<<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).