McDonald's, the world's largest fast food chain, said in Beijing on Sunday that the French fries served in their China outlets do not contain trans fats, or partially hydrogenated oils.

McDonald's China made the announcement in response to a recent media report about the increased trans fats content in its French fries.

McDonald's admitted last week that its French fries contain a third more trans fats than it previously thought, according to results of a new testing method it used in the US in December.

Tests showed that levels of potentially artery- clogging trans fats in a large portion of fries had increased from six grams to eight, bringing total fat content up to 30 grams from 25.

Often used by restaurants and in packaged foods, trans fats are believed to cause cholesterol problems and increase the risk of heart disease.

McDonald's China also admitted that although their food tastes the same in all their restaurants, there are still tiny differences in the ingredients used in different countries.

McDonald's said its Chinese restaurants use palm oil to make the French fries, which contains no trans fats.

Kentucky Fried Chicken, a keen rival to McDonald's also announced that the level of trans fats in the oil it uses for fried food is very low.

(Xinhua News Agency February 14, 2006)