<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
 
Judy Tillinger <JSTmagpie @ AOL.COM>, referring to the Wall St. Journal article
on fries which was posted yesterday, said:
 
>After digesting that article i am left wondering: are mcDonald's fries ok?
 
I shared your concern, and again spoke with my contact at McDonald's who is
researching the "natural flavors" and "spices" in the ingredient list (see my
post of October 8th or write to me for a copy, McDonalds does claim their fries
are GF).  She still did not have an answer, so I tried to contact their bulk
fries supplier myself.
 
I was actually quite lucky, and spoke with the head of research and
development.  He was not willing to be quoted for the record, so I will not
give his name or company, but his comments were quite helpful:
 
1) Generally, fast food chains purchase their fries from one or more of about
five major fries companies.  Each chain has their own secret recipe which the
vendors use to make up batches of fries.  The oil is purchased from a different
set of vendors.  Therefore, for a particular chain to comment on whether their
fries are GF, that chain must check with each of their several potato and oil
vendors.
 
2) McDonald's is known amongst the fries vendor industry as a chain which does
NOT use "coated" fries.  The ingredients used, at least for this particular
vendor, are GF, including the "natural flavor" and "spices" -- however since I
was speaking with only one vendor, and he does not sell McDonald's their oil,
this should not be interpreted as an absolute validation of McDonald's claimed
GF status.
 
3) The real surprise was that he said the average amount of gluten in one 4
ounce serving of their CLEAR COATED fries -- the new type being tested by
Burger King, not McDonald's -- was under one tenth of a milligram!  This means
over 100 servings of fries would have to be consumed per day to approach the 10
mg daily gluten consumption often quoted on this List as the lowest limit for
which there exists a scientific study showing intestinal damage.  Again I must
caution that this was for one (albiet very large) fries vendor, and may not be
true for others.  And each celiac must make their own decision about their
personal daily gluten limit. Ten milligrams is very roughly the amount of
gluten in one-50th of a slice of my favorite whole wheat bread.
 
4) Due to consumer concerns, this vendor expects that all gluten (and all milk
derivates) will be removed from the formula for clear coated fries within 60
days .... although it may take months before these new fries trickle out into
the marketplace.  I do think our List subscribers and the non-internet celiacs
have had an impact by complaining to Burger King about their stealth fries test.
 
5) He cautioned that there are NONCLEAR coated fries with thick breaded batters
which contain a great deal of gluten.  These are not the regular french fries
served at chains, but specialty fancy fries.  They have not received consumer
complaints about the gluten content, since they are obviously coated.  Of
course, if you eat regular fries which have been cooked in the same oil as
these fancy fries, there will be a cross-contamination issue.
 
Re-reading this post, it sure seems complicated to determine if fast food fries
are acceptable for a GF diet! As the parent of 3 kids under 10 years old, fast
food chains are more important to me that I would like to admit.  As long as I
cannot prepare fresh french fries at home, I guess I will have to put up with
the complexity.
 
Bill Elkus
Los Angeles