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Reds. Russets. Yukon Golds. Up until about a year or so ago, you could throw together a pretty decent breakfast after frying up a potato, some onions, and parsley for home fries. And you didn't have to do anything more to the potato than wash it and slice or chop it up. Not anymore. The spuds for sale at WalMart or Publix for five and six bucks a bag look like the real thing, but wait until you try to cook them. The problem is, they won't. Or don't. You can fry them all you want. Yet they'll stay raw...

The battle over the health merits of various cooking fats has never really gotten below a simmer — but it’s starting to heat up again. Beef tallow and other animal fats, including pig lard and butter, were traditionally used as the main cooking fats in the United States up until the early 20th century. A shift occurred in the early to mid-20th century, when scientists started looking into the consumption of animal fat as the culprit behind the uptick of cardiovascular issues. Vegetable and seed oils that had largely been used for industrial purposes — such as soaps, machinery fuel...

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., now serving as Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Trump, made waves on Monday when he joined Sean Hannity for an interview at a Florida Steak ‘n Shake location. The two conservative powerhouses dug into burgers and fries while discussing the real health crisis gripping America—one caused by decades of government-endorsed junk science that pushed seed oils and ultra-processed foods on the public. Earlier this year, Steak ‘n Shake announced that by February 2025, all its locations will transition away from vegetable oil—a product long criticized for its links to inflammation, obesity, and chronic...

Earlier this month Stake 'n Shake announced it plans to use "100 percent beef tallow," or animal fat, for cooking its fries rather than vegetable oil. Vegetable oil has been sharply criticized on health grounds including by President Donald Trump's secretary of health nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The move has raised questions over whether other fast-food companies such as McDonald's could adopt similar policies, with one nutrition expert telling Newsweek such a move could "might resonate" with the restaurant chain's history. Newsweek contacted the McDonald's press office for comment via email. Why It Matters Kennedy, who Trump wants to...

President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Health and Human Services has brought renewed attention to Kennedy’s stance on health matters, including his belief that beef tallow is a healthier cooking fat than seed oils. On social media, Kennedy recently cited beef tallow as a more natural, nutritious option, especially compared to widely used seed oils like canola and soybean oil. In an October post, Kennedy suggested that seed oils are a primary contributor to the obesity crisis, tying their rise in popularity to fast food chains like McDonald’s. The shift from beef tallow to seed oils...

Malcolm Gladwell’s latest contrarian position could go over worse than the time he defended Lance Armstrong’s doping: McDonald’s fries suck, he declares on the latest episode of his Revisionist History podcast. Before you rush out and declare him un-American, though, realize he means well. Gladwell opens the podcast by telling listeners that “McDonald’s betrayed me so many years ago” when it stopped frying potatoes in beef tallow, so his ultimate goal is to help the fries return to their former glory. But his personal vendetta is woven into the far more interesting story of Phil Sokolof, the drywall magnate who...

McDonald’s plans to shrink by 59 locations this year in the US, the first time in at least 45 years that the fast food restaurant has closed more US stores than it has opened, as the company cuts costs and tries to revive sales. The world’s biggest restaurant chain has not reduced the net number of its US stores since at least 1970, according to a previous Associated Press review of McDonald's regulatory filings.

Burger King wants people to feel less guilty about gobbling up its french fries. The world’s No. 2 hamburger chain is launching a new crinkle-cut french fry on Tuesday that it says has about 20 percent fewer calories than its regular french fries. The chain says a small order of the new “Satisfries” clocks in at 270 calories because of a new batter that doesn’t absorb as much oil. By comparison, a small order of its regular fries, sans crinkles, has 340 calories. …