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Mcdonalds Fries Are Not gluten-free

ChemistMama

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ChemistMama Contributor
ChemistMama
Posted

Open Original Shared Link

"French Fries:

Potatoes, vegetable oil (canola oil, hydrogenated soybean oil, natural beef flavor [wheat and milk derivatives]*), citric acid (preservative), dextrose, sodium acid pyrophosphate (maintain color), salt. Prepared in vegetable oil ((may contain one of the following: Canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil with TBHQ and citric acid added to preserve freshness), dimethylpolysiloxane added as an antifoaming agent). *

CONTAINS: WHEAT AND MILK (Natural beef flavor contains hydrolyzed wheat and hydrolyzed milk as starting ingredients)."

I thought I'd separate this out from the looong thread about McD's fries.

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sbj Rookie
sbj
Posted

"It is possible for a food product to list wheat as an ingredient and yet not contain any gluten."

If you'll notice at your link, McDonald's is very careful to list 'wheat gluten' as an ingredient for those products they serve that contain gluten. They very carefully do NOT list wheat gluten as a french fries ingredient.

Lisa Mentor
Lisa
Posted

Open Original Shared Link

That loooong thread about McDonald's has some very good information in it. This thread indicates that McD's french fries are not gluten free is a bit misleading.

They have been been independently tested and it was determined that McD's french fries have a gluten level that is considered safe for people with Celiac to consume. People can argue back and forth until the cows come home about the safety of their fries.

To claim that they are not gluten free l00% is probably accurate(as in most any processed foods, let alone the cross contamination risk). But, to claim that they will hurt most individuals with Celiac Disease, that has yet to be established.

The bottom line is, you can choose to eat them or choose not too. They aren't forced fed to us. I am always fascinated at the iconic stature that McDonald's has become in our society.

Aroostook Newbie
Aroostook
Posted

Being from a potato processing area, let me share with you what I know. A coating (containing wheat) is applied to the fries to make a crispier crunch. And of course they add flavoring to that coating also. I would never tell anyone else what to do, but I will not eat them. Coated fries are bad news for me and make me very very ill! :(

larry mac Enthusiast
larry mac
Posted
Being from a potato processing area, let me share with you what I know. A coating (containing wheat) is applied to the fries to make a crispier crunch. And of course they add flavoring to that coating also. I would never tell anyone else what to do, but I will not eat them. Coated fries are bad news for me and make me very very ill! :(

Please pardon me, but I believe the above statement is seriously erronious.

First off, being from a potato processing area does not automatically make one an expert on fast food fries. I'd have to see some more credentials than that. Did you actually work in a potato processing plant that makes fries for Mcdonald?

Secondly, each fast food business has different recipies for their fries, some are coated, some are not, and the coated ones have different recipies amongst them. I wasn't aware that Mcdonalds fries were coated. They may very well be, but this is the first I've heard of it. As a casual consumer of fast food fries (and most of that was before Celiac), I never had Mcdonalds fries in the same category as say Popeyes which are obviously heavily coated, most curly fries, and some others that are also (I can't remember at the moment which ones).

Thirdly, The only logical reason coated fries would be bad for you is if they contained gluten. If that's the case Mcdonalds would have an ingredients list for the coating that would mention wheat. The wheat in Mcdonalds fries is added to the oil they are parboiled, or pre-fried in. Thus the statement "starting ingredients".

best regards, lm

ravenwoodglass Mentor
ravenwoodglass
Posted

It is up to the individual to decide whether they want to risk it or not. If someone is new to the diet IMHO they should avoid them until they are healed. Then if you want do a challenge with them, eat them daily for a week being sure that all your other foods and drinks are safe and if you still haven't reacted they may be okay for you. I am very sensitive and personally for me it is not worth the risk.

miles2go Contributor
miles2go
Posted

I am from a potato processing area, worked at McDonald's in my youth and am supersensitive and I'll eat the fries once in a while if I'm on the road and jonesin' something hot, crispy and fresh. I've never been glutened from them. I agree that they aren't coated in the sense of your usual coated fry.

Hi Larry!

Margaret

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larry mac Enthusiast
larry mac
Posted
I am from a potato processing area, worked at McDonald's in my youth and am supersensitive and I'll eat the fries once in a while if I'm on the road and jonesin' something hot, crispy and fresh. I've never been glutened from them. I agree that they aren't coated in the sense of your usual coated fry.

Hi Larry!

Margaret

Hi m2g,

I wish I was from a potato processing area :D . OK all you PPA experts ( :lol: ), I'm claiming fries expertship also. I worked at Frito Lay R&D. I helped develop "Friendchips". They are chips made from potatos flakes (as are Munchos, Staxx, & Pringles), that look like french fries. They were really good. Unfortunately, they don't make them anymore. I also worked on Munchos long before they ever came out. So there's my potato credentials!

best regards, lm

ChemistMama Contributor
ChemistMama
Posted
  • Author

I love it when a post about french fries turns into a discussion of 'potato credentials' :)

I know there's been tons of arguements about the fries, and I thought that in the past they were always gluten-free, the contamination was from workers who'd use the oil for reheating chicken nuggets and such. Yes, use your own judgement as to whether you want to eat them. For me, if it says 'wheat' I avoid it like the plague.

I'd be curious to see if there's been a recent study of how much gluten actually is in the fries (the last I"ve seen were from 3 years ago).

Juliebove Rising Star
Juliebove
Posted

This is very old news. They haven't claimed them to be gluten-free for several years.

happygirl Collaborator
happygirl
Posted
I'd be curious to see if there's been a recent study of how much gluten actually is in the fries (the last I"ve seen were from 3 years ago).

I'm not sure why testing would be done if nothing has changed since the original study.

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