A week ago, Steak ‘n Shake announced that it had begun frying its shoestring fries in beef tallow, a move hailed by supporters of President Donald Trump, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tesla supporters. Now the chain is facing questions about how far it has gone to eliminate seed oils from the product.The Indianapolis-based chain’s chief operations officer, Daniel Edwards, appeared on Fox News Channel Feb. 28 to tout its swapping beef tallow for vegetable oil to cook its fries.On March 7, the company posted, “Steak ‘n Shake is proud to support MAHA and Secretary Kennedy! Your days are numbered seed oil. We want to lead the way and make a difference! #MAHA”
Robert F. Kenney wants restaurants to use beef tallow
The U.S. health secretary wants fast food companies to use beef tallow for frying instead of seed oils, like soybean and canola oil, which he has called “one of the most unhealthy ingredients that we have in foods.”
What is beef tallow?
Beef tallow is rendered beef fat, sometimes called beef drippings.Like other solid cooking fats such as butter and coconut oil, beef tallow is made up primarily of saturated fat, including stearic acid, which appears to not raise cholesterol in the same way as other saturated fats, according to Mayo Clinic.
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Tallow also contains monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, which are considered healthier, as well as fat-soluble vitamins that are vital for various bodily functions, including immune support, bone health, cellular function and skin health.
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Why did Steak ‘n Shake switch to beef tallow fries?
Steak ‘n Shake announced in January that by the end of February, all locations would be using 100% all-natural beef tallow.”Our fries will now be cooked in an authentic way, 100% beef tallow, in order to achieve the highest quality and best taste,” a company release quoted Chris Ward, chief supply chain officer, as saying.
Operations chief Daniels told Fox the company had been considering the move for a while, a directive of owner Sardar Biglari, who as a boy, was impressed with fries he tasted in Belgium that were cooked in beef tallow.“He called me one time and said, ‘Why should Europeans have better fries than Americans? We need to have the best,” he said.“We wanted to switch years ago but couldn’t get a chemical-free, additive-free, all-natural pure beef tallow,” Daniels said. “He tells me we have to do beef tallow, but we have to do it all-natural and no additives and no preservatives. And we found a supplier who could finally do it for us.” “We’ve RFK’d our fries.”
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‘We believe in freedom’: Steak ‘n Shake to vegetarians
Steak ‘n Shake, which invented the steakburger, was founded in 1934 on Route 66 in Normal, Illinois. After several ownership changes, the company was purchased by Texas-based Biglari Holdings in 2008 and moved from a full-service to a kiosk ordering model in 2021.The company isn’t worried about losing vegetarians as customers, Daniels said.
“We love our vegetarians,” he said. “Part of being a classic American brand – we’ve been around for over 90 years selling steakburgers and fries – we believe in freedom. We believe they have the freedom to choose what’s best for them. We think we can all get along and have a milkshake. And for those who enjoy the beef tallow fries and the steakburgers, they’ll enjoy that.”
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Steak ‘n Shake appeals to MAGA
The company appeared to appeal to the Trump administration and its supporters, posting to social media a red hat with yellow letters saying “Make Frying Oil Tallow Again” and shouting out the Kennedy-led agenda with references to Make America Healthy Again.
“Zealots cannot stop us! Some suppliers have even tried to stop us from implementing beef tallow. Nothing will stop our crusade to lead in the MAHA movement!” a March 1 post said. “Tallow is only a small step… (All Steak ‘n Shake frying oil is 100% Beef Tallow as of today!)”The company’s social media accounts have made overtures to Tesla, promoting suggestions for partnerships between the burger diner chain and the company owned by Musk, who is leading Trump’s efforts to cut government spending and dismantle government departments and agencies.
Over the weekend, netizens began claiming the fries are pre-cooked in seed oils and shipped to the store.The chain has continued to tout its beef tallow use and pursue attention from Tesla’s, but has yet to say whether its fries are pre-cooked in seed oils.
IndyStar reached out to Steak ‘n Shake, but has not received a response. “Would you order tallow fries from robotaxis?” it asked in a social media post with an illustration of Teslas and charging stations outside of a Steak ‘n Shake.Health and wellness podcaster Alex Clark was among those saying Steak ‘n Shake’s fries are pre-cooked in vegetable oil, posting a photo of a ConAgra bag of fries, indicating it was the chain’s supplier along with a screenshot of what appeared to be a message from Steak ‘n Shake expressing interest in partnering with her on the beef tallow campaign.
Steak ‘n Shake did respond to the Turning Point USA contributor, saying she had incorrectly posted a screenshot.
The company in the post said the brand used in the screenshot was not the one Steak ‘n Shake uses.
“We cook in 100% beef tallow with no preservatives no chemicals no additives not the brand in the screenshot Steak ‘n’ Shake posted back.
“Take that energy and try to get all other burger chains to switch to our beef tallow,” it said. “Again, we are working with all our suppliers to eliminate ALL seed oils from our restaurants.”
Large frozen french fries suppliers typically use seed oils for par prying before the products are sent to restaurants. Steak ‘n Shake has not disclosed the supplier of its fries.Jesse & Ben’s, one of only a couple of companies that makes frozen fries with no seed oils, called out the chain as well, saying the fries shown in a basket at Steak ‘n Shake are likely to contain seed oils. “All of your responses are very careful to say you “cook in 100% tallow” without ever committing to your fries not having soybean or canola,” said Jessee & Ben’s which sells bagged fries in grocery stores.Calley Means, a conservative supporter of Kenndey’s health agenda, urged Steak ‘n Shake to be transparent about its supplier and whether fries are precooked using vegetable oil.
“If you can’t fully get seed oils out of supply chain yet, just let us know why it’s difficult and how you’re working to do that,” he said. “(I)f you get substantial good will from saying ‘no seed oils in fries’ and your fries have seed oils, then just explain that.”
Chains that fry in beef tallow
Steak ‘n Shake might be the most open in embracing MAGA and MAHA in the rollout of its use of beef tallow, but other chains have been using beef tallow to fry.
Among them:
- Portillo’s crinkle-cut fries and onion rings are fried in a beef tallow and vegetable oil blend.
- Smashburger fries, tots and Brussels sprouts are cooked in a blend of beef tallow and canola oil.
- Buffalo Wild Wings uses beef shortening made from beef fat to cook fries, tots, onion rings, mozzarella sticks, chicken tenders and wings.
- Popeyes uses beef tallow to cook all of its fried foods.
- Outback Steakhouse uses beef tallow for its fries, Bloomin’ Onion, Kookaburra Wing, mushrooms, Bloomin’ Fried Shrimp, Gold Coast Coconut Shrimp, and mac and cheese bites
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McDonald’s history with beef tallow
McDonald’s used to cook its french fries in beef tallow; but health concerns about high saturated fat levels led the company to switch to vegetable oil with beef flavoring in 1990 without disclosing whether the flavoring contained meat.
In 2002, McDonald’s paid $10 million to settle lawsuits that accused the chain of mislabeling its French fries as vegetarian.
Contact IndyStar reporter Cheryl V. Jackson at [email protected] or 317-444-6264. Follow her on X.com:@cherylvjackson or Bluesky: @cherylvjackson.bsky.social.
