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Why French Fries Don’t Mold and The Toxic Effects It Has on Your Body.

By Austin Kimbrell

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PURPOSE .......................................................................................... 1

INVESTIGATION................................................................................ 2

HYPOTHESIS ……………………………………………………………..4 LIST OF MATERIALS ……………………………………………………4

PROCEDURE ……………………………………………………………..5

RESEARCH………………………………………………………………..9

DATA/OBSERVATION …………………………………………………10 GRAPHS ………………………………………………………………….12

CONCLUSION.................................................................................. 11

HISTORY …………………………………………………………………14 BIBLIOGRAPHY .............................................................................. 12

CREDITS .......................................................................................... 13

PURPOSE As a child, I was french fries biggest fan. It was my favorite for lunch, dinner and snacks. Then when I was 7 years old my mom said lets watch the movie Super Size Me. I was confused when I saw the movie because the french fries I love were not good for me, as I had thought. Then when I watch Sponge Bob I saw the grease bubbling when they were cooking the fries and I felt discussed. But, I still wanted them. Then we did a experiment at home with McDonalds Fries on August 1, 2007 and we saw for our selfs that the fries never molded. We still have them today and they have not molded yet. I also wanted to know what mold looks like. I miss Fries but not as much any more. I don’t eat them anymore because they are bad for you, your heart, blood and cholesterol. They make you gain weight and create liver and gall stones.

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INVESTIGATION We watch the movie Super Size Me Movie 3 times since 2007. Then we did an experiment at home with McDonalds Fries on August 1, 2007 and October 2008 to see what would happen. We watched movies on the Internet on what happens when fat enters the blood stream and how it affects our body. Then we researched all French Fries ingredients list for the name of the chemicals that they put in fries if any. We only found 3 that would gives us the complete listing. We put together a list of all locations of french fries that we could use for the experiment. A & W Family Restaurant Applebee's Neighborhood Grill Atlas Coney Island Bennigan's Big Eazy Fish Grill Bristol Fish and Grille Bubba O'Malley's Burger King Chili’s Colonial Coney Island & Family Restaurant Cracker Barrell Damon's Don Pablo's Famous Dave's Fazoli's Fuddruckers Restaurant Gina's Italian Restaurant Halo Burger Hooters Italia Gardens Kentucky Fried Chicken

La Familia Morales Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon Long John Silver's McDonald's Mega Coney Island Old Country Buffet Olive Garden Italian Restaurant Outback Steakhouse Ponderosa Red Lobster Red Robins Ruby Tuesday Salvatore Scallopini Sonic Sorrentos Sports Creek Raceway Taco Bell Tony’s Restaurant Walli's Wendy’s West Side Dinner White Castle

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Hypothesis Based on what I have read on the internet, books, the home experiments we did and watching the Super Size Me movie I think the French fries from Red Robins, Burger King, West Side Dinner and Fuddruckers will mold. If they mold and they don’t have MSG then we can eat them some times.

List of Materials

1. French Fries 2. Paper plates 3. Glass mason jar 4. Lids 5. Labels 6. Paper 7. Pencil/pen 8. Binder 9. Laminate 10. Car 11. Camera 12. Money 13. Assistant 14. Project and poster board 15. Books 16. Movie 17. Computer 18. Internet

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Procedure

Purchased the following French Fries 1. A& W 2. Applebee’s 3. Burger King 4. Culver 5. Famous Dave’s 6. Fuddruckers 7. Gina Restaurant 8. McDonalds’s

9. Olive Garden 10. Red Robins 11. Ruby Tuesday’s 12. Sonic 13. Tony’s Restaurant 14. Wendy’s 15. West Side Dinner

1st Experiment - Failed My mom and I went to the following locations to buy french fries on October 11, 2008. It cost us $29.81 for all of the fries. Then we came home and put the fries in mason jars. We were very surprised to see mold coming up on the October 14, 2009. We realized that we must have made an mistake in how we conducted the experiment. We thought this because we had already done the experiment on paper plates and they never molded. We realized that we put the fries in the jars as soon as we bought them and they still had the moisture of being hot. Then we started the experiment over. My mom and dad emptied out all of the fries out side in a trash bag, then we washed out the mason jars, then put them in the dishwasher to sanitized them.

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2nd Experiment My mom and I went to the following locations to buy French fry on November 29, 2008. It cost us $29.81 for all of the fries and $ 9.11 for lids and $ 10 for jars. Total we spent was $48.92. When we came home we put them on paper plates and label them. We left them on paper plates for 2 days to dry out.

Then we put them into mason jars with the lids and labels. Now, were back in business.

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McDonalds French Fries Ingredients: 1. Potatoes 2. Vegetable oil (canola oil, hydrogenated soybean oil, natural beef flavor

[wheat and milk derivatives]*), citric acid (preservative) 3. Dextrose 4. Sodium acid pyrophosphate (maintain color) 5. Salt 6. Prepared in vegetable oil (may contain one of the following: Canola oil,

corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil with TBHQ and citric acid added to preserve freshness)

7. Dimethylpolysiloxane added as an antifoaming agent) 8. CONTAINS: WHEAT AND MILK 9. (Natural beef flavor contains hydrolyzed wheat and hydrolyzed

milk as starting ingredients).

Wendy’s French Fries Ingredients: 1. Potatoes 2. Vegetable Oil (contains one or more of the following: soy, canola,

cottonseed, partially hydrogenated soy and/or cottonseed) 3. Disodium Dihydrogen Pyrophosphate (color protector) 4. Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate 5. Dextrose 6. Cooked in Vegetable Oil 7. Note: may be cooked in the same oil as Fish Fillets and French Toast

Sticks (where available), Crispy Chicken Nuggets, Crispy Chicken Patty.

8. Seasoned with Salt

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Burger King French Fries Ingredients: 1. Potatoes 2. Soybean Oil or Canola and Palm Oil 3. Modified Potato Starch 4. Rice Flour 5. Potato Dextrin 6. Salt 7. Leavening -Disodium Dihydrogen Pyrophosphate 8. Leavening -Sodium Bicarbonate 9. Dextrose 10. Xanthan Gum 11. Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate added to preserve natural color.

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Research

My Mom and I went on the computer and researched each french fry ingredients name. My Mom also called restaurants in the experiment and asked what ingredients were in their fries. Then we went to the Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS). Definition: Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) A compilation of information required under the OSHA Commercial Standard on the identity of hazardous chemicals, health, and physical hazards, exposure limits and precautions. Most of the ingredients names I couldn’t read. Like Disodium Dihydrogen Pyrophosphate, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Dimethylpolysiloxane, Tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ). We were shocked to see what they said on the MSDS, harmful is swallowed, in haled, absorbed thought he skin, respiratory irritant, bladder carcinogenesis in rats, hazardous per OSHA, will kill fish and other aquatic organisms, and corrosive. See attached MSDS. Only McDonallds, Wendy;s and Burger King would disclose on line what there ingredients were. All others we called and some would tell us and some wouldn’t. Some said to check on line for all of the information but there was none. We do thank McDonallds, Wendy’s and Burger King for being open and honest with there ingredients. We also researched in the books Eat this and Live by D. Colbert, MD, The Human Body Book by Steve Parker-DK, Merck Type 2 Diabetes book, Living Balanced by Stacey Kimbrell, The movies Super Size Me and The Human Body Movie. More resources on Bibliography page.

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Data Journal /Observations

Written journal below, photo journal on display November Nov. 29, 20009 bought fries from all 15 locations. Nov. 30, 2009 Took photo of raw potato cut in half already starting to molding December Dec. 1, 2009 Raw potato now has green fuzz on it. Dec. 2, 2009 Only raw potato has turned dark gray. The raw cut homemade fries look gray in the inside Dec. 5, 2009 Real cut potatoes is gray with white mold and 3 green mold spots. Dec 6, 2009 Red Robin has small white mold spots on some of the fries. Famous Dave’s have 1 small green spot on 1 fry Dec. 8, 2009 Fuddruckers has green mold spots on some fries. Red Robin little signs of white and green mold. Dec. 28, 2009 Fuddruckers fry shape visible, dark green mold with yellow spotted mold, orange mold with green spots and a lot of moisture in the jar. My mom Fries left in the car and they froze over night. I believe this is why they turned so dark. And the fuzzy parts went down. Raw potato has black, orange, white, and green mold. No moisture in the jar. And is still standing up straight. Red Robin lightly molding with white and green mold. (No moisture) January Jan. 3, 2009 Fuddruckers starting to have white mold spot again and dark green fuzzy mold. Raw potato has black, orange, white, and green mold. Moisture in the jar. Still standing up straight. Red Robin very moldy with white, green and yellow spots of mold. (No moisture)

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Jan. 11, 2009 Raw potato has black, orange, white, and green mold. And has moisture in the jar. Red Robin very moldy with white, green and yellow mold. No fries visible (No moisture) Fuddruckers fry shape visible, dark green mold with yellow spotted mold, orange mold with green spots and a lot of moisture in the jar. My mom Fries left in the car and they froze over night. I believe this is why they turned so dark. And the white and green fuzzy parts went down. When it froze the process of molding stopped. Jan. 26, 2009 Fuddruckers just started growing fuzz back on top of black mold. Raw potato has black, orange, white, and green mold. And has a lot of moisture in the jar and liquid visible on the bottom of the jar. Red Robin very moldy with white, green and yellow mold. No fries visible (Still no moisture) February Feb. 10, 2009 Raw potato has black, orange, white, and green mold. And has a lot of moisture in the jar. Potato is starting to sag. Has liquid on bottom of jar. Red Robin very moldy with white, green and yellow mold. No fries visible (Still no moisture) Fuddruckers has white fuzz all over the fries with a little bit of black showing through. Moisture In jar. March Mar. 2, 2009 Fuddruckers is very fuzzy with white all over with a little black. Moisture In jar. Raw potato is juicy with green, black, rust color, white, and yellow mold. And has a lot of moisture in the jar. Potato is sagging. Has liquid on bottom of jar and liquid on the potato. Red Robin very moldy sorta looks like spider webs, with white, green and yellow fuzzy mold. Is stuck to all of mason jar. No fries visible (just a little bit of moisture).

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CONCLUSTION

It was interesting that the raw potato molded in only 2 days. I found that only 2 of the fries that I thought would mold did, (Fuddruckers and Red Robin). After finding out that Fuddruckers and Red Robin both use Monosodium glutamate (MSG) in their fries seasoning salt, I was surprised that they did mold. I couldn’t believe that a lot of the french fry restaurants used MSG in their french fry seasonings. Out of all 15 french fries it is hard to believe that they haven’t molded yet. This has to have an effect on our body, with all of the oil, fats, and preservatives running through our bodies. I believe it creates damage to our heart, nerves, blood, brain and health. I wonder how this really affects our body? I hope that people will learn that not all French fries are good for you. Also, that people need to watch what they eat and learn ho read the ingredient labels. The goal is to be healthy. It was an interesting experiment and experience. I loved to do it with my family.

What French Fries are our buddies?

The best part of this experiment is that we found out what kind of fries we can eat. The winner is Red Robin & Fuddruckers! Red Robin and Fuddruckers french fries molded which means it doesn’t have all of the preservatives in it. The hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils are not the best, but it is better than the other chemicals and it means it is still a potato! *Caution: Red Robin does have Autolyzed and Hydrolyzed products in there seasoning salt which is another name for MSG. So, when you go to Red Robin to eat the fries and burger ask them NOT to put on any of the seasoning salt on it and you will be fine.

What French Fries are NOT our buddies? These French fries never molded

1. A& W 2. Applebee’s 3. Burger King 4. Culver 5. Famous Dave’s

6. Gina Restaurant 7. McDonalds’s

8. Olive Garden 9. Ruby Tuesday’s 10. Sonic

11. Tony’s Restaurant 12. Wendy’s 13. West Side Dinner

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HOW THE FRENCH FRY STARTED THE French fry was "almost sacrosanct for me," Ray Kroc, one of the founders of McDonald's, wrote in his autobiography, "its preparation a ritual to be followed religiously." During the chain's early years French fries were made from scratch every day. Russet Burbank potatoes were peeled, cut into shoestrings, and fried in McDonald's kitchens. As the chain expanded nationwide, in the mid-1960s, it sought to cut labor costs, reduce the number of suppliers, and ensure that its fries tasted the same at every restaurant. McDonald's began switching to frozen French fries in 1966 -- and few customers noticed the difference. Nevertheless, the change had a profound effect on the nation's agriculture and diet. A familiar food had been transformed into a highly processed industrial commodity. McDonald's fries now come from huge manufacturing plants that can peel, slice, cook, and freeze two million pounds of potatoes a day. The rapid expansion of McDonald's and the popularity of its low-cost, mass-produced fries changed the way Americans eat. In 1960 Americans consumed an average of about eighty-one pounds of fresh potatoes and four pounds of frozen French fries. In 2000 they consumed an average of about fifty pounds of fresh potatoes and thirty pounds of frozen fries. Today McDonald's is the largest buyer of potatoes in the United States. The taste of McDonald's French fries played a crucial role in the chain's success -- fries are much more profitable than hamburgers -- and was long praised by customers, competitors, and even food critics. James Beard loved McDonald's fries. Their distinctive taste does not stem from the kind of potatoes that McDonald's buys, the technology that processes them, or the restaurant equipment that fries them: other chains use Russet Burbanks, buy their French fries from the same large processing companies, and have similar fryers in their restaurant kitchens. The taste of a French fry is largely determined by the cooking oil. For decades McDonald's cooked its French fries in a mixture of about seven percent cottonseed oil and 93 percent beef tallow. The mixture gave the fries their unique flavor -- and more saturated beef fat per ounce than a McDonald's hamburger.

I believe a BIBLIOGRAPHY

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BOOKS

The Human Body Book By Steve Parker - DK

Published in 2007

Type 2 Diabetes By Merck

Published in 2008

Eat This and Live By Don Colbert, MD

Published in 2009

Living Balanced By Stacey Kimbrell Published in 2008

MOVIES

Super Size Me Movie

By Morgan Spurlock 2004

The Human Body Movie By Steve Parker - DK

Published in 2007

INTERNET RECOURSES

McDonald's USA Ingredients Listing for Popular Menu Items http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/nutritionexchange/nutrition_ingredients.html

McDonald’s phasing out Supersize fries, drinks

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4433307/

http://chemicalland21.com/specialtychem/finechem/TBHQ.htm

http://food.oregonstate.edu/glossary/t/tertiarybutylhydroquinone.html

http://www.inchem.org/documents/jecfa/jecmono/v21je04.htm

FOOD SAFETY 1994

CREDITS

1. Mom (Stacey) helped with my graphs and research. 2. Dad (Steve) helped with artwork and graphics. He also drew the

French fry people. 3. August (brother) helped me read and mount board. 4. Marcie (friend) helped me highlight bad preservative.

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OtherInformation

The fast food giant that spends $1.34 billion on ads yearly may have to do some image rehab following today's release of fast food expose "Super Size Me."

McDonald's execs were in defense mode yesterday as they waited for the debut of the flick. The movie follows director Morgan Spurlock on a 30-day binge on McDonald's-only food that left him with a liver condition, a 40 percent higher cholesterol level and 25 pounds heavier.

"It's not a truthful documentary by any stretch of the imagination," McDonald's spokesman Walt Riker told the Daily News. ...

McDonald’s phasing out Supersize fries, drinks Effort to offer customers 'a balanced lifestyle' http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4433307/

To it's credit, McDonalds has initiated some changes to their policies since the film came out. They have announced they are discontinuing their extra-large Super Size option. They have also added salads, organic milk and fruit to their menu as well as reducing the amount of salt in their fries.

Spurlock stresses, however, that his argument is with fast food in general. The reason he concentrated on McDonalds is because of the company's aggressive targeting of children