Posted on 02/19/2006 8:10:54 PM PST by Aussie Dasher
McDonald's Corp is facing at least three lawsuits in the US related to its disclosure last week that its french fries contain wheat and dairy products.
Debra Moffatt of Lombard, Illinois, seeks unspecified damages in a lawsuit filed on Friday in Cook County Circuit Court that accuses the company of misleading the public. Her lawyer, Thomas Pakenas, said his client has celiac disease that causes gastrointestinal symptoms when set off by eating gluten, a protein found in wheat.
"You cannot sell gluten-free french fries when they have gluten," Pakenas said. Moffatt's lawsuit seeks class-action status.
McDonald's said on February 13 that wheat and dairy ingredients are used to flavour its fries. Those substances can cause allergic or other medical reactions in food-sensitive consumers.
Earlier this month, McDonald's also acknowledged that its fries contain a third more trans fats than it previously knew, citing results of a new testing method it began using in December.
Jack Daly, McDonald's senior vice president, said in a statement the company has not reviewed the case yet and is testing its fries for gluten through a food allergy research program at the University of Nebraska.
On Friday, Mark and Theresa Chimiak of Jupiter, Florida, sued the fast-food chain, claiming their 5-year-old daughter has an intolerance to gluten. On Wednesday, Nadia Sugich of Los Angeles sued McDonald's, saying she is a vegan and would not have eaten the fries if she had known they contained dairy products.
Until recently, the company had said its fries were free of gluten and milk or wheat allergens and safe for people with dietary issues related to the consumption of dairy items. But this month, the fast-food company quietly added "Contains wheat and milk ingredients" to the french fries listing on its website.
The company said the move came in response to new rules by the US Food and Drug Administration for the packaged foods industry, including one requiring that the presence of common allergens such as milk, eggs, wheat, fish or peanuts be reported. As a restaurant operator, the Oak Brook, Illinois-based McDonald's does not have to comply but is doing so voluntarily.
Whatever happened to Common Sense??
What kind of vegan eats at McDonalds? She should have had a milkshake, no trace of dairy in those.
McDonalds had better be covering its posterior six ways to Sunday. Fast food will be sued incessantly now that the anti-tobacco cash cow has peaked.
Food Sensitive Eaters shouldnt be eating McDonalds.
Really tiring.
The day they stopped using lard to cook fries was the day their and all other "fast food" fries became inedible, IMO.
Were they injured or are they just angry?
Not good for folks with Celiac Disease. The consumption of gluten-containing products in these patients can lead to various cancers and cardiomyopathies.
I agree!
OH MY GOD - HE'S RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS MAN'S A GENIUS!!!!
Silly you! Thinking Mc Donalds french fries are made out of poatoes!
What potato have you ever seen turn rock hard when it's cold?
Potatoes get soft when they get cold, not hard enough to nail into a wall.
The only fast food french fries that are edible are Rally's.
If there is one potato per 100lbs of McDonalds french fries I would be surprised.
I have celiac disease too, but that stuff doesn't set me off. Maybe he has it worse than me, but I still eat their fries. They're delicious.
What's wrong with wheat and dairy products?
I got mad when my fries were cold.
McD's fries have sucked since the food police made them quit frying them in beef tallow.
Gluten to people with celiac disease (intolerance to gluten) is worse than cancer. I am speaking from experience. My wife is a celiac. Gluten is contained in wheat, barley, oats, maltand rye along with being in other food stuffs as an ingredient including modified foodstarch and soy sauce among other. Try a diet that does not have these ingredients. When a trace of gluten is ingested by a celiac, it is equivalent to poison. Celiac disease is genetic. Out of my wife's family of seven (six girls and a boy) for four sisters have had intestinal surgery and the brother died at 23 with an intestine of an 80 year old. It was 10 years after his death than my wife was diagnosed after being told she had everthing from crones to addison. The only cure for celiacs is total avoidance of gluten. By the way potatos don't contain gluten.
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