Are French Fries Safe?

[ShelleP]

We just took our son out for lunch. Usually he orders a hamburger, no bun, and French fries. Until today it was fine. It had to be the French fries right? Can cross contamination occur if they fry chicken nuggets in the same fryer?

[psawyer]

The fries themselves are usually gluten-free, although there have been some cases where a coating containing gluten is on the fries. This is most likely for "curly" fries.

The temperature of the oil in the fryer is not high enough to destroy gluten. If breaded foods are fried in the same oil, then there will be some contamination. Many factors play in determining how much transfer will take place, but present wisdom says that fries are only safe for us to consume if the fryer is dedicated to gluten-free potato items.

[Juliebove]

Always ask if the fries contain wheat. I've found that not only can the curly fries contain wheat but the waffle fries as well. Then if they don't contain wheat, ask if they are cooked in a dedicated fryer. If the answer is "no" then they certainly could be cross contaminated.

[ShelleP]

Thanks so much for your response. They were waffle fries. We're pretty new at this (our son was diagnosed in November). Poor thing I hate that he pays such a high price for our mistakes.