McDonalds has announced that all New York City restaurants are serving trans-fat free fries, but if you eat McD’s fries in the rest of the country, you’re taking your chances with the trans-fat. You might get the trans-fat free fries, you might not. If you ask the people at the restaurant, they’re not supposed to tell you.

Currently, about 1/4 of McDonald’s locations have switched over to the new, healthier oil. An email sent out last Friday to franchisees and employees gives instructions on dealing with the public.

To successfully manage customer expectations nationwide, we are not disclosing the full list of markets which have been already using the oil as part of our test program. We will only acknowledge use of the oil in New York City due to its requirements,” said the e-mail, which was reviewed by Dow Jones Newswires.

While it predicted that “customers in all our restaurant locations will become increasingly interested in whether their favorite fries are being cooked in the new oil or not, (w)e ask the entire system to hold any further acknowledgment of our deployment markets until we can announce as a full system that we are zero grams” of trans fat, the message said.

“If you are in a market which has been involved in oil tests, do not identify the change to your crew, customers or media,” it continued. “We want to avoid comparisons of menu items and restaurants during this conversion…. You will be notified later this year of our full deployment plans and when we can cross the finish line and announce our success together,” it said.

—MEGHANN MARCO

McDonald’s Mum on Trans-Fat-Free Fries [Forbes]
(Photo: Ben Popken)

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