Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Update: Are Burger King's new fries gluten free?

If you have started to see the Burger King Television ads promoting their new French fries, you might be wondering if they now contain gluten.

The fries are still on the company's "gluten sensitive" list, which includes menu items that do not contain wheat, barley, rye or oats.  Kristen Hauser, a Burger King spokeswoman, sent me the most updated version of the list yesterday.  It indicated the fries continue to be made without gluten-containing ingredients.


Hauser also provided this ingredients list for the fries:

Potatoes, Soybean Oil, Modified Potato Starch, Rice Flour, Salt, Leavening (Disodium Dihydrogen Pyrophosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate), Dextrose, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate to Preserve Natural Color

All of the ingredients are clearly gluten free.

But none of this might matter to you because of cross contamination issues.

Burger King continues to note that the fries may be fried with gluten-containing foods. This could include breaded onion rings. Foods fried in oil shared with gluten-containg items are generally considered to be cross-contaminated and unsafe on the gluten-free diet.

Burger King says the new fries are thicker and have less sodium. "A thicker cut of potato gives each bite more fluffy, potato flavor on the inside and crispy, golden-brown deliciousness on the outside," the company said in a press release anouncing the change in their fries, the first since 1998.

Amy Ratner

10 comments:

water said...

Is this web site geared towards celiac? The cc is the deal breaker, so what's with the free advertising for Burger King?

Amy said...

The blog does not advertise the fries for Burger King but answers the question of what the changes might mean for those who are gluten free. The cross contamination issues are clearly spelled out. Our goal is to give our readers the best information we can find.

Murugan Pandian said...

It definitely raises more awareness of those with Celiac and those with food allergies. Unfortunately, as you stated, the cross contamination from the other products will make it impossible to eat for those with an issue with gluten.

NurseyK said...

I have several autoimmune diseases and eat gluten free because I'm gluten sensitive. I'm not a big fast food person, but it is super important for me to know. I can tolerate a bit of cc so I'm super glad to have these updates! Thank you!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the info! I wish more places would have a dedicated fryer...

Xeryfyn said...

Sorry, I agree with the previous poster--the entire last paragraph is a complete advert for BK fries. After stating the cc issue, the end of the story should have been: proceed with caution since the probability of cross contamination makes these an unsafe bet

Susan said...

You can check with your local Burger King and see if they use a separate fryer for their fries. Mine does and I eat them with no problems. Thanks for the info on the new fries!

Andrea said...

I just ate some of the new fries and my stomach is killing me. I'll be steering clear of them...Long live In-n-Out Burger fries!

Anonymous said...

@Andrea me too. Stomach is now making the gushing sound and I have my pail near. I never had this problem with BK fries before.

Jason said...

Every BK I've ever eaten at keeps their fries and onion rings warm in the same large metal tub with a metal divider insert. Onion rings are sneaky and often find a way over/under/around the divider and into the fries.