Expert claims one 5-ounce serving of French fries is as bad as 25 cigarettes. Here’s why
French fries are a go-to fast food—crispy, salty, and the perfect side to just about anything.
But one nutrition aficionado says they could be even more harmful than we already believe they are.
Craig McCloskey (@craig_mccloskey), who studied nutrition and dietetics, posted an Instagram reel that got people talking, garnering over 524,000 views.
What makes french fries so dangerous?
In it, McCloskey claims that eating a 5-ounce serving of fries fried in seed oils produces as many cancer-causing aldehydes as smoking 25 cigarettes.
“So just eating a 5-ounce serving of fries, fried in seed oils, created as many aldehyde cancer-causing compounds that you would get by smoking 25 cigarettes,” he said.
He pointed to formaldehyde, a compound classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the World Health Organization, as one of the biggest concerns.
“Maybe the most well-known one is called formaldehyde. This is a Group 1 carcinogen known to cause cancer by the World Health Organization,” he states.
According to McCloskey, aldehydes—a type of toxic compound—pose serious health risks.
“Aldehydes are so problematic they lead to a host of health issues,” he said.
He cited a 2019 study, which he claimed found that just a 5-ounce serving of french fries from a major fast-food chain fried in vegetable oil contained 25 times more dangerous aldehydes than the World Health Organization’s tolerable upper limit for exposure.
“This amount of toxins was the equivalent of smoking 20 to 25 cigarettes,” he claimed.
McCloskey insisted that he wasn’t trying to scare people away from seed oils, just to make them aware of potential risks.
“This is not to make you fear seed oils [or] to scare you,” he said. “This is just to make you aware that eating seed oils over a span of time can lead to health issues.”
The Daily Dot couldn't locate a specific World Health Organization (WHO) guideline that sets a tolerable upper limit for aldehyde exposure, as mentioned by McCloskey.
Why this claim doesn’t hold up
At first glance, the idea that fried foods contain aldehydes, including formaldehyde, sounds concerning.
However, experts say McCloskey’s comparison to smoking is misleading.
Joe Schwarcz, a PhD chemist and professor, has debunked an identical claim in the past, explaining that it relies on misinterpreting scientific studies.
According to Schwarcz, studies have indeed shown that frying food in polyunsaturated vegetable oils can generate aldehydes. But comparing them to cigarette smoke ignores some facts.
First of all, he explained inhaling and ingesting are not the same. Schwarcz points out that when you inhale smoke, harmful chemicals enter directly into the bloodstream.
When you eat food, however, compounds go through the digestive system, where they’re broken down by enzymes and processed differently.
Moreover, cigarette smoke contains way more carcinogens.
McCloskey focuses on aldehydes, but aldehydes aren’t even the most dangerous part of smoking. Cigarettes contain thousands of compounds, with 83 classified as carcinogenic by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
The biggest cancer risks in smoking, Schwarcz notes, come from N-nitrosamines, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, benzene, and ethylene oxide—not aldehydes. French fries don’t contain these chemicals in anywhere near the same quantities.
It’s important to note that none of this means French fries are a health food. Schwarcz acknowledges that eating too much fries too often can increase health risks.
Commenters share their thoughts
In the comments, users pushed back against McCloskey’s claims, calling them misleading and exaggerated.
One person pointed out that cooking meat also creates compounds linked to cancer, writing, “Wow! Cooking meat also creates heterocyclic amines and polyaromatic hydrocarbons, both of which cause cancer! Wow! Stop fear-mongering to get views.”
Another directly shut down the comparison to cigarettes. “The answer is NO. Eating fries is NOT worse than smoking cigarettes. This post is misleading people into believing that larger amounts of formaldehyde are consumed after eating a serving of French fries than after smoking 25 cigarettes,” they wrote. “More formaldehyde is found in apples, pears, and mushrooms than in french fries. Not all ‘aldehydes’ are created equal.”
Others questioned food regulations, with one commenter asking, “Who is responsible for allowing these chemicals in our food?”
The Daily Dot has reached out to McCloskey via TikTok and Instagram messages for comment.
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The post Expert claims one 5-ounce serving of French fries is as bad as 25 cigarettes. Here’s why appeared first on The Daily Dot.
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