Mcdonald's Ice Cream

[FoxersArtist]

I have been gluten free for less than 2 weeks and have been doing whatever I can to research what is ok and what is not ok. Most of the food in my cupboard was replaced with gluten free food and because hubby and I like to go out to eat, we did some research on safe restaurants in the area. McDonald's was not even on my "check it out" list because we never eat there anyway and I was sure that their food would not be ok. Nonetheless, every once in a while we go there to get an ice cream and when hubby brought it up tonight I wondered if maybe the ice cream was ok and they could just put it in a cup for me instead of in a cone.

Hubby had a lot of anxiety about drilling the teenager at the window but I told him it would be fun - we needed to practice asking these questions because we would be asking them at a lot of places for the rest of our lives. He agreed but decided to pull up to the window so he could talk to the person face to face. She had no idea what "gluten" was and when we told her she was instantly sure there would never be any wheat in ice cream. It was clear to me that this was an uninformed decision so we asked for a manager. When the middle aged man came to the window we asked if their ice cream was gluten free. "What's gluten?" he asked. Oh by, here we go again. He wasn't sure what his ice cream contained but told us that he didn't think there was any "GLUCTOSE" in the ice cream. I explained that people with celiac disease can have sever reactions to gluten like those with peanut allergies. "There are no peanuts in our ice cream," he said and then stated that their might be an occasional peanut in the stuff. He handed us a nutrition facts sheet with no ingredients listed. My husband asked if they had anything that might contain allergy information. He shook his head no and we drove away laughing. My husband says he is going to refer to me as being "Gluctose Intolerant" from now on. Does that make me a wheat-a-betic?

-Anna

[darlindeb25]

McDonald's vanilla ice cream is gluten free--vanilla ice cream usually is gluten-free. You need to always ask to have it in a cup, not the cone. I used to eat their ice cream in a cup--the only reason I do not now, is because I do not eat ice cream anymore.

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Vanilla Reduced Fat Ice Cream:

Milk, sugar, cream, nonfat milk solids, corn syrup solids, mono- and diglycerides, guar gum, dextrose, sodium citrate, artificial vanilla flavor, sodium phosphate, carrageenan, disodium phosphate, cellulose gum, vitamin A palmitate. CONTAINS: MILK

[susieg-1]

McDonald's vanilla ice cream is gluten free--vanilla ice cream usually is gluten-free. You need to always ask to have it in a cup, not the cone. I used to eat their ice cream in a cup--the only reason I do not now, is because I do not eat ice cream anymore.

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Does ice cream from McD's come from a soft serve machine? I would still be concerned about cc with other ice cream cones coming into contact with dispenser.

[HAK1031]

I've been called gluctose intolerant before too

actually, I think soft serve ice cream is safer than ice cream at parlors that's in tubs with shared scoops and toppings all over the place! I tend to think of plain vanillia soft serve as a pretty safe bet if I "need" it

[larry mac]

This is just my personal opinion.

If it's important enough to me to do everything I can to avoid getting glutoned, it's worth the effort to park the car and physically walk in the restaraunt. The drive thru is not the place to discuss gluten. Sure, you got a good laugh without having to leave your car. But, you didn't get an evaluation as to whether it is safe to eat there.

If you make the effort to to go in, you can:

~ talk to the manager without holding up other drive thru patrons, the drive thru tends to be rushed.

~ actually see what they are doing in the kitchen.

~ if you decide to place an order, actually see how your food is being prepared.

We celiacs are forced to go to great lenghts to avoid gluten. Only after investigating a fast food place carefully do I take the risk of the drive thru.

best regards, lm

[ryebaby0]

Most McD's soft serve (as opposed to DQ) have a doohickey that keeps the cone away from the housing, so I wouldn't worry exceptionally about cc of your dish. If you want the deluxe ice cream experience, go to Cold Stone Creamery, where they will make your order on a separate slab, with newly cleaned servers and ice cream. Nice people....

I once had a server ask why we worried about "glue" on our steaks. Explaining further, she lit up and went "OH, Gluten! No, there's no sugar, either"..... Ya gotta laugh

[mysecretcurse]

I have been gluten free for less than 2 weeks and have been doing whatever I can to research what is ok and what is not ok. Most of the food in my cupboard was replaced with gluten free food and because hubby and I like to go out to eat, we did some research on safe restaurants in the area. McDonald's was not even on my "check it out" list because we never eat there anyway and I was sure that their food would not be ok. Nonetheless, every once in a while we go there to get an ice cream and when hubby brought it up tonight I wondered if maybe the ice cream was ok and they could just put it in a cup for me instead of in a cone.

Hubby had a lot of anxiety about drilling the teenager at the window but I told him it would be fun - we needed to practice asking these questions because we would be asking them at a lot of places for the rest of our lives. He agreed but decided to pull up to the window so he could talk to the person face to face. She had no idea what "gluten" was and when we told her she was instantly sure there would never be any wheat in ice cream. It was clear to me that this was an uninformed decision so we asked for a manager. When the middle aged man came to the window we asked if their ice cream was gluten free. "What's gluten?" he asked. Oh by, here we go again. He wasn't sure what his ice cream contained but told us that he didn't think there was any "GLUCTOSE" in the ice cream. I explained that people with celiac disease can have sever reactions to gluten like those with peanut allergies. "There are no peanuts in our ice cream," he said and then stated that their might be an occasional peanut in the stuff. He handed us a nutrition facts sheet with no ingredients listed. My husband asked if they had anything that might contain allergy information. He shook his head no and we drove away laughing. My husband says he is going to refer to me as being "Gluctose Intolerant" from now on. Does that make me a wheat-a-betic?

-Anna

Ahahahahahahhahahha! I got the same comment. I was telling someone about my celiac and they were like "Oh yeah, that glucose is awful."

What I do NOT freaking understand is how a huge company like macdonalds, which caters to people all over the EARTH, cannot have a simple fact sheet for their customers about nutrition and allergy information. I'm pretty sure ALL restaurants are supposed to. I would call the corporate office and complain about the managements lack of knowledge which ANY restaurant manager should have.

[FoxersArtist]

How funny!

I am honestly pretty amused by some of these responses. Cold Stone is my favorite! I am learning not to use drive throughs but that doesn't help when you crave MC Ice Cream at 11:30 at night.

-Anna

Most McD's soft serve (as opposed to DQ) have a doohickey that keeps the cone away from the housing, so I wouldn't worry exceptionally about cc of your dish. If you want the deluxe ice cream experience, go to Cold Stone Creamery, where they will make your order on a separate slab, with newly cleaned servers and ice cream. Nice people....

I once had a server ask why we worried about "glue" on our steaks. Explaining further, she lit up and went "OH, Gluten! No, there's no sugar, either"..... Ya gotta laugh

[susieg-1]

How funny!

I am honestly pretty amused by some of these responses. Cold Stone is my favorite! I am learning not to use drive throughs but that doesn't help when you crave MC Ice Cream at 11:30 at night.

-Anna

I guess I am just totally paranoid about putting anything into my mouth that I have not personally purchased and prepared!!! I am just soooooo sick after an accidental glutening that I no longer eat any food that I have not personally prepared!!! But I sure do crave the stuff I don't dare eat. It seems like making food unimportant in daily life helps but this is a catch 22 as what I eat is so very important!!! Go figure!!

[ravenwoodglass]

Ahahahahahahhahahha! I got the same comment. I was telling someone about my celiac and they were like "Oh yeah, that glucose is awful."

What I do NOT freaking understand is how a huge company like macdonalds, which caters to people all over the EARTH, cannot have a simple fact sheet for their customers about nutrition and allergy information. I'm pretty sure ALL restaurants are supposed to. I would call the corporate office and complain about the managements lack of knowledge which ANY restaurant manager should have.

McDonalds does have fact sheets, how accurate they are who knows but here is a link to the info. They have a tab to put the sheets in printer form so you can print it out and look it over and make your choices, if you dare to eat there at all. They should have them in the office so if you go in and ask they should be able to hand you one. Also the managers manage the business but most are woefully uneducated about food issues. This applies to almost all of the fast food places. I got salmonella from a fast food place a few years ago and the when I called to let them know the manager didn't even know what salmonella was. As someone who was at one time a head chef I asked why he didn't know when the law here requires him to attend health dept. seminars, he said he was newly hired and wouldn't have to go to one for another couple of months. With the high turnover rate of employees for most of these places finding ones who are educated is really tough.

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[casnco]

This is just my personal opinion.

If it's important enough to me to do everything I can to avoid getting glutoned, it's worth the effort to park the car and physically walk in the restaraunt. The drive thru is not the place to discuss gluten. Sure, you got a good laugh without having to leave your car. But, you didn't get an evaluation as to whether it is safe to eat there.

If you make the effort to to go in, you can:

~ talk to the manager without holding up other drive thru patrons, the drive thru tends to be rushed.

~ actually see what they are doing in the kitchen.

~ if you decide to place an order, actually see how your food is being prepared.

We celiacs are forced to go to great lenghts to avoid gluten. Only after investigating a fast food place carefully do I take the risk of the drive thru.

best regards, lm

To elaborate a little on this post. In my very small town we have two McDonalds. I love their Strawberry Milkshake. On the South end of town the toppings for some other ice cream product are just above the lids for the shakes. I found this out when oreo crumbs were on my shake lid. I had gone through the drive thru when I purchased this shake. So I went in and asked for the manager. I explained my delema with the oreo crumbs. She laughed picked up the shake and shook off the crumbs. She said they are on the outside how can that hurt you!!! I won't detail anymore of that experience. Not happy with her to say the least.

Now on the North end of town I went inside one day and noticed their lids were no under the oreo toppings. So I now know I can safely order a milkshake on that end of town.

So the moral of my story is...Go inside and check it out. That is the only way to be sure. It is a pain but well worth the effort. Especially because now I can have a Strawberry Shake once in a while!!!

Debbie