Burger King, Macdonalds, Wendys, Arbys

[MySuicidalTurtle]

It is still always best to make sure the Modified Food Startch is from corn.

[sfortney]

Agreed. Better safe than sorry. I always check or we totally avoid the food in question.

[celiac3270]

Carrie,

I just want to warn you of one thing with softdrinks, too. At McDonalds or something, you should be fine, but be careful in restaurants or at movie theatres if they have fountain drinks--sometimes it's not Coke or Pepsi, but a supermarket cola type thing or they order a syrup and then add the carbonated water and sugar to it....we don't know if whatever they're making it with is gluten-free.

Yes--don't eat it if you're not sure--it's not worth it because you may get lucky once or twice, but not always.

[Carriefaith]

Thanks celiac3270, I never thought of that.

So basically if we ask specifically wheather it is coke or pepsi then we should be ok.

Do you think a restaurant would call a no-name brand cola (or something else) pepsi or coke or is that illegal?

[celiac3270]

So basically if we ask specifically wheather it is coke or pepsi then we should be ok.

Do you think a restaurant would call a no-name brand cola (or something else) pepsi or coke or is that illegal?

I think if you ask they'll tell you for sure--especially if you say that it's due to a serious intolerance. The main place that they would not use regular Coke or Pepsi is at the movies, but just order it in the bottle if you can. I've seen them do it at one restaurant--the syrup, a lot of sugar, and some sort of carbonated water. If you ask they should tell you--

[sfortney]

Every Burger King I have been to does fry onion rings and french fries separately, but they all use the same scoop for both when they fill the bags. I questioned this and was told that they would use a separate scoop if I requested it. How much help is that! The contamination has already occured when they scooped previous fries. No brainer.

I stopped at an Arby's in Pennsylvania. They did not have baked potatoes and everything is fried together, our server was extremely nice though. He apologized that he had nothing really to offer me and gave my husband and me free drinks. He also stated that he couldn't imagine not being able to eat anything with wheat.

[VegasCeliacBuckeye]

FYI,

I always take some gluten-free bread with me in the car for these little inconviences.

I eat at the Arby's next to my office at least once a week. Be careful though, I always tell them to put the meat directly into a plastic "Montana" container -- and not to remove the meat from another bun!!!!!!!

P.s. I have never had a problem w/ Arby's sauce -- yummy!

[astyanax]

what kind of gluten-free bread do you use? i haven't found any in the states that doesn't need to be toasted first

(although i found a great great kind in the UK that didn't! but it's hard/super expensive to ship to the states)

[sfortney]

I found some really good onion rolls at the Whole Foods Market (can't remember the brand right off hand) that are perfect for a hamburger bun or sandwich, but they are much better if they are warmed a little bit first in the microwave. I usually just eat my hamburger as it comes (but without bun) and wrap it in lettuce leaves. It's actually really good. Burger King used to call these low carb burgers.

Gluten free breads that I have tried all seem to need to be warmed or toasted before they are really good to use on a sandwich--that's often impossible when travelling. Something I'll have to get used to, I guess.

[Katanya16]

Yes McDonalds offers a gluten-free list hash browns are on that. Where I live they have a separate frier for the fries and the hash browns I make sure everything I eat and the products I use are gluten-free. It's not worth me getting sick. I don't go to BK anymore....the only things I usually eat out at fast food places for are the hash browns, fries, salads and I can get those at McDonalds and I'll have an occasional frosty from Wendy's as well.

I used to do the burger out of the bun thing at Wendys, I actually had a guy that knew the situation and he would give me the burger in a potatoe pan.

My question is , I have heard that the McGriddle sandwiches are made with Tapicoca Starch, is this still correct?

[ArtGirl]

Interesting discussion here.

I don't eat at fast food places because of other food allergies (corn, soy, dairy, etc), but if I were desperate, I'd probably go to Wendy's and get a plain baked potato - asking first that they put on clean gloves and don't cut the potato. If I know ahead of time, like if I were on a road trip, then I'd take along some olive oil which is really good on baked potatos.

[darlindeb25]

If I could still eat potatoes, I would definitely go to Wendy's for a baked potato with cheese. I used to get them all the time and not once was I ever glutened. I also ate McDonald's fries with no problems--my sister still does. I miss baked potatoes.

[ArtGirl]

I miss baked potatoes.

Can you have tapioca? Cooked Casava root is real tasty and has a nice texture (a little softer than potato).

[darlindeb25]

Well Valda, I don't think I can have tapioca. I haven't tried it again, yet the last time I had it, I got very ill. Thank you.

[larry mac]

I just want to warn you of one thing with softdrinks, too. At McDonalds or something, you should be fine, but be careful in restaurants or at movie theatres if they have fountain drinks--sometimes it's not Coke or Pepsi, but a supermarket cola type thing or they order a syrup and then add the carbonated water and sugar to it....we don't know if whatever they're making it with is gluten-free.

C,

I'm curious what they could put in a soft drink that would be gluten?

best regards, lm

[larry mac]

edit: have no idea why that double posted! best regards, lm

[larry mac]

Watch those things -- my daughter went to Burger King the other day, and said that the little "hash rounds" have modified food starch in them. I'm assuming you've checked and there's none in McD's. We have a gluten-free household, and my daughter also told me that the frozen kinds in the grocery store often have MFS. Yes, as it's been pointed out that most MFS is safe, but I make it a personal rule to never touch it, regardless.

Oh, here's a place in Manhattan that I can't wait to try on that trip:

Open Original Shared Link

I already called and talked to them on the phone, and they have two separate kitchen areas, separate cookware and dishes, and so on, so they understand cross-contamination. I'm looking forward to this one!

Patty

Patty,

Your post is a reply to and quotes KaitiUSA which appears as "QUOTE(KaitiUSA @ Feb 5 2005, 10:01 PM)" when one clicks on the quote reply button. However, your reply appears as :

"QUOTE (Vote4PresBush04 @ Feb 5 2005, 03:47 PM)

I will have McDonalds . . . hash browns" (and then the above)

Very curious. And then later the same thing happens again when you make another reply. I'm wondering where the Vote4PresBush04 is coming from (not that I care one way or the other how anyone votes)?

best regards, lm

p.s. my sincerest apologies if I'm just imagining things.

[gfp]

I just don't trust the organisation behind them. McDo's seem to get picked on most, perhaps that's just because they are the most known but its a matter of court records that they have made misleading statements and just plain lied on many occaisions.

The problem is you can have the best run local franchise but they still have to use the same stuff as everyone else.

I don't really see McDonalds as a food company, they seem to operate simply as a process and a highly oiled machine where every last thing is maximising profit, pretty much to the exclusion of all else. Anyway, try and at least read the whole thing before jumping to conclusions.

I realise this is what a business is meant to do... but McDonalds just seem to have gone that extra step or mile at each juncture to the point where for me their product is immaterial.

Like someone posted earlier the whole aim of the fast food chains is to get you in/out as quick as possible and they have done this very well, but from the consumer side we as a whole have been trained to accept this whole different concept where we order from the counter (or drive through now) and sit on chairs designed to start getting uncomfortable quickly with our fingers.

Now there is nothing wrong with this, what I'm saying is McDonalds are so successful at this they have actually trained their customers to see this as part of the experience. In other words we have been trained into not only accepting this cost cutting at each turn but also we as a whole embrace it as part of the whole experience?

I know a lot of people who get a McDo once in a while and then afterwards feel a bit "icky" ... its not exactly they feel ill, they just feel (in their own words usually) "like they had a McDo's". Again its amazing the customers actually know that it makes them feel a bit ill afterwards and still eat it?

Anyway, that part is just setting the scene, McDonalds have thier process and they manage to get the customers not only to accept this process when it gives them what would usually be a poor experience to actual embrace it as an experience.

The real problem for me trusting McDonalds is that their process is everything. They have spent billions refining their process and control it from the farming through delivery and processing, its really no longer food from my perspective but a commodity beig processed, packaged and sold all at the lowest possible costs.

McDonalds are very reluctant to change any part of that highly refined process because well, its obviously a winner for profits but also because the process is so industrialised and its parts interdependant.

If all you do is search the internet for court cases against Mcdonalds time after time they are found guilty of mis-representing facts with everything from direct lies to misleading advertising.

They are consistently getting fines etc. but and this is the crucial part they don't change the process because its so interdependent and finely tuned, its cheaper to pay fines.

This is why I don't really see McDonalds as a food company, they have in many ways become just a process from field to table.

Perhaps this is just an inescapable part of modern life but its not a process I have any confidence in. The court records show McDonalds will make false statements if the alternatives affects their process... equally they will make misleading tests or analyses...

This is really the bottom line for me...

[darlindeb25]

Larry--where the Vote4PresBush04 is coming from This was an email address of Kaiti's also--same person as KaitiUSA, that's why it is coming up too.

I think quite often people feel a little icky after eating fast food because we do not normally eat that type of food and our stomachs are not used to it. I know that I never eat that kind of food anymore and my tummy would react to it whether it was gluten or not. We celiac's tend to baby our tummy's, which has it's good points and bad. My sister tells me the reason my tummy rejects so many things is because I protect it too much. Yet, I am a firm believer in listening to my body and believe me, after all these years, I know this stomach very well.

I honestly feel, as far as CC issues, anytime you eat something prepared by someone else, you are taking a risk, unless it is another celiac! I think your chances of being glutened in McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's or some fancy place are all the same. Your safety is determined by the person handling your food.

Yesterday I was in a grocery store paying for my groceries. In Michigan, in places where I worked, this would never have happened, yet here on Long Island, I find people working in retail completely different. The boy who checked me out, had his bottle of soda sitting by the register and was eating crackers. I wasn't paying attention to him at first, I always watch the prices coming up. As he put my last item in a bag, I saw him pop a cracker into his mouth and the CC issue hit me. It would be very difficult for me to be glutened in this way, but not impossible. I would have been fired from my job in Michigan even if I just had a bottle of water with me. We are at the mercy of others, always.

[blueeyedmanda]

Yesterday I was in a grocery store paying for my groceries. In Michigan, in places where I worked, this would never have happened, yet here on Long Island, I find people working in retail completely different. The boy who checked me out, had his bottle of soda sitting by the register and was eating crackers. I wasn't paying attention to him at first, I always watch the prices coming up. As he put my last item in a bag, I saw him pop a cracker into his mouth and the CC issue hit me. It would be very difficult for me to be glutened in this way, but not impossible. I would have been fired from my job in Michigan even if I just had a bottle of water with me. We are at the mercy of others, always.

Wow, I live in PA and when I go in the stores (around me anyway) I never see cashiers with snacks.

[darlindeb25]

blueeyedmanda--I have never seen cashiers anywhere else like here. Granted, some are nice, yet there are more who are not. They talk on their cellphones, they talk about their personal problems with each other while checking you out, they swear like you would not believe, they can be very rude when you ask them to check a price, they eat while working, etc. Kev tells me he realizes it is not acceptable for them to behave this way, yet it has been this way for so long, that Long Islanders just ignore it. I have been here for over 2 years and I still can not get used to it.

[blueeyedmanda]

I think I would have a hard time getting used to it as well. It just seems very unprofessional. I understand people think oh it is just a small job...but still the cashiers behavior says a lot about the store. I just attended this customer service training a few days ago at work and I am still amazing by this pickle video they showed us. I don't work in a store, but I am in a hospital and they were just showing us how we all impact our patients time, not just the doc's and nurses.

[Run-4-Jesus]

I have a question: Somebody told me that McDonalds french fries are no longer gluten-free. The person was not a Celiac and may not have known what they were talking about, does anybody know for sure? Because I have stopped eating McDonalds fries and it's very frustrating to only be able to eat burgers without the bun.

[Mango04]

I have a question: Somebody told me that McDonalds french fries are no longer gluten-free. The person was not a Celiac and may not have known what they were talking about, does anybody know for sure? Because I have stopped eating McDonalds fries and it's very frustrating to only be able to eat burgers without the bun.

Hi - This thread is about two years old, so some of the information here is a bit outdated. If you do a search for McDonald's fries you'll find quite a few more recent threads discussing the issue