delectable side.

That move is switching to 100% beef tallow, per Steak 'n Shake's (aggressive) social media campaign and Restaurant Business Online. Steak 'n Shake's Chief Supply Chain Officer Chris Ward noted that this makes their fries one of the few "cooked in an authentic way" with sights set on achieving the highest quality and best taste possible.

Long ago, McDonald's used to fry their fries in beef tallow before switching to vegetable oil. Most fast food restaurants followed suit, believing the medical community that vegetable oils contained heart healthy fats while animal products like beef tallow added harmful saturated fats to American diets.

Recently, vegetable oils derived from seeds, including canola, soybean, sunflower, and corn, have elicited backlash from health officials, one of them the aforementioned Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (known as RFK). RFK is one of the most vocal critics of seed oils, calling them "one of the driving forces of the obesity epidemic" in the US. Brain fog and inflammation are two of the alleged side effects of the fatty acids found in seed oil.

Personally, I wouldn't feed the daily political outrage machine in making such a seismic change to my company (that backlash will come whether you want it or not), but that's just me. All I remember is that fast food fries used to taste better when I was a child, and I do think beef tallow had a lot to do with that.

Restaurant Business Online noted that there is growing sentiment amongst people for restaurants far and wide to return to frying fries in beef tallow from a flavor standpoint. There are a number of Change.org petitions urging McDonald's to make the move. Some have suggested the Golden Arches to do a "Throwback Fries" month, where people can sample McDonald's fries cooked in beef tallow.

Steak 'n Shake has 436 locations in the United States. Shockingly, none are in Iowa nor Wisconsin, though there are six in Illinois. Per multiple sources, all locations have made the switch to beef tallow-fried French fries, effectively immediately. Learn more on Restaurant Business Online's website.