If you cannot tolerate gluten, you will be much more interested in staying off foods that have it in their ingredient. Since gluten is a naturally occurring protein found in some grains, even a small bit of it can trigger allergic reactions in some people.
French fries are popular on the fries and side menu at McDonald’s. We will list the ingredients used for McDonald’s french fries and how they are made so that a gluten-allergic person can take note. We will round up this article by answering the question: are McDonald’s fries gluten-free?
What Are McDonald Fries Made Of?
McDonald officially published the list of ingredients used for their french fries on their website. They included starting ingredients such as hydrolyzed milk and hydrolyzed wheat.
The full ingredients for McDonald’s french fries include; potatoes, salt, sodium acid pyrophosphate which is used to maintain color, dextrose, vegetable oil (corn oil, hydrogenated soybean oil, soybean oil, canola oil, beef flavor [what and milk derivatives).
Natural beef flavors contain hydrolyzed wheat and hydrolyzed milk.
How are McDonald’s Fries Made?
McDonald’s fries are precooked and made into fries at the factory. They are then packed and sent to all the local restaurants to be fried into finished products and served. These fries also share fryers with other products in the kitchen area. So cross-contamination with gluten products may be inevitable.
What is Gluten?
Gluten is a naturally occurring protein in grains like wheat, semolina, barley, spelt, farro, durum, burger, kamut, and rye. It functions primarily like a glue that makes these products stick together. Since gluten is naturally found in these products, it is impossible to get rid of them.
Are McDonald Fries Gluten free?
No. McDonald’s french fries are not gluten-free because they contain hydrolyzed wheat as the base ingredient. Although the fries are fried in dedicated fryers with non-hydrogenated vegetable oil, the hydrolyzed wheat in the base ingredients cannot be overlooked.