Gluten Contamination of French Fries Cooked in Fryers Shared with Wheat Products

With Celiac disease, people should NOT be eating French fries made with potatoes.  Potatoes are a night shade and they cause inflammation.  Sweet potatoes are "roots" and they are safe. 

Please also remember that night shade vegetables have LECTINS which will cause flare ups in people with autoimmune disease.  Gluten is just ONE TYPE of lectin.  So, beware.  Stay away from corn, rice, and grains as well.  Look up Dr. Steven Gundry and The Plant Paradox.  He has a list of what to avoid.  I have been following it for 3 years and no flare ups.

Your statement is far too broad to be reliable, as I've been eating nightshades daily for my entire life, without any issues. Many celiacs don't have issues with nightshades, although some do. Many non-celiacs don't have issues with nightshades, although some do. Please don't make broad, sweeping statements like this because it isn't helpful to people who might believe that they are unsafe for celiacs, when nightshades are actually gluten-free, and safe for the vast majority of celiacs.

Just now, Scott Adams said:

Your statement is far too broad to be reliable, as I've been eating nightshades daily for my entire life, without any issues. Many celiacs don't have issues with nightshades, although some do. Many non-celiacs don't have issues with nightshades, although some do. Please don't make broad, sweeping statements like this because it isn't helpful to people who might believe that they are unsafe for celiacs, when nightshades are actually gluten-free, and safe for the vast majority of celiacs.

People can try stopping it like I did and if the flare ups stop, then that's a strong clue.  I never said all people should stop.  Stop being so critical of my point here.  I DO have celiac disease and nightshades do cause me horrible flareups.  I have a medical background and 2 degrees.  I am trying to help people figure out what may be harming them.  Go ahead and eat all the potatoes you want and all the nightshades you want.  There are people out there who MAY be eating them and it is doing them harm.  This message is for those people.  I would ask that you no longer send negative comments to me.  

McDonalds fries USED TO BE my one little indulgence that I actually go set down and eat, with other humans. Not have to cook, and not have to worry. A couple years ago, got an order of fries, got sick, glutened. Did my little forensic audit, lol, blamed it on something else. A few day later, got another order. Glutened. Talked to a friend who worked at that McDonalds, they had introduced a breakfast donut stick, and their once dedicated potato fryers were not anymore.  Kinda broke my heart lol.  She told the manager and they hung a sign.  McDonalds website as of a month ago still says they are cooked in dedicated fryers in a statement dated 2017. I contacted them, the letter was still up last time I checked. 

Sincerely, and with true appreciation for the article, no criticism only adding. It is good to be verified. Science backed or not, what can make a celiac sick is less than what can be detected sometimes.  Highly refined alcohol comes to mind, my own rule of gluten free labeled or not, I won't eat something that has yeast extract on the label. Sick when you shouldn't can be an indication of another problem, and should always be taken into account, whether the secondary is cart or horse, or unrelated to Celiacs. But, science or no, if it makes you sick, don't eat it. If it makes others with the same issues sick.... have caution.

43 minutes ago, Rick Sanchez said:

McDonalds fries USED TO BE my one little indulgence that I actually go set down and eat, with other humans. Not have to cook, and not have to worry. A couple years ago, got an order of fries, got sick, glutened. Did my little forensic audit, lol, blamed it on something else. A few day later, got another order. Glutened. Talked to a friend who worked at that McDonalds, they had introduced a breakfast donut stick, and their once dedicated potato fryers were not anymore.  Kinda broke my heart lol.  She told the manager and they hung a sign.  McDonalds website as of a month ago still says they are cooked in dedicated fryers in a statement dated 2017….….   …………,.    
my own rule of gluten free labeled or not, I won't eat something that has yeast extract on the label. Sick when you shouldn't can be an indication of another problem, and should always be taken into account, whether the secondary is cart or horse, or unrelated to Celiacs. But, science or no, if it makes you sick, don't eat it. If it makes others with the same issues sick.... have caution.

That’s awesome advice right there.

I have a place i like to eat at that has a dedicated vat for fries. I think it’s about the temperature that works best for fries being different than for other foods (not about watching out for CC), because I’ve learned that sometimes their fries are beer-battered. So I can’t have their fries, now, either. 

i have to watch out for dextrose which is an ingredient in most frozen potatoes you can buy, as well as most sausages. (It’s also in Gatorade, Pedialyte, etc., I found out after a particularly rough experience. Coconut water to the rescue!!)  A friend researched it a little and found dextrose can be made from wheat or corn. So if it says gluten-free and it lists dextrose or maltodextrin, I GUESS they’ve gone with the corn version?  I’ll continue to avoid it until i know for sure.

It looks like McDonald's French fries are gluten-free!

This is from their UK site, and in the UK products that used hydrolyzed wheat can be called gluten-free (and this is also true in the USA now as well):

https://www.mcdonalds.com/gb/en-gb/help/faq/which-of-your-products-are-gluten-free.html 

Quote

Several items on our menu are free from ingredients containing gluten. However, due to our kitchen set up, we cannot guarantee that cross-contamination will not occur.

The items on our menu that are free from ingredients containing gluten include our French Fries, which are cooked in dedicated fryers using a non-hydrogenated vegetable oil; Hash Browns; Fruit Bags; Carrot Sticks and Shaker Side Salad® with Balsamic Dressing; as well as some McFlurry® desserts, such as the Crunchie and Dairy Milk McFlurry®. All of our permanent menu drinks are also free from ingredients containing gluten.

You can find a full ingredient declaration for all food (including our burgers) served in the U.K. by visiting our online nutritional calculator tool here or downloading our Allergen Booklet here.

On 4/20/2023 at 3:27 PM, Scott Adams said:

It looks like McDonald's French fries are gluten-free!

This is from their site:

https://www.mcdonalds.com/gb/en-gb/help/faq/which-of-your-products-are-gluten-free.html 

 

Hi Scott, When is that statement from? UK may be different, and I used to love McDonalds fries. Here in the States they fry donut sticks in the fryers. Started in 2019/20ish. Not all locations, but the statement I can find is from 2018.  

Sincerely

We have been warned off of McDonald fires as long as I have had Celiac - maybe 15 years. Their fries have some kind of beef flavor that contains wheat we were warned  So ?????

For McDonald's  in the USA they don't directly market their products as gluten-free because their beef flavor contains hydrolyzed wheat, this is wheat with the gluten removed. Until recently such an ingredient was not allowed to be labelled "gluten-free" under USA laws, but this changed a couple of years ago, so the USA is now more in line with European labelling laws (this is why you can now buy DiGiorno Gluten-Free pizza made using wheat starch).

McDonald's has always used the same ingredients, and dedicate fryers, worldwide--all franchises must follow very strict corporate rules. They don't cook donuts or other foods with their French Fries.

https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/product/small-french-fries.html

Quote

Allergen Information

French Fries

Ingredients: Potatoes, Vegetable Oil (canola Oil, Corn Oil, Soybean Oil, Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Natural Beef Flavor [wheat And Milk Derivatives]*), Dextrose, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate (maintain Color), Salt. *natural Beef Flavor Contains Hydrolyzed Wheat And Hydrolyzed Milk As Starting Ingredients.

Contains: Wheat, Milk.

Again, McDonald's does not claim their fries are gluten-free, but they've never, as far as I know, have tested positive for gluten.

I'm with Scott I eat nightshades with no problems, I've been gluten-free for 25 years and I feel great. I would not however trust McDonalds french fries. I know a lot of places we go we ask if the fries are gluten free and they say "yes." Then we asked if they are fried in a fryer with gluten things and the answer is often yes. I really only trust places that "get it" and have a dedicated fryer. And at least where I live, those places are few and far between.

I understand why you may avoid McDonald's, but they do use dedicated French fry fryers, and only cook their fries and hash browns in them. They always done this, and it's not to keep things gluten-free, but to avoid bad tasting French fries, which is part of their trademark now--they don't mess with their fries!

12 hours ago, Scott Adams said:

For McDonald's  in the USA they don't directly market their products as gluten-free because their beef flavor contains hydrolyzed wheat, this is wheat with the gluten removed. Until recently such an ingredient was not allowed to be labelled "gluten-free" under USA laws, but this changed a couple of years ago, so the USA is now more in line with European labelling laws (this is why you can now buy DiGiorno Gluten-Free pizza made using wheat starch).

McDonald's has always used the same ingredients, and dedicate fryers, worldwide--all franchises must follow very strict corporate rules. They don't cook donuts or other foods with their French Fries.

https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/product/small-french-fries.html

Again, McDonald's does not claim their fries are gluten-free, but they've never, as far as I know, have tested positive for gluten.

 

Some franchises certainly do have cooked donut sticks in their fryers. I don't go there, so I have no idea if it was promotional or they still do.  But they certainly have in the recent past.