Arby's Customer Service At Corporate Hq

[maxwell1200]

This afternoon I went and grabbed a bite to eat at Arby's.

Being still relativitiy new to this whole gluten-free diet thing I glanced at their nutrition guide online and saw that the Martha's Vineyard Salad was safe. (needless to say that because I am posting here it was not) It went right through me.

Well I look a little closer at the ingredient and allergen infomation and find that allergen 51 the Diced grilled chicken did infact have wheat and soy. (If you look at the particular menu item it has the potential allergen number posted next to it. It is quite helpful) They marked it for having cheese(dairy) and the optional almonds (nuts) but didn't mark the chicken.

So I call up Arby's to let them know and spoke with the nicest and most understanding person. He pulled up the menu and said that they would make the correction and said that he would email me an Arby's gluten-free menu. There are not as many items as I would have hoped for of course but it was a huge help. I told him I was going to post my wonderful experience here and he gave me permission to post his contact information for anyone else who might want that menu.

I figured that if everyone emailed him that maybe they would realize how many celiacs there are out there and create a couple of items just for us.

I am copying a letter I recieved from Dr. McCullough who is the food safety officer at the corporate offices of Arbys.

Angela,

What a pleasure to talk to you this afternoon. We can all appreciate someone of your bubbly personality.

Sorry for the omission of the wheat and soy in the Martha's Vineyard Salad. We will get that corrected on Monday.

I have attached a list of the foods we feel are free of gluten (green) and those that contain gluten (red).

The list is for Arby's Core Menu items (required ) and might not apply to the items you purchase in the restaurant you visit ( possibly optional).

Please remember that the fried items; French fries, appetizers, chicken and fish are fried in the same fryer and the same Corn Oil.

This could cause the transfer of wheat protein from one of the battered and breaded items onto other fried menu items.

It might be of interest that the New Market Fresh Salads and Wraps are made with gluten containing ingredients. The Diced Grilled Chicken does contain Wheat as a component of the Soy Sauce.

The Arby's web site has been updated as of November and lists those products containing the 8 Major Allergens as described by FDA. The ingredient listings contain all components in our Core Menu items and Limited Time Offers.

If you have questions, please call me at the number below or e-mail me at the address above.

Sincerely,

Ernie McCullough, Ph.D.

Food Safety / Regulatory Affairs

Compliance Officer

ARBY

[cdford]

I saw how new you are to this lifestyle and wanted to encourage you. My daughter (14) and I are both celiac and have been gluten free for almost two years. The first few months are the hardest, but once you get the hang of it you can relax a little more. We found the only way to prevent ourselves from snitching was for the whole family to keep a gluten-free kitchen. For some reason we don't have a problem being good when we eat out but if it is there when the munchies strike at midnight we just kept blowing it. I had my first major episode after eating out in August...seven and a half weeks of misery and two hospital trips later I am finally getting better.

My endocrinologist made the following observation to me which also helped...

Once you are on the diet for a period of time, it will take smaller amounts of gluten to trigger a bigger response in the immune system. The good news is that if you stick to the diet ALL THE TIME, you will get better and stay better.

I have. I was so bad that I was fully wheelchair bound before they caught the celiac. I am now walking around holding on to furniture. Keep up the good work and do not let this stuff do to you what it did to me by my mid thirties.

Donna

[stef-the-kicking-cuty]

Hi Angie,

maybe I didn't see it, but what's Dr. McCullough's e-mail adress? I would like to write him, too.

Lots of greetings, Stef

[maxwell1200]

Stef,

I guess his email got deleted from my computer. You might could look him up on their corporate website or if nothing else, give him a call. I really could not believe how nice and understanding he was.

[AlaskaDebbie]

Angie and all,

Thanks so much for bringing Arby's to my attention! My daughter is 14 and misses eating at Arby's. Now, with their "Nutrition, Ingredient & Allergen Information" in hand, we will certainly visit them this week! Awesome list - 9 pages in Adobe listing their products, allergens, and ingredients of each item. I sent them an email thanking them for their extensive list. If only all fast food restaurants were so accomodating...

www.arbys.com

Thanks again.

[maxwell1200]

I found the email address for Dr. McCullough:

WEMcCullough@Arbys.com