Glutened With Mcd's Fries And A Burger Pattie

[txplowgirl 97]

I have been really lucky these last few months with hardly any glutening problems at all. Been getting better, more energy, less pain, less fuzzy headed. No stomach issues at all. But the last few days i've been really hungry for something that I havn't had in quite a while and that was McD fries and a burger. I had been reading in different posts here that McD's fries are gluten free. Might be some SLIGHT contamination but some people have not had any problems and so I thought I would give them a try.

The burger itself was just a plain patty, no buns, nothing and med size fries.

Well, I won't be doing that ever again. Within 2 hours I was feeling bloated, gassy, really fatigued, then came the headache, pain between my shoulder blades so bad I had a hard time breathing there for a while. Then I started having hot flashes. Took some rolaids, out of pepto and laid down. Was miserable for several hours until the nausea hit then I vomited. Am starting to feel better, tummy is still a little rough, pain is still between my shoulder blades but not as intense. Headache and hot flashes thankfully have gone away. Just really really tired now.

Am feeling really ticked off at myself. I knew better and still I went and did it. I have a nightshade sensitivity to potatoes. But I couldn't resist the temptation. 4 months down the drain. I knew this would happen sooner or later but was hoping for later to be a long time coming.

Taking some pain medicine and going to bed.

[Jackie927 0]

Wake up and start fresh tomorrow. I hear lots of water too.

[koolkat222 2]

I've been gluten-free for almost 5 years. I've gotten more and more sensitive as time has gone by. Now I'm super sensitive to all kinds of additives and to even tiny bit of cross contamination. I can't eat anything that I have not made myself. In the beginning, I was tempted to "cheat." Now, I just think about the pain and how tired, sick, and fuzzy-headed I will be for weeks. Have not had gluten(on purpose anyway) for 4 1/2 years.

Don't trust ANY fast foods. Those fryers and grills have gluten all over them! It's just not worth it.

Good luck. It does get easier. There are yummy gluten-free substitutes for most foods.

[Guest missmyrtle]

You poor thing. You and I have been gluten free around the same time and the extra sensitivity is disheartening but I don't think its like going right back to the start if you slip up.

I have had a similar experience with fries and even huge reactions to Gluten free Sakata crackers. It does seem the only way to be safe is make it from scratch and something I forget all the time is take a little bag of known safe food wherever you go.

Hope you feel better soon.

Ps..my reactions have gone from three day long to two weeks with every slip up now. The temptations don't look as attractive compared to the lost days.

[strawberrynin 0]

I have been really lucky these last few months with hardly any glutening problems at all. Been getting better, more energy, less pain, less fuzzy headed. No stomach issues at all. But the last few days i've been really hungry for something that I havn't had in quite a while and that was McD fries and a burger. I had been reading in different posts here that McD's fries are gluten free. Might be some SLIGHT contamination but some people have not had any problems and so I thought I would give them a try.

The burger itself was just a plain patty, no buns, nothing and med size fries.

Well, I won't be doing that ever again. Within 2 hours I was feeling bloated, gassy, really fatigued, then came the headache, pain between my shoulder blades so bad I had a hard time breathing there for a while. Then I started having hot flashes. Took some rolaids, out of pepto and laid down. Was miserable for several hours until the nausea hit then I vomited. Am starting to feel better, tummy is still a little rough, pain is still between my shoulder blades but not as intense. Headache and hot flashes thankfully have gone away. Just really really tired now.

Am feeling really ticked off at myself. I knew better and still I went and did it. I have a nightshade sensitivity to potatoes. But I couldn't resist the temptation. 4 months down the drain. I knew this would happen sooner or later but was hoping for later to be a long time coming.

Taking some pain medicine and going to bed.

McD's fries are NOT gluten free. The beef flavor they use in them is a wheat based product. Its not cross contamination. And its even listed in their ingredients list.

http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/nutritionex...emDetailInfo.do

Ingredeints:

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)

[Lisa 463]

McD's fries are NOT gluten free. The beef flavor they use in them is a wheat based product. Its not cross contamination. And its even listed in their ingredients list.

http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/nutritionex...emDetailInfo.do

Ingredeints:

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)

Statement from the Celiac Sprue Association (CSA)

www.csaceliacs.org

CSA is generally considered to be the most conservative of the Celiac Disease Support Groups in the U.S. The following is from their official statement concerning the McDonald's French Fries issue on 2/26/06.

"The Celiac Sprue Association (CSA) has examined the commercial manufacturing process of the natural flavoring with wheat as a starting ingredient which is used in connection with the McDonald's Corporation French fries and hash browns. CSA provides the following statement after knowledgeable, careful evaluation and review of the process and pertinent test results.

French fries and hash browns prepared in oils with this flavoring might be considered, commercially, to "contain no gluten." Third party analysis of the wheat ingredient of the natural flavoring revealed detectable levels of gluten. Factors affecting the possibility of there being any residual gluten in the final French fries or hash browns include:

[larry mac 19]

.......Am feeling really ticked off at myself. I knew better and still I went and did it. I have a nightshade sensitivity to potatoes. But I couldn't resist the temptation......

I can relate to being sickened, it's terrible. My sympathies.

But what about this nightshade sensitivity? How much of your reaction was due to it?

Yes, of course it's always possible to experience cross contamination at any food establishment. That's why, IMO, it's important to know your restaurant. My Mcdonalds is in a Walmart, and so is very small. I can see everything being prepared (ie. I'd know if they were to put my double quarter pounder with cheese in a bun and go "woops"). But I don't even have to worry about that because my son worked there in high school and they know me. They put my burgers in a salad container on a bed of lettuce. And yes, they use a dedicated fryer for the fries. They have a good crew there and are very regimented and well trained. Also, a big plus is that the Walmart Mcdonalds have a much smaller menu, smaller operation, less employees, thus less chance for cross contamination.

I can't recall anyone ever claiming the fries are gluten-free. It's just a case of the gluten content of the finished product being, for all practicable purposes, nearly nil.

best regards, lm

[TiffLuvsBread 0]

Also you said you were craving it because you haven't had it in a while.

If you haven't had McDonald's in a while, it is very very possible that part of your reaction is to just having McDonald's after not having it! Seriously - everything in McDonald's contains hydrogenated oil and it can make you very sick if your body has been "clean" of this type of thing for some time. If you eat gluten-free it is likely you have very little hydrogenated oil in your diet, which is a great thing - because it is absolutely terrible for you. (Trans fat). Before I went gluten-free (before I had any symptoms - years ago) I hadn't had McD in a very long time (I eat natural whole foods), then had a craving for the fries. I was sicker than I can remember. Same thing happened to other people I know. It's your body's way of saying "this trans fat oil is poison! I don't like it!" I definitely vomited just from the fries. Anyway, combine that with cross contamination issues and your sensitivity to potatoes and you have a major disaster on your hands. Hey, at least you learned your lesson right?? No more McDonald's!! It will be better for you in the end

Sorry you had to learn the hard way - but I did too. It happens. Feel better!!

[ang1e0251 7]

I have been eating McDonald's double cheeseburgers with no bun several times in the last 3 months. Each time it was a different McDonald's as we were out and about. Had a great experience except once, and when was that? The time I stupidly ordered fries. I knew better, knew they had gluten just gave in to temption. I was lucky, my reaction was mild but I won't do that again. I feel stupid that I did it.

[lovegrov 150]

"I have a nightshade sensitivity to potatoes."

Sounds like this was a large part of your reaction.

richard

[lovegrov 150]

I have been eating McDonald's double cheeseburgers with no bun several times in the last 3 months. Each time it was a different McDonald's as we were out and about. Had a great experience except once, and when was that? The time I stupidly ordered fries. I knew better, knew they had gluten just gave in to temption. I was lucky, my reaction was mild but I won't do that again. I feel stupid that I did it.

Probably coincidence.

I don't eat the fries because I think they stink, and I'm certainly not urging you to ever eat them again, but the odds are that you finally just got CCed the one time you ate the fries. And maybe the CC came from the fryer. But every single organization that has tested the McD fries (in a pure environment, of course) has been unable to detect gluten, even using the most sensitive test.

Eating at a place like McD is inherently risky. It's that simple.

richard

[SLB5757 0]

Probably coincidence.

I don't eat the fries because I think they stink, and I'm certainly not urging you to ever eat them again, but the odds are that you finally just got CCed the one time you ate the fries. And maybe the CC came from the fryer. But every single organization that has tested the McD fries (in a pure environment, of course) has been unable to detect gluten, even using the most sensitive test.

Eating at a place like McD is inherently risky. It's that simple.

richard

I had the same reaction from the fries/burger combo. I would agree with CC - or just the fact hat it was a greasy burger in general. They could have had a bun on your burger and took it off (not so likely), but more than likely it was just that itwas very unhealthy food compared to the whole foods your body has gotten used too over the past 4 months

My novice opinion.

Stacy

[Ahorsesoul 54]

All this talk about fries and now I'm craving them. I'm off to buy some potatoes to make my own. I know my oil will be fresh and if I peel the veggies (I'll use both white and a sweet potato) they will be gluten-free too.

The cc is the reason I pass on the fast food places

[txplowgirl 97]

Thanks everyone for the support. I am feeling better today just a little fatigued. A lot of my problem is i am a truck driver and and there aren't a lot of really good places to stop and eat. Plus I managed to get into a walmart today and restock so i'll be ok for a few more days.

I definitely will not be doing McD's again.

I have a question. This morning I had a cold sore come up on my top lip. Now i've had these before ever since I was a little girl. Get one about once a year. Same spot every time. I was wondering if this could be a reaction to getting glutened? My whole face feels swollen. It always starts out with a tingle and if I can get medicine on it quickly enough it just swells and blisters a little bit but sometimes it will swell up to the point it touches the bottom of my nose. OOWWW! Not pretty.

Anyway, just wondering. Never have seen a dr about it, I guess I should tho. Antway thanks for listening.

[ang1e0251 7]

My husband used to get them a lot. He's not gluten sensitive. A coworker told me she took lysine to cope with the pain and help them heal faster. It really works.