New Steak 'n Shake product on the way. What to know about the MAHA-approved item
After being lauded by the Trump administration's health movement for its transition away from vegetable oils and using beef tallow to cook its signature shoestring fries, Steak 'n Shake will sell tallow directly to customers.
The Indianapolis-based fast-food chain said its restaurants will start selling grass-fed beef tallow later this month. The chain began cooking its fries in tallow at all of its restaurants earlier this year; but the potatoes are pre-fried in seed oils.
"Buy our 100% Grass-Fed Beef Tallow for your home cooking at any Steak n Shake starting June 23. MAHA!' the chain announced on social media. The posts included an image of a 14-ounce jar.
Steak 'n Shake, a subsidiary of San Antonio, Texas-based Biglari Holdings, has about 400 locations nationwide.
Although the jars will be sold in the restaurants, other Steak 'n Shake-branded products, including chili made by Pinnacle Foods Group and frozen burgers distributed by AdvancePierre Foods, are sold in grocery stores.
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 not to raise cholesterol in the same way as other saturated fats, according to Mayo Clinic.
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.
Steak 'n Shake announced in January that by the end of February, all locations would end the use of vegetable oil and switch to 100% all-natural beef tallow for its fries, onion rings and chicken tenders.
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.
'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.'
Steak 'n Shake touts beef tallow fries: Early MAHA supporters question chain's process
The move was praised by U.S. health czar Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose 'Make America Healthy Again' agenda the brand supports.
The U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services even did a Fox News Channel interview at a Florida Steak 'n Shake, commending the chain.
'Steak and Shake has been great. We're very grateful to them for RFKing the french fries,' Kennedy said. "They turned me into a verb."
Kennedy 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.'
The chain later said that while it is committed to removing seed oils from its restaurants, its suppliers pre-fry fries, onion rings and chicken tenders in seed oils before freezing them and shipping them to the shops.
Indy Steak 'n Shake $1M renovation: What's new at the downtown restaurant
Republican politicians and high-profile MAGA and MAHA boosters responded positively to Steak 'n Shake's blatant appeal on social media to Kennedy and others tied to the Trump administration. The chain's postings included a red hat with yellow letters saying 'Make Frying Oil Tallow Again,' nodding to the Kennedy-led agenda, and posting images of the health secretary. A version of the hat is available on the Kennedy's MAHA merchandise website.
The chain's social media accounts also made overtures to Tesla and its CEO, Elon Musk, who President Donald Trump tapped to lead an effort to downsize the federal workforce and slash spending.
Contact IndyStar reporter Cheryl V. Jackson at cheryl.jackson@indystar.com or 317-444-6264. Follow her on X.com:@cherylvjackson or Bluesky: @cherylvjackson.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Steak 'n Shake's newest product. What to know about the MAHA favorite
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
RFK Jr.'s new vaccine panel is packed with vaccine skeptics
During his Senate confirmation hearings for health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. went to great lengths to downplay his previous anti-vaccine positions to try to assure the public that he wasn't as extreme as his record indicated. But now that he has unveiled new members of an important vaccine advisory committee, his long-held extremism is not only coming back into full view, it's also being operationalized. On Monday, Kennedy removed all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, which is made up of medical and public health experts and advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As NBC News reports, this committee makes 'recommendations to the CDC about who should get certain vaccines, including the schedule for childhood vaccinations.' These recommendations are then adopted by medical professionals and insurers. Kennedy justified the move by alleging that the experts on the panel were all compromised by financial conflicts of interest. But the claim looked like a dubious pretext for clearing the way for a new panel. As NBC News reports, 'Members of ACIP, who undergo an extensive vetting process before they are appointed, are required to disclose conflicts of interest and recuse themselves from voting on vaccines for which conflicts exist.' Sean O'Leary, chair of the infectious disease committee for the American Academy of Pediatrics, who serves as a liaison to the committee from the pediatric academy, told The New York Times that the idea that the old committee's decisions were influenced by financial conflicts of interest was 'factually incorrect, and you can look at the record to see that.' He called Kennedy's firings 'manufactured chaos.' Kennedy's vision came into clearer view on Wednesday when he announced eight new people to serve on ACIP's board, including several experts with questionable or outright dangerous track records on vaccinations or public health recommendations. They include: Robert Malone, a physician-scientist and biochemist whom The New York Times has described as a 'misinformation star,' in part because of his record of misleadingly questioning the dangers of Covid and the safety of Covid vaccines. Vicky Pebsworth, the director of research and patient safety at the National Vaccine Information Center, which NBC News reports is 'considered a leading source of misinformation about vaccines.' Cody Meissner, a Dartmouth pediatrics professor who was a signer of the Great Barrington Declaration, the statement that opposed lockdowns during the Covid pandemic. Retsef Levi, a professor of operations management at the MIT Sloan School of Management. NBC News reports that he 'has called for an end to Covid vaccinations, claiming mRNA vaccines cause serious harm and death, especially among young people.' Martin Kulldorff, an epidemiologist and biostatistician who was one of the authors of the Great Barrington Declaration. Kennedy didn't pick random people off the internet; they have credentials, often at highly esteemed institutions, although some of these academic backgrounds apparently deviate from the kind one typically expects for this panel. But many public health experts and those who keep a close eye on vaccine skeptics and anti-vaxxers note that Kennedy appears to be putting together a slate of experts who skew ideologically against consensus and near-consensus views on vaccine safety and efficacy. 'Kennedy did not pick people with strong, current expertise in vaccines,' Dorit Reiss, a professor at UC Law San Francisco who studies vaccine policy, told NPR. 'It tells me that Kennedy is setting up a committee that would be skeptical of vaccines, and possibly willing to implement an anti-vaccine agenda.' David Mansdoerfer, who served as deputy assistant secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services in the first Trump administration, called Kennedy's announcement 'a huge win for the medical freedom movement.' It's not yet clear how the advisory board will rule on vaccine recommendations in the future. But the real-world effects of this could be significant. As The New York Times notes, the panel's recommendations, which don't have to be adopted by the CDC but typically are, can affect how strongly doctors recommend vaccinations. If the panel's recommendations skew away from recommending vaccines, then it could mean that physicians might be more hesitant to counsel patients to take vaccines that have long been proved to be safe. Furthermore, the panel's recommendations could affect how health insurance companies cover vaccines. 'Right now, insurance companies cover the four-dose polio series. But without an A.C.I.P. recommendation, the shots might cost you more than $300,' the Times reports. We still don't know how this newly formed panel will play out. But contrary to Kennedy's 'Make America Healthy Again' mantra, all indications so far are that Kennedy is laser-focused on advancing activist goals that will make our society less healthy. This article was originally published on
Medscape
an hour ago
- Medscape
What Med Students Can Do If They See Unprofessional Behavior
The scenario plays out countless times across hospital corridors: A medical student observes an attending physician dismissing a patient's concerns, a resident falsifying documentation, or a colleague making inappropriate comments during rounds. In that moment, the student faces a profound ethical dilemma that extends far beyond academic theory — one that can shape their entire professional trajectory and patient care standards. The Romanell Report, published in Academic Medicine in 2015, remains a cornerstone in medical ethics education. It identified reporting incompetent or unethical behaviors by colleagues as one of the top 10 emerging ethical issues medical students must be prepared to address — a concern that remains highly relevant nearly a decade later. A 2024 qualitative study in BMC Medical Education echoed this, revealing that students often refrain from reporting due to fear of reprisal, uncertainty about what constitutes a reportable offense, and skepticism about whether institutional systems will respond effectively. The Psychology of Professional Silence Healthcare environments amplify the natural human tendency to defer to authority, creating unique challenges for trainees who witness concerning behavior. Brooke Keels, PhD, LPC-MHSP, LPC-Supervisor and chief clinical officer at Lighthouse Recovery Texas in Dallas, said power dynamics influence ethical decision-making in clinical settings. 'Power imbalances shape behavior in every setting, and clinical environments magnify this effect,' she said. 'Residents witnessing attending physicians texting during rounds or making derogatory comments about patients and only responding with their silence isn't surprising from a psychological perspective. The mind naturally seeks safety, and challenging authority creates a psychological threat.' This psychological response mirrors family systems dynamics, where unspoken rules govern acceptable discourse. Medical students must navigate these implicit expectations while maintaining their ethical obligations — a process that can generate significant internal conflict. The consequences extend beyond momentary discomfort. 'Moral distress in the part of the residents can affect their mental well-being because the med students can internalize conflicts between their values and observed behaviors,' Keels said. 'The same internalization often leads to decreased empathy and increased cynicism over time as the brain attempts to resolve cognitive dissonance.' When Ethical Obligations Collide With Career Concerns The stakes become even higher when unprofessional behavior directly threatens patient safety. Cooper Stone, DO, a psychiatrist in Philadelphia, experienced this firsthand during residency when an attending repeatedly asked him to sign and backdate treatment plans for patients he had never evaluated. 'This was something I refused to do, and after repeated uncomfortable requests to comply, I ended up reporting this to my program,' Stone said. 'As I recall, apparently this had been going on for a long time, I think for years, and had never been reported previously.' His experience illustrates both the importance of reporting and its potential consequences. 'This, however, did not stop this attending from leaving me a terrible performance review at the end of the rotation, which I do believe was in retaliation,' Stone said. Stone's situation underscores a critical gap between institutional policies and practical reality. While trainees are consistently told to report unprofessional behavior, the actual process carries significant professional risks that can threaten career advancement. The Professional Imperative to Act The American Medical Association's Code of Medical Ethics explicitly addresses physicians' obligation to report concerning colleague behavior: 'Medicine has a long tradition of self-regulation, based on physicians' enduring commitment to safeguard the welfare of patients and the trust of the public. The obligation to report incompetent or unethical conduct that may put patients at risk is recognized in both the ethical standards of the profession and in law.' This obligation extends to medical students, who occupy a unique position as both learners and patient advocates. The Romanell Report emphasizes that students must understand these ethical standards before entering independent practice, when the stakes for both patients and their careers become even higher. However, the traditional approach of simply instructing students to 'do the right thing' fails to acknowledge the complex psychological and professional dynamics at play. Effective ethics education must address both the moral imperative and the practical challenges students will face. Creating Psychological Safety for Ethical Action Addressing unprofessional behavior requires more than individual courage — it demands institutional structures that support ethical decision-making. Keels emphasizes the need for systematic approaches that acknowledge human psychology. 'Creating psychological safety for residents requires intentional effort from leadership,' she said. 'Medical institutions need structures that acknowledge the brain's threat-response when witnessing unprofessional behavior. Anonymous reporting systems can work because they bypass the social threat of direct confrontation.' These systems must extend beyond mere reporting mechanisms to include robust protections against retaliation and clear pathways for resolution. Without such safeguards, well-intentioned students may choose silence over ethical action, perpetuating problematic behaviors and compromising patient care. Long-Term Consequences of Ethical Compromise The impact of witnessing unprofessional behavior without adequate response mechanisms extends far beyond individual cases. Keels warned that 'med students repeatedly suppressing their ethical concerns can harm current patient care and shape how future doctors will normalize concerning behaviors to keep the status quo.' This normalization process represents a fundamental threat to medical professionalism. When students learn to rationalize unethical behavior as acceptable or inevitable, they carry these compromised standards into their own practice. The result is a gradual erosion of professional values that can persist throughout entire careers. Research supports this concern, demonstrating that early exposure to unprofessional behavior without appropriate intervention can lead to decreased empathy, increased cynicism, and compromised patient care quality among practicing physicians. Practical Guidance for Medical Students Despite the challenges, experts emphasize that students must maintain their ethical obligations while protecting their professional futures. Stone's advice remains straightforward: 'Do the right thing. Every time because it's the right thing to do. And make sure you do it in writing.' This approach requires careful consideration of available resources and reporting mechanisms. Students should familiarize themselves with their institution's policies regarding unprofessional behavior, including anonymous reporting options and anti-retaliation protections. Documentation becomes crucial when witnessing concerning behavior. Detailed, contemporaneous notes about specific incidents provide essential evidence, should formal reporting become necessary. Students should record dates, times, individuals involved, and precise descriptions of observed behavior. The Path Forward Medical education must evolve to better prepare students for these complex ethical scenarios. The Romanell Report's identification of colleague reporting as a critical competency represents an important first step, but implementation requires comprehensive institutional support. Effective programs should include scenario-based training that allows students to practice navigating ethical dilemmas in safe environments. These simulations should address both the decision-making process and the practical aspects of reporting, including documentation requirements and available resources. Equally important is the development of institutional cultures that genuinely support ethical behavior. This requires leadership commitment, transparent reporting processes, and consistent consequences for unprofessional conduct regardless of hierarchical position. The ethical dilemma facing medical students who witness unprofessional behavior reflects broader challenges within healthcare culture. While individual courage remains essential, systemic changes are necessary to ensure that ethical action becomes the norm rather than the exception. Only through such comprehensive approaches can medical education fulfill its obligation to prepare students for the complex moral landscape they will navigate throughout their careers. For hospitalists supervising medical students and residents, recognizing these dynamics becomes crucial for fostering ethical development and maintaining professional standards. The goal is not merely compliance with reporting requirements, but the cultivation of physicians who will consistently prioritize patient welfare throughout their careers.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Measles cases are in 34 states with North Dakota now the focus
Residents browse offerings at a 2023 festival in downtown Fargo, N.D. Measles outbreaks starting in May have grown to 34 cases in North Dakota, giving the state the highest rate in the country, followed by New Mexico and Texas. (Photo courtesy of Visit Fargo-Moorhead) As super-contagious measles continues to spread and nears a six-year U.S. record, cases in its original epicenter of West Texas may be subsiding as hesitant residents become more concerned and willing to vaccinate, while North Dakota is a new focus with the highest rate of any state. The reality of measles may be overcoming vaccine misinformation in some areas, despite the purge of experts from decision-making roles in the Trump administration under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The nation's top vaccine expert resigned under pressure in March. And on June 11, Kennedy appointed eight new members of an immunization advisory panel — some of whom are vaccine critics — after sacking all 17 members of the group two days earlier. Kennedy called his actions 'a major step towards restoring public trust in vaccines.' The University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, however, called the committee's mass replacement 'one of the darkest days in modern public health history.' The Infectious Diseases Society of America called the move 'reckless, shortsighted and severely harmful,' saying Kennedy's criticism of the original 17 committee members is 'completely unfounded.' Now they've seen measles in their community so now they're thinking, 'OK, now I'm going to get vaccinated.' – Katherine Wells, director of public health in Lubbock, Texas In West Texas, where outbreaks are concentrated, the city of Lubbock hasn't seen a new case in 20 days, said Katherine Wells, public health director for the city. The area is east of the largest Texas outbreaks, which were centered on a Mennonite community with religious objections to vaccination. Wells attributed the recent success to a combination of more vaccinations, public awareness campaigns and willingness to stay home when sick to avoid transmission. 'I talked to some people who, because there's so much information about the risk of vaccines and the bad side effects, I can see from a parent's perspective, 'Why would I give my child that?'' Wells said. 'Now they've seen measles in their community, so now they're thinking, 'OK, now I'm going to get vaccinated.'' In North Dakota, however, the state's 34 cases give it the highest rate in the nation, followed by New Mexico and Texas, according to the North Dakota Public Health Association, a nonprofit health advocacy group that published an analysis of individual states' data on Facebook. The state's first case since 2011 was reported May 2. 'This is not a result of local public health failure,' the organization posted. 'This is a result of persons in the community choosing not to have their children vaccinated and resisting local public health recommendations and urgent efforts to increase vaccination uptake.' Dr. Stephen McDonough, a pediatrician and former state health officer in North Dakota, said he hasn't seen signs of improvement in the state. He doubts recent federal moves will do anything but make the situation worse. 'The outbreak in North Dakota is real, has not peaked yet and is expanding,' McDonough said in an interview. 'It was just a matter of time before North Dakota experienced a measles outbreak due to our low immunization rate.' Middle school band students in Minot, North Dakota, had to cancel trips to a regional band festival and parade in May because of the outbreak. Some 150 unvaccinated children were asked to quarantine for 21 days to avoid further spread. North Dakota had a 90% vaccination rate among kindergarteners for the 2024-2025 school year, a number that has declined from about 95% in the 2019-2020 school year, according to state records. Vaccination coverage at 95% or above is needed to halt measles transmission. North Dakota's small population makes its measles rate misleading, said Jenny Galbraith, an immunization manager for the North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services. However, the state has suffered from low vaccination rates in recent years as more parents have claimed exemptions based on personal philosophy, religion or other reasons as allowed by state law. With about 7% of children exempted, it's almost impossible to reach the goal of 95% vaccination, she said. One hopeful sign is that North Dakota hasn't seen a new measles case since May 28, Galbraith said. 'It's hard to say it's getting better because we're not out of the woods yet,' she said. As measles outbreaks grow, Trump cuts hinder vaccination efforts It's not always possible to overcome vaccine misinformation in the rural areas where it has taken root, said Lori Tremmel Freeman, CEO of the National Association of County and City Health Officials. Increases in vaccination are generally in 'areas where people are already comfortable getting vaccinated,' she said, rather than areas such as parts of North Dakota and Oklahoma 'that are more leery of vaccines and harder to penetrate because of misinformation.' Texas County in Oklahoma has 16 confirmed cases, almost all among unvaccinated people. But local officials can keep stressing the benefits of vaccination and also the need to stay home when measles symptoms appear, advice that those unwilling to vaccinate may be more likely to heed, Freeman said. 'In this day and age, it's an embarrassment that we've lost three people to measles,' she said, referring to the three deaths reported this year. According to a federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention update June 6, there are 1,168 confirmed cases affecting 33 states. Texas reported two more cases June 10, and Navajo County, Arizona, reported the state's first four cases this week. Some measles response plans crash to a halt after Trump cuts There have been 17 measles outbreaks, defined as clusters of three or more related cases, this year compared with 16 in all of last year, according to the CDC. Cases are now more than four times higher than they were all of last year. And with less than half the year over, case numbers are closing in on 2019's high of 1,274. That's still a small number compared with almost 28,000 cases in 1990, when an outbreak centered in California hit low-income areas with low vaccination rates. While the total case count grows, the number of weekly new infections is dropping since a peak of 116 in late March. In Texas, outbreaks have slowed as unvaccinated people have either gotten vaccinated or become infected and gained immunity, said Lara Anton, spokesperson for the Texas Department of State Health Services. 'The number of new cases in West Texas has slowed down and we are cautiously optimistic that this trend will continue,' Anton said. The current list of states affected by confirmed measles cases this year: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia and Washington. Stateline reporter Tim Henderson can be reached at thenderson@ SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
