Posted on 02/18/2006 9:25:40 AM PST by indcons
CHICAGO -- When a neighbor told Garmit Kaur that McDonald's had listed wheat -- a taboo for her two children with food allergies -- as an ingredient in its french fries, she flat-out didn't believe it.
"I was shocked when I checked the Web site this morning," said the mother from Elmhurst, Ill. "I thought, that cannot be right because I'm very careful ... and it wasn't there a couple months ago."
But there was no mistake. At the end of a long list -- including partially hydrogenated soybean oil and dextrose -- was the single offending line: "Contains wheat and milk ingredients."
To parents like Kaur, french fries had been one of the few "safe" items on fast-food menus. But this week, McDonald's acknowledged that a flavoring agent in the cooking oil used to make fries is derived from wheat and dairy ingredients, which are off-limits to those with food allergies.
Still, physicians say there is no need to set off alarm bells yet.
The disclosure doesn't automatically put McDonald's fries on the verboten list, according to Dr. Stefano Guandalini, a pediatric gastroenterologist with the University of Chicago's Celiac Disease Program. The disease, which affects 3 million Americans, interferes with the absorption of nutrients and is triggered by consumption of gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye and barley.
"When you process the ingredients such as wheat in order to derive flavoring, you leave the gluten behind," Guandalini explained, comparing it to vinegar, another product from grains that is neutralized by the distillation process. "We have never found any evidence that eating french fries is a problem."
The wheat and dairy disclosure, coming less than a week after McDonald's acknowledged its fries contain more trans fats than previously reported, was a consequence of a new labeling rule by the Food and Drug Administration that went into effect in January.
The measure requires the packaged-foods industry to report all common allergens, such as milk, eggs, wheat, fish, shellfish or peanuts. As a restaurant operator, McDonald's does not have to comply but is doing so voluntarily.
A manufacturer with a food product that is essentially gluten-free can apply for an exemption to resolve the confusion, according to Michelle Melin-Rogovin, executive director of the celiac disease program.
McDonald's says it is "committed to transparency" about its menu and the nutrition information it provides customers. "It's important to note that the oil, cooking process and ingredients in our french fries have not changed," said William Whitman, spokesman for the Oakbrook, Ill.-based company.
Still, some people weren't taking any chances. The news ricocheted around the food allergy community, lighting up Internet message boards and unleashing a flurry of calls from parents who already feel as if they're tip-toeing through a minefield when it comes to policing their kids' diets.
For some children, even a minute amount of an allergen can turn a birthday party, field trip or sleepover into an event freighted with anxiety.
"My e-mail first started going crazy Monday afternoon," said Sueson Vess of Wheaton, Ill., who runs a Web site for people who must follow a gluten- and dairy-free diet, specialeats.com. About six people contacted her Tuesday about a possible reaction after eating at McDonald's, she said.
"It's very confusing. ... Just when you think you have the most up-to-date information, things change. It's like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall."
It's not enough just to take the bun off the hamburger, she said, because the mere contact of wheat with the patty can be enough to cause some distressing symptoms, ranging from hives to wheezing to gastrointestinal complications.
Many consumers credited McDonald's with doing a better job than most fast-food outlets at keeping potential allergens at bay, citing steps such as using fryers solely for cooking fries rather than other foods, which could trigger a reaction.
"I'm just so disappointed," said MaryAnn Lukas, who has two daughters with celiac disease. "When they go out with friends, no matter what town they're in ... they can always go to the Golden Arches. Now what are they going to eat? The boxes? This leaves the hamburger, lettuce, tomato and some of the condiments."
Kaur, on the other hand, is taking a wait-and-see attitude.
"This is something my kids will have to deal with the rest of their lives," she said. "You can't react to everything. ... If you do, it will just make you crazy."
So these kids have been eating the McDonald's fries all along and only when this disclosure has been made it becomes a problem?
The company has felt the heat over its fries before. McDonald's paid $10 million in 2002 to settle a lawsuit by vegetarian groups after it was disclosed that its fries were being cooked in beef-flavored oil more than a decade after insisting that it was starting to use pure vegetable oil.
It paid another $8.5 million in February 2005 to settle a suit by a nonprofit advocacy group that accused the company of misleading consumers by announcing that it was changing its cooking oil, then delaying the switch.
That does it...I'm gonna sue...I thought all these years I was getting nice healthy beef lard, but instead they've been feeding me (my outrage is undiminished by the fact that I've probably eaten McDonald's French fries less then a dozen times since 1990) icky politically correct dangerous trans-fats...I WANT $1,000,000,000.00 DOLLARS...
In Ocean City Maryland there is a stand on the Boardwalk called Thrashers. They too use real potatoes and they cook them in peanut oil. No trip to Ocean City is without a stop there to get some fires. Like you say they do it all right there in front of you. They have a long line of people waiting.
But McDonalds and others seem to think they can fool the public with a poor substitute.
Ease of preparation probably has a lot to do with it. Its pretty easy to dump a batch of prepared fake frozen potatoes into some grease and hit the start button.
I am pretty sure with McDonalds they cant hire someone for minimum wage smart enough to cook a real potato. I dont go there often but last time I did they dont even wait for the fires to take on a Golden hue they get them out as soon as they start turning yellow. Half cooked.
Remember when McDonalds ran commercials showing an older gent plunking down a dollar bill for his burger, fries, and Coke and being surprised by getting change back from his buck?
The Inflation Calculator takes a bit of fun out of those reminisces by reminding me how much the dollar used to be worth back in the "old days". 1963's fifty cent lunch costs $3.05 in our inflation-adjusted dollars. I haven't eaten at McD's in quite a while so I don't know how the prices of a regular burger, small fries, and a small Coke compare to those times, but that sounds about right.
I remember the ad, DD. LOL. Thanks for the calculator.
The trick is to fry them twice. The first time at about 325 degrees for about 5 minutes then drain them. Hold them aside until just before you want to finish them. Have the oil/fat/lard/tallow at 365 degrees and finish them to a nice golden brown.Drain,salt and serve.
This works best in a deep pot with a thermometer and a large wire basket. Don't cook too many at once.
I was wondering the same thing. A PB&J was the universal sack lunch back in my 1960s elementary school days. I wonder what has changed?
Apparently I'm more fastidious, anal-retentive, picky, obsessive, and controlling than these parents. We just don't go to McDonald's -- for health reasons. It really would be so much easier for them to do the same than trying to cheat death for $1.49.
Real spuns spuds fried in beef tallow.
I reaallly do know better than to post pre-coffee...
Lemme guess... before wheat was listed as a ingredient, her children did not have allergic reactions when they ate MacDonald's French Fries, but now that it's listed, mom's gonna remember the horrible suffering her children have been experiencing and she's gonna sue.
You're welcome! Thanks for the burger recipe. I'm definitely going to try it!
They used to not list the beef tallow and everyone thought they were vegetarian.
They should have listed it. But if you are a vegetarian or Hindu what are you doing at MickeyDees in the first place? It is a place dedicated to the consumption of beef.
You are breathing in little drops of beef grease every moment you are in there.
And, do not drain on a paper towel, but a wire rack.
California v Illinois prices? When they went national, prices dropped, perhaps?
You're most welcome, DD. It makes a huge difference in a burger's taste. You could also add-in A-1 or Lea & Perrine's sauces with the 1oz of water, BTW. Enjoy.
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