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Do corporate sweetheart deals make French fries less healthy? Jeremy Hance mongabay.com January 18, 2010 According to the study, which surveyed restaurant chains and independent restaurants in Hawaii, 69 percent of national chains used corn oil for frying their potatoes, while only 20 percent of independent restaurants did the same. "There are several reasons why knowledge of the inclusion of corn oil might be important to the consumer," the authors write. "Corn oil […] contains considerably more heart-harmful saturated fat than canola, sunflower, or safflower oils, and less heart-protective alphalinolenic acid than soybean oil, making it the least healthy choice of the five." In addition: "U.S. corn agriculture has been criticized for its negative impacts on the environment and its conspicuous federal subsidization."
The study found that corn oil comprised a minimum of 36 percent in the oil mixture used to fry potatoes at Arby's and Wendy's. A previous study found that Arby's and Wendy's also use corn oil for their beef and chicken. McDonalds uses a minimum of 16 percent corn oil in its oil mixture, while Burger King uses at least 50 percent. It's likely that Jack in the Box avoids corn oil altogether. Researchers were able to determine the amount of corn oil used for French fries at 134 restaurants by testing the fries for corn oil's uniquely high carbon isotope when compared to other cooking oils. In the United States restaurants are excluded from the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990, allowing them to provide the minimal amount of information possible (or none whatsoever) regarding the ingredients they use. Citation: A. Hope Jahren and Brian A. Schubert. Corn content of French fry oil from national chain vs.small business restaurants. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.0914437107. Related articles American fast food is almost entirely made of corn (11/10/2008) American fast food is almost entirely produced from corn according to a chemical analysis of dishes served at McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's. The study is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Americans throw away enough food every year to feed 200 million adults (11/30/2009) The amount of food Americans throw away has risen by approximately 50 percent since 1974 according to a new study in PLoS ONE. American now waste on average 1400 calories per person everyday, equaling 150 trillion calories a year nationwide. Considering that the average person requires approximately 2,000 calories a day, this means that the US could feed over 200 million adults every year with the food that ends up in the trash. Currently, the UN estimates that one billion people—an historical record—are going hungry worldwide. Monsanto GM Corn a Disaster in South Africa (07/31/2009) Three different varieties of genetically modified (GM) corn provided by the Monsanto Corporation to farmers in South Africa have been reported to be failing to seed. The company claims that “less than 25 percent” of the seeds were susceptible to the problem, and that the crop failure was caused by “underfertilization processes in the laboratory.” Nike, Unilever, Burger King, IKEA may unwittingly contribute to Amazon destruction, says Greenpeace 
(06/01/2009) Major international companies are unwittingly driving the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest through their purchases of leather, beef and other products supplied from the Brazil cattle industry, alleges a new report from Greenpeace. The report, Slaughtering the Amazon, is based on a three-year undercover investigation of the Brazilian cattle industry, which accounts for 80 percent of Amazon deforestation and roughly 14 percent of the world's annual forest loss. Greenpeace found that Brazilian beef companies are important suppliers of raw materials used by leading global brands, including Adidas/Reebok, Nike, Carrefour, Eurostar, Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, Toyota, Honda, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Prada, IKEA, Kraft, Tesco and Wal-Mart, among others.
Global warming will hit corn yields, costing US over a billion dollars annually (04/10/2009) Corn is the staple crop of the US. Its annual yield is more than twice that of any other American crop, covering an astounding 125,000 square miles. However, this behemoth crop is currently threatened. A new analysis by Environment America, shows that lower yields of corn due to global warming will cost farmers 1.4 billion every year. Sustainable farming is the only way to feed the planet going forward 
(02/05/2009) Embracing more sustainable farming methods is the only way for the world's farmers to grow enough food to meet the demands of a growing population and respond to climate change, the top crop expert with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today.
Corn expansion is hurting ladybugs (12/15/2008) Expansion of corn acreage to meet ethanol targets is reducing the ability of beneficial insects to control pests, a loss valued at $58 million in the four states studied (Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin), report researchers writing in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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