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

I had several responses to my original post.  I had been eating Wendy's baked
potato and chili with cheese with no ill effects for many many months until
about a month ago. Within 10 days of each other, I went to two different
Wendy's in two different towns and had the baked potato and chili & cheese....and
was I so sick afterward!  It turns out that I am not the only one having the
trouble in recent weeks/months.  Below are the posts that I received - thank you
to all who answered!

I finally got the chance to call Wendy's customer service yesterday and the
customer service rep informed me that there were no changes to the items that I
listed.  I pointed out that their gluten-free list on the web is 6 months old
and she stated that everything on that list is still gluten-free.  I
explained my situation and the fact that several list-mates were having similar
problems with the same menu items - she again said that those items are gf.  She
then went on to say that she was going to make two of her child relatives who are
celiac go to Wendy's to try those items to see if they'd get sick.
Geez....that sounded bad the way she said it.  If I were uncertain about the gluten
situation in a food, I wouldn't send a child to try it out to see if they get
sick, would you?

I find it hard to believe that several of us in different areas of the
country would suddenly start having similar problems when no problems were had
before.  I still think there was an ingredient change somewhere.  The memory of the
last illness is still too vivid for me to attempt to try a different
combination of those foods.  Bummer.  I looked forward to trips to Wendys.  I've never
tried the grilled chicken so perhaps I will go that route sometime.

Other posts:

YOU BET !   I STARTED TO HAVING TROUBLE LAST JUNE ALL THE WAY  THROUGH
AUGUST. AFTER TWO MONTHS  I STARTED TO ASK QUESTIONS.  SINCE IT IS CLOSE TO THE
COURT HOUSE ,  I HAD EATEN THERE EVERY WEEK DAY FOR YEARS.
THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN I STARTED TO BREAK OUT AND  THEN GOT  REALLY SICK WITH
ALL THE CELIAC SPRUE PROBLEMS.  ONE OF THE WORKERS IN THERE TOLD ME THEY WERE
ADDING CEREAL TO THE  MEAT.  BUT THE HOME OFFICE DENIED IT.   MY RESPONSE WAS
"WELL YOU HAD BETTER CHECK OUT WENDY'S FLORENCE, S.C. BECAUSE FOR YEARS WHEN
THE OWNER WAS ALIVE (DAVE) I NEVER HAD A PROBLEM WITH THE CHILI, CHILI BEANS, OR
TACO SALAD."    THEREFORE,  IT WAS OBVIOUS TO ME IT IS THE MEAT AND A WORKER
TOLD ME THEY ADDED CEREAL TO THE MEAT. OF COURSE I HAVE NOT SEEN THAT WORKER
AGAIN SINCE ALL THE CONTROVERSY.
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I have experienced symptoms of hypoglycemia recently after eating the
chili and baked potato but not diahrrea.
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Hey, I have been eating chili and baked potato at Wendys for years. Lately it
has been at least three times a month as I am away from home and have to do
something for lunch each day. So Wendys is often a no brainer.  I have
absolutely NO problem with these products. Perhaps you are getting your problem from
somewhere else. Just thought you would like to know and have a very nice day.
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I don't know about the baked potato, but I had chili at Wendy's yesterday,
and am having a really bad time right now.  I think I'll try to contact them and
see if they've started putting something new in their chili.
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One of our members here in Florence, SC has had severe reaction to Wendy's
Chile. She has been eating it for years but several months ago began to react.
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When I go to Wendy's I get the baked potatoe and ask that they not cut it.
Just make sure they have rubber gloves on or have washed their hands prior to
putting the potatoe in a tray. The possibility of cross contamination is high
at any fast food restraunt. I then get the chili in a small cup. They get the
chili in cans and the cans are dumped into the big pot that is
covered up and right up front. Easy to watch them when they get it. It always
has a scop right in the pot for the chili. I never get cheese so not sure
about that. I then take and cut my own potatoe and add the chili on top even then
being very careful not to eat or get ner the outter skin that could of been
contaminated. Hope this helps.
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Two things to check.
1) The meat in the chili is GF and the majority of the time there is no
cross-contamination.  However, if meat is placed on a bun then pulled off then used
for chili cross-contamination could occur.  I will say that I have never had
any problems with the chili here in Florida.
2) The cheese that is being used - is it GF?  I would check that.  You may
have to avoid the cheese.
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I had the Wendy's chili twice in the past couple of months and I had a
reaction to it.  I had gotten the Taco salad which was only chili and tossed green
salad.  I had stomach problems both times.  I live in CT.
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I do not know if this is true or just a rumor but I have heard that some
Wendy's add extra cooked hambergers to the chili. If they really do this, then
that could be a cause of cross contamination. I would ask the stores if that is
done. Did they open the potato for you? If so, the person who opened the potato
may have handled hamburger buns too.  I do know that their hot sauce in the
packet is not GF.
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I gave up on eating out two years ago because of what you describe here.
Check this out. I was celiac for 40 years undiagnosed since I was born. My
symptoms were so mild as to go undiagnosed for decades but as I got older they
started growing and causing me severe problems. So after 40 years of hammering my
intestines with gluten about 3x a day my intestines were actually "getting
hard" according to my doctor. He said on the physical exam that when he pressed on
my abdomen my intestines almost felt wooden. He explained that as you have
continuing inflammation over time it actually causes your intestines to harden
in response to the chronic inflammation. If you get past a certain amount of
time you might not be able to go back to normal tissue. So it took me 30 months
of being GF, 2.5 years, before my intestines went back to "soft and spongy",
that is normal. But I had to give up eating out and junk food, and went to
strictly cooking for myself from
whole GF ingredients. Also in the last 6 months I added this pomegranate
juice "POM". They have a website: http://www.pomwonderful.com this stuff is
supposed to be the highest source of anti-oxidants in nature. I started drinking a
big bottle (24 ounces) of it every 3 days, about 8 ounces a day.  Really now
that I look back on it, this last 6 months is when my intestines finally "got
soft" and I think it had a lot to do with the "POM" juice I was
drinking. Anyway now I just drink 8 ounces a day and it actually acts kind of
like a medicine for me. When I get the occasional gluten accident the
diarrhea now is down to about 1-2 days and I'm back to normal in about 3 days, as
opposed to before the "POM" juice when it would be 3 days of diarrhea and 7-8
days before I was fully back to normal. Anyway, I don't
work for these guys, POM that is, not related to anybody who works for them.
Just the juice seemed to help. I posted about it before. I should do a
follow-up because this stuff was a gut-saver :)
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I eat at Wendy's regularly.  I used to get the chili and fries, but I have
high cholesterol,
so I have switched to the salsa salad, I have never had a problem with either
of these.
Since our major diet is rice and baked potatoes I avoid the latter.  I'm
sorry I wasn't any help.  Apparently I am not a "sensitive" person and to tell you
the truth I never
noticed the, chili and cheese baked potato.  I also have diabetes and DH.
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We don't eat at Wendy's regularly, but when we do, we avoid the chili because
it has beans in it.  There are lectins (proteins) in legumes that resemble
gluten, and we react to them just as we do to gluten.  Likewise with casein, the
protein in dairy.  We have had good luck at Wendy's eating the grilled
chicken and the baked potato (plain) and the broccoli florets.
##############################
I had a chili & cheese baked potato at Wendy's last week and
experienced no problems.
#################################
I had that same type of reaction once, and my friend who is also a Celiac
asked me if I had asked them NOT to cut the potato?? Aparently you need to cut it
yourself to avoid cross contamination issues, or they'll automatically slice
it for you with who knows what else on their knife.  Good luck.  PS. I
recently saw a show on dateline anyway about fastfood restaurants and Wendy's got in
trouble for cockroach matter and various other health dept.
complaints, so I haven't eaten there since I saw that.
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maybe they changed the cheese or chili source
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I think it may be the cheese -- that it may be a processed cheese.  I usually
get the potato plain (or with broccoli on the side) and a small chili to put
on it.  Then I slip out my own cheddar and put it on the top!  I don't trust
cheeses at fast food restaurants.  Even the grated cheese on the salads seem to
have some kind of nasty gluten product on it to keep the pieces separate!
Ugh!  I was sick after a taco supremo salad recently and hadn't ever had that
reaction before.  And, of course, the salads are pre-made.  So, try the potato
naked, or the small side salad naked, and the chili on the side!
#############################
Had their chili about 3 or 4 days ago with no problems.
#############################
I am not someone who has an immediate response to gluten -- my problems are
more long-term.  However, I have eaten the chili and baked potato and cheese at
Wendy's without problem that I can tell.  I'd say you could call their main
offices, to inquire if they have
made any changes.  I understand they are very friendly.  But, I will tell you
that I remain suspicious, just on principle, of the cheese sauce at Wendy's.
Besides it being made of American cheese (always questionable to me), it has
to have some kind of thickener, and I
just don't trust that it is not wheat related. I know they SAY it's OK ...
but ...
I don't know if you could possibly be up for it -- but since you CAN tell if
something has gluten, maybe you'd want to try just the potato, chili and the
grated cheese on top.  I like going to Wendy's because they do have a lot of
things we (supposedly) can eat -- and
my husband (not GF) always finds something he likes there as well.
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Perhaps it is a cross-contamination issue?
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* Please remember some posters may be WHEAT-FREE, but not GLUTEN-FREE *