McDonald's - A Safe Place for Celiacs to Eat According to the Gluten Intolerance Group

If you look at McDonald's ingredients for their French fries you see this:

French Fries:

Potatoes, vegetable oil (partially hydrogenated soybean oil, natural beef flavor (wheat and milk derivatives)*, *CONTAINS: WHEAT AND MILK (Natural beef flavor contains hydrolyzed wheat and hydrolyzed milk as starting ingredients.)

Please note that just because something contains wheat it does not mean that it cannot be gluten-free. Yes, that is correct, items that contain wheat can be gluten-free. In Europe this is generally understood and more information about this is in the related links above--see the Codex Alimetarius and Wheat Starch link. In the USA the law will soon become that is something contains less than 20ppm of gluten, it is gluten-free, which, as I understand it, is the case with McDonald's French fries.

Very nice article, my son has celiac disease and we get him French fries at McDonald's all the time. We also special request a hamburger patty with no bun, no condiments - sometimes they get it wrong and we have to re-order but he can eat the freshly made hamburger patty's at McDonald's. What helps is that we tell them of his condition.

I was told twice by a clerk at McDonalds that the fries were safe. I ate them and became very sick for two days. After that, I asked the owner to check for wheat and he said there is wheat listed in the fries and hash browns. On another note, I ate at Five Guys. They use a divided section on the grill for buns and another for burgers. They also cut the potatoes on site and add nothing and cook nothing else in fry oil. Go Five Guys.

With celiac disease, it's hard enough having to be careful that you're not eating something with gluten...wheat is listed as an ingredient, so don't eat it! Who knows how much you can eat until you feel the damage to your intestines...If you have a cut, you bleed. When it scabs over, you're not bleeding anymore, but you're not healed. You might not feel the damage because it's such a small amount, but I wouldn't risk it!

15 year old daughter just designated a "celiac suspect", helpful info for us, looking to connect her with other teenagers? Suggestions? In Seattle area.

OK, so the french fries are ok for us. Who just wants to eat french fries? I contacted McDonalds when I first got diagnosed and they said that their grilled chicken was not gluten free. If they want to pat themselves on the back, how about gluten free grilled chicken so we can have a decent meal like a grilled chicken salad?

If it contains 20 ppm of gluten, then it is not gluten free, whether it is the law or not. If it contains gluten, it causes damage, whether you have "symptoms" or not.

Agreed, Ms. Ribeiro. Gluten-free french fries? What do they want, a medal? This article should have bashed "Burger Doodle", as i call it, instead of proclaiming it to be a "safe place to eat".

If it contains 20 ppm of gluten, then it is not gluten free, whether it is the law or not. If it contains gluten, it causes damage, whether you have "symptoms" or not.

Becca, I understand gluten causes damage. But I'm unaware of a food chemistry procedure that can reliably detect less than 20ppm gluten. Demanding a level better than current technology can deliver would make it impossible to have a useful law related to gluten free labeling.

I was told twice by a clerk at McDonalds that the fries were safe. I ate them and became very sick for two days. After that, I asked the owner to check for wheat and he said there is wheat listed in the fries and hash browns. On another note, I ate at Five Guys. They use a divided section on the grill for buns and another for burgers. They also cut the potatoes on site and add nothing and cook nothing else in fry oil. Go Five Guys.

Please note the incidences of contamination to the McDonald's fries by the chicken nuggets sitting next door that accidentally fall into the fries when the deep fryer basket is dumped!!! I have observed this frequently!!

The content in the fries is WHEAT not Wheat Starch and even then the wheat (or wheat starch) is not guaranteed to be within the Codex Standard of less than <20ppm.

If they don't clearly advertise that the fries are gluten-free (no gluten or at least 20ppm or less) then it should not be deemed safe.

The article does not explain where or how Cynthia Kupper from the GIG got her information about the fries being gluten-free. It would be great for that information to be posted for us to read, for example, the ELISA test results from the fries.