<<Disclaimer:  Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

The continuing saga of how to get fast food gluten free French Fries
for your Celiac children.....

     I have previously posted on my discussions with Chet England at
Burger King corporate (305-378-7038) which resulted in my being
comfortable that their French Fries are generally GF.  Basically, they
claim to use separate dedicated oil vats in separate part of the store
to  prepare their Fries.  The breaded onion rings are done at the other
end of the store, but when both products are finished the are put into
separate compartments in a large serving tray with a thick metal
divider.  The onion rings are (supposedly) served with metal tongs, and
the Fries are served with a metal scooper.

    Recently, I discovered that at least in my city, most Burger Kings
do not follow the company policy and they use the same scooper for
Fries and onion rings.  This can cause many bread crumbs to fall into
the French Fry tray and onto the Fries.

    In speaking with Burger King management, there appears to be a way
to get around this.  In our community, if you order 'no salt' Fries,
they are required to start a brand new batch of fries, and to clean the
metal scooper, then to scoop the fries directly from the oil to your
cardboard box.  Since there are many more people on salt restricted
diets than Celiacs, the Burger Kings are already very careful to
properly implement the 'no salt' procedure.  It takes an extra 3
 minutes to prepare fries fresh this way.  You may wish to check with
your local Burger King to see if this works in your community, as it is
not a national policy.

    While I hate to have to be such a stickler with Burger King, my
Celiac son had a bad reaction on a day when this was the only thing he
ate out of the house.  I think if enough bread crumbs get onto the
fries, it can cause him a problem.

 Bill Elkus

       P.S. I just spoke with Elaine Monarch of the Celiac Disease
Foundation (818-990-2354, an excellent resource!) about her discussions
with McDonald's.  There is nothing new to report.  I have previously
posted about McDonald's -- they only have one set of fryers, and
 although they try to reserve a fryer just for French Fries, they
cannot certify that no hash browns (which have wheat flour) have been
in the fryer.  When I aked at the store near my home, I was told tht at
least once a day, all fryers are used for hash browns.  A lower level
corporate employee at McDonald's wrote Elaine that cross-contamination
was impossible due to the high temperatures involved.  Elaine wrote
back disputing this theory and was telephoned by a more senior staff
person who appeared to take the needs of Celiacs more seriously.  Two
months have passed without any action.  The Canadian Celiac Association
newsletter said that McDonald's of Canada has reformulated their hash
browns without wheat starch to avoid this problem (unless some other
product contaminates the French Fries).