Chick-fil-A and the Canola Oil

A few months ago I walked into my local Chick-fil-A. Going to order my usual (what use to be the #5 six-pack but has changed since they keep adding new menu items), I noticed that the fries are being advertised as being cooked in canola oil. I cringe at this thought but order anyways assuming that maybe, just maybe, the fries would taste good enough. Did the fries taste good? No. Was I disappointed? Yes. Was I angry that Chick-fil-A turned its back on peanut oil for cooking fries? Yes.

For some of you, you may be thinking "well canola oil is healthier for you." Others may be thinking that I better be glad I haven't faced this Chick-fil-A canola oil problem until now. While each claim has a point here is mine. I wrote the company to tell them that I was angry with change and the flavor of the fries has suffered at their switch. In addition, this is not the first time that the company has made a switch in its product offerings. Several years ago the diet lemonade (less sugar = more delicious) use to be made with real sugar and was then switch to being made with Splenda. I don't consume Splenda and generally avoid all artificial sweeteners.

The response I got from the company went as follows:

"Thank you for taking the time to contact Chick-fil-A.  You are very important to us, and we appreciate your remarks.  We hope the following information will be helpful.

Chick-fil-A has changed from peanut oil to high oleic canola oil for our Waffle Potato Fries and Hash Browns. Canola is vegetable oil having the lowest in saturated fatty acids, is an excellent source of omega-3 (ALA), and a good source of vitamin E. Canola oil is trans fat and cholesterol free and is high in monounsaturated fatty acids which studies show may help lower "bad" LDL cholesterol. 

We will still continue to cook all of our breaded chicken in peanut oil. Peanut oil imparts a great flavor to our chicken that is uniquely Chick-fil-A.

Chick-fil-A made the switch to canola oil for Waffle Fries and Hash Browns in order to support our current and future growth needs for cooking oils and to allow current and future Chick-fil-A customers to continue to enjoy our chicken cooked in 100% refined peanut oil.

Additionally, when we tested our Diet Lemonade made with Splenda versus Equal, we found that the Splenda recipe tasted more like our regular lemonade. We conducted customer taste tests and found that customers preferred the Diet Lemonade made with Splenda over Equal.

Again, thank you for your time and interest in Chick-fil-A."

Really Chick-fil-A? You are going to contradict yourself like that? You can't claim health standards and then come at me with a maintenance of a unique Chick-fil-A flavor when you change the flavor of your fries (for health and $ reasons) and your diet lemonade (to make it taste like original) First, fried food is fried food. I didn't come to your establishment to eat healthy. I came to get my deep-fried greasiness on. If I wanted fries cooked in canola oil there are other places I can go or I can do that at home. Furthermore, the science behind canola oil doesn't suggest that deep-frying with canola oil is a way to stay heart-healthy. Second, if you are going to go healthy (and save money I suppose) adding Splenda to the diet lemonade is contradictory to your switch to canola oil. Splenda and other artificial sweeteners have recently came under fire for a number of health consequences that result from consuming artificial sweeteners. And, if I really wanted the flavor of the regular lemonade, I would have ordered it with the normal amount of sugar. But I don’t want that much sugar and I don’t want that flavor.