Has anybody been 'glutened' by French fries from a fast food chain that maintain that they are gluten free? I was yesterday as

[taffy]

I was travelling home on a motorway and stopped at a service station and there was absolutely nothing to eat except the fries. Pain not too bad but a definite gluten attack and am amazed and can't understand how this has happened?!?!

[Henbur]

Perhaps cross contamination eg if they use fryers for other things? Sometimes things are coated to make them crispy but if they said the fries were gf I guess this is unlikely

[KathrynS_UK]

I would imagine they had cooked or dropped something with gluten in the oil and it may not have happened while that member of staff was on duty.

I have found it quite alarming how many places will say chips are safe, but when you ask if it is a dedicated fryer they say no.

[EmJB]

I believe commercial chips are frozen and tossed in flour to stop them sticking together. The staff frying them may not realise that as they just scoop them out of the bag into the fryer.

[windymillersue]

Emjb is correct, large commercial bags of fries are coated at source. I never trust any chips out

[Hidden]

Hi taffy, I'm sorry that you've been made ill, now which company is this and do they use the fryers for any other gluten containing foods? because it could be contamination from the fat or in handling them.

Most French fries are coated in dextrose and even tho' this is probably derived from wheat it would be well within codex but some coeliac have issues with dextrose.

MacD's started a transparency campaign and this is what it has revealed in the ingredients of their french fries:

care2.com/greenliving/shock...

And I hope that you feel better soon,

Jerry

[taffy in reply to Hidden]

Many thanks Jerry, I'm loathe to say the name of the company but needless to say it is a very popular one. The fries are advertised as gluten free and this was the first (and last ) time I eat them. The fryer must have been used to cook something which contaminated the oil so I'm thinking of writing to said company if only to educate them and staff.

Thanks to everybody who has responded and I'm starting to feel much better!

[Enquiring in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for sharing the link Jerry, I knew this about commercial chips, but it's great to have a good link about it to share on social media. It's not just coeliacs who should not be eating this stuff!! It not only harms our bodies, but is harming the environment. I hope everyone reading these comments will also share the link on their social media

[Shonny in reply to Hidden]

I think that's an american website - I know some people on here might be from the states, but the original question refers to the UK. The following link gives info on the ingredients used in the UK.

mcdonalds.co.uk/ukhome/what...

[Hidden in reply to Shonny]

Hi Shonny, I think the advantage of US French fries over the UK is corn is big business in the States and it's much easier and cheaper to turn corn into dextrose than any other grain. In the UK and the EU the majority of dextrose is a wheat derivative.

MacD's like uniformity so their fries are made with 2 varieties of potatoes bought in season and prepared and frozen and supplied frozen to their outlets.

Dextrose is added as a colour and to enhance flavour and preservatives are needed as the fries are frozen and your link just gives the ingredient of their cooking oil. Which may not be hydrogenated but we do not know whether it has been chemically treated or heat treated which can increase it's saturated fat content.

So rather than their fries being just potato and oil, they will have salt preservatives and additives regardless of what country they are in.

In the US they have to label wheat deriv's as exactly that so what many of us wonder is why is this not so in the UK and the EU.

Jerry

[poing]

It should think its the oil in the fryer.

I heard that the oil from all the fryers gets filtered and reused, so the oil from all the fryers gets well and truely mixed up.

[Hidden]

Whilst they may be speaking truthfully that the chips are gluten free, what they don't tell you is that the oil they use to fry them in is also used to fry other foods such as nuggets and others coated in batter. The ingredients from such batter leaks out into the oil and then contaminates all other foods that use that oil - including the gluten free chips.

[taffy in reply to Hidden]

Hi Fordie777, the fryer for the fries is a dedicated one so the likelihood of contamination is an odd one but as Poing above says if the oil is filtered and reused then this would be an obvious reason. This definitely need to be brought to their attention.

[Hidden in reply to taffy]

It certainly does need to be brought to their attention. May I just add that I used to work for a fast food chain and although it was their policy to have a separate fryer dedicated for such reasons, the majority of the staff (managers included) continually ignored this and fried all foods in all fryers, causing cross-contamination.

[Enquiring in reply to Hidden]

I've found that a great many people who have no difficulties with food just don't believe it's possible to have these problems. They get irritated that they have to make the extra effort, especially when they think it's all in the mind or attention seeking, so they think what you don't know won't harm you. They don't see or experience the aftermath. I don't often eat out because of this. You can usually get a feeling when you're not being taken seriously and if I get someone with real attitude I have been known to ask them if they are 100% sure that everything is entirely gluten free because if it's not I have an instant reaction and will be in their toilets severely ill in agony with chronic diarrhea within 10 minutes (this is true) so do they really want that!? They have always then stopped bullshitting me and either said they would go and double check everything or admit that there is definitely cross contamination! I've even been deliberately glutened by a friend with a few crumbs in sauce because she didn't believe me that so little could have such a reaction. I had no idea until the pain started and I thought it was an accident. She believed me when she saw me in agony in her toilet and unable to leave her house for several hours till I stabalised enough to be able to drive home! I learned it was deliberate afterwards because she told a mutual friend what she had done because she was so shocked by the experience, who then told me. If a friend can do this, what can we expect from people who don't even know us!?

[Hil101 in reply to Enquiring]

Absolutely shocked to read this. Hope she is off your Xmas card list.

[Grew]

As Taffy stated above.. My be gluten free but the oil is filtered and then reused. Through local management, I found this to be true at Wendy's and Buffalo Wild Wings. How dare they be able to claim gluten free.

[Hil101]

I once asked at one of their motorway service outlets and was assured that they are GF. However, when I then asked detailed questions about the oil they are fried in, I was told that that it drains down into a common 'sump' for filtration and reuse - so contaminated oil gets into the chip oil. I went hungry that day! Motorway service areas are the worst place to find anything GF.

[Hil101]

I forgot to put that dextrose always makes me ill. It's not GF as far as my body's concerned!

[Apricot in reply to Hil101]

Not all dextrose is made from wheat. Can be other things..beet or potato being the most common. Hope you poor souls that are poorly..are now feeling better...

[Hil101 in reply to Apricot]

Yes, I mean wheat dextrose (which it often/usually is in Europe unless otherwise stated - as is glucose syrup)