McDonald's Allergen Claim Leaves Some Consumers Boiling

In compliance with the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA), McDonald's Corporation, Oak Brook, IL, recently modified its website to alert consumers to potential wheat and dairy allergens in the cooking oil used for its fries.

Since then, several lawsuits have been filed against McDonald's by consumers with celiac disease, a condition characterized by intolerance to gluten. The lawsuits are based on the fact that McDonald's had previously maintained that its fries were free of wheat and milk allergens.

After the lawsuits were filed, McDonald's again modified the website's information, announcing that evaluation by the Food Allergy Research and Resource Program of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, confirms that the fries are "gluten free and allergy free." Cathy Kapica, director of global nutrition, McDonald's, further emphasizes that the potatoes themselves are free of wheat and dairy proteins so, "technically, there are no allergens in there."

The Celiac Sprue Association (CSA), a nonprofit support organization for people with celiac disease, evaluated the oil's natural flavoring and issued a statement that says, in part, that the "calculated level of any residual gluten in the final french fries is below the limits of detection of the most-sensitive commercial gluten test."