I received this today from my support group and thought I would share for those of you with mfa.
"I called McDonalds and was told that yes, this is true. There is milk/wheat in the 'natural' flavorings. They also said this is not a reformulation - that it was there all along. I'm not sure what to think, but if you want to call them for more information, their phone number is 877-623-3663 (provided by FAAN). I have also asked FAAN to look into it, since this isn't a change, it isn't an alert - it's part of the whole label declaration FALCPA.
If you've downloaded the McD's ingredients or allergen list before, you may need to refresh your screen - and get rid of the old temp files that are stored when you download. If it isn't the 2/03/06 version, you're looking at an old one.
French Fries: Potatoes, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, natural flavor (beef, wheat and dairy sources), dextrose, sodium acid pyrophosphate (to preserve natural color). Breading set in vegetable oil. Cooked in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils (may contain partially hydrogenated soybean oil and/or partially hydrogenated corn oil and/or partially hydrogenated canola oil and/or cottonseed oil and/or sunflower oil and/or corn oil). Contains wheat and milk ingredients."
Thank you so much for sharing this information.
Very disappointing [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/frown.gif[/img] to learn that something we believed to be relatively safe isn't so.
Edited to add: I had to look at the pdf menu [url="http://app.mcdonalds.com/countries/usa/food/nutrition/categories/ingredientslist.pdf"]http://app.mcdonalds.com/countries/usa/food/nutrition/categories/ingredientslist.pdf[/url] to see this new info. The menu at [url="http://www.mcdonalds.com/app_controller.nutrition.categories.ingredients.index.html"]http://www.mcdonalds.com/app_controller.nutrition.categories.ingredients.index.html[/url] had not been updated since 9/28/05.
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Jodi mom to:
D 5/22/01 NKA
Z 3/18/03 Peanut, Milk, Egg, etc.
[This message has been edited by 2BusyBoys (edited February 06, 2006).]
WHAT?!?!?
Thank you sooo much for posting this. We've been eating their fries without incident, but obviously we won't go there anymore. UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!Meg
Still thinking about this today....I don't get it, any of it. I don't see how the fries could always have had milk, my ds frequently reacts to trace amounts on shared equipment, not even as an ingredient!
When we go, he really enjoys his hamburger, and doesn't eat too many fries, but still if something had milk, I'd be shocked if he didn't react. I'm going to add this to my list of things to check out further.
This list, it just keeps growing and growing and growing. Ok, guess you get the picture. Still mad, Meg
This is very strange indeed. My ds has had ana. reactions to dairy, but has been eating McD's fries all his life with no problems.
I wonder if this is a may contain issue?
I just called McDonalds and gave them an earful. The rep was sympathetic. He explained that no, the formula had not changed, but this was due to the new FALCPA guidelines, as someone already posted. He said that actually the allergens are used to make the flavoring and are removed before the oil ever contacts the fries (please check on this for yourself when choosing whether to eat the fries). I told him that that was all well and good, but that I could not in good conscience feed this product to my child. Because now that they are labeling for milk, if they ever do add milk protein to the formula, I would have no way of knowing - the product could be "safe" today and not tomorrow KWIM? Anyway, I encourage all you folks with milk allergies (and celiac too, as they now are claiming wheat ingredients), and anyone else who cares, to call MCD up and complain and encourage a formula change and to update their website properly, as they have conflicting info, with one page not listing the milk/gluten and the pdf file listing it. Call today! There is power in numbers!
[This message has been edited by margaret (edited February 07, 2006).]
One of the weird things about this is that restaurants are not actually covered by FALCPA. I'm guessing McDonalds is following the guidelines anyway because they are so thorough about ingredients anyway.
I do know from reading "Fast Food Nation" that the french fry flavoring is concocted in a lab - I suspect that no matter what the initial ingredients, by the time they are done with it the final product bears little resemblence to anything in nature, including milk or wheat.
Still, it is quite alarming to read this - I bet you they are working on a reformulation now.
I too had heard this from elsewhere, but didnt post it here.
Not al lthe facts are out. FAAN is involved, has been contacted, but nothing from them as of yet.
My thoughts? From an outsider looking in?
Milk/Wheat are not IN the FF's. A lot of kids have been eating them, wihtout issue. Gotta think thats true.
Were they EVER in the FF's? Dont know the process of making the FF's to ship to McD's, kwim?
Comfy zone? If you've had them yesterday they MAY be safe today (or may NOT be). Things could change on any given day, and no ingred list would be revised...
As I told someone else -- Spooky.
Jason
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[b]* Obsessed * [/b]
Greenlady, I'm sorry, but despite the seriousness of this thread, I found your post comical. You could extend it to wonder if the concoction even resembles or has potato in it really.
Is this the only food that McDonald's offers that they changed their allergen list on? To me, with their lengthy menu, it strikes me as rather odd. Only the french fries. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/confused.gif[/img]
I do have to say that since McDonald's didn't have to adhere to FALCPA, I find it admirable that they are anyway.
Best wishes! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]
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"That was Polanski. Nicholson got his nose cut."
Quote:Originally posted by margaret:
[b]Anyway, I encourage all you folks with milk allergies (and celiac too, as they now are claiming wheat ingredients), and anyone else who cares, to call MCD up and complain and encourage a formula change and to update their website properly, as they have conflicting info, with one page not listing the milk/gluten and the pdf file listing it. Call today! There is power in numbers!
[/b]
Contact info...
email form: [url="http://www.mcdonalds.com/contact/contact_us/food_nutrition."]http://www.mcdonalds.com/contact/contact_us/food_nutrition.[/url]
Phone: 1-800-244-6227
Mail: McDonald
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