McDonald's: Fried Again

John Davies (requests anonymity pending possible lawsuit) from Saskatchewan, Canada has been inadvertently harming his three-year-old son. Every few weeks they went to McDonald's for an order of his son's favourite food - French fries.

"My child has a severe milk allergy - he has been dealing with a serious lung issue for most of his life - and we diligently go through everything he ingests," says Davies. "He would get attacks mainly when we were on vacation, and that was when we would usually get fries from McDonald's."

"It frustrates the hell out of me... so here we are, we have had him in and out of hospital on respirators, and the doctors are scratching their heads telling us that if we aren't feeding him dairy, they don't know why he is so ill; why isn't he getting better?

"Now we know - he eats fries every few weeks. I just got an email the other day from a friend and that is when I found out that McDonald's fries are soaked in gluten and cow's milk product for the taste. So they changed to milk instead of beef tallow for that "natural taste" which is just silliness in my opinion," says Davies. (McDonald's originally used beef products in its frying oil before a vegetarian group forced them to disclose its ingredients - more below).

"Money is not an issue here; my son is dying and I have put him in this risky situation. If he was allergic to bees I wouldn't put him in a bee hive," he says.
Davies had to buy a Nebulizer (a machine that sprays medicine into your mouth, in a very fine mist and goes straight into your lungs). The doctors thought it was asthma, and now they may be treating his son for a disease he didn't even have!

"I'm not the 'finger-in-the-chili' kind of guy," says Davies. "I just want someone [from McDonald's] to phone and say sorry, that this won't happen again. I want McDonald's to know what they have done, and are still doing, to little people who can't defend themselves."

This isn't the first time McDonald's French fries have been misrepresented to the consumer. A class action lawsuit originated after discovering that the fast-food chain had not disclosed that its French fries and hash browns contained beef (they were fried in beef tallow), contrary to a press release the company issued in 1990, stating that its fries were cooked in 100 percent vegetable oil. A lawsuit was filed against the company and a $10 million settlement was agreed upon.

This time, according to AXcess News, McDonald's had disclosed on its website, at the end of a long list of ingredients, that its French fries "contain wheat and milk ingredients." The reason McDonald's has listed these ingredients is due to a new labeling rule by the Food and Drug Administration that went into effect January, 2006.

The [WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE] reports through Reuters that the fast-food giant faces lawsuits after claiming it misled the public by acknowledging its French fries indeed contain milk and wheat ingredients in its flavouring. Furthermore, some McDonald's employees had described the flavouring as safe for people with food allergies. Wheat ingredients are particularly harmful for people who suffer from celiac disease.

McDonald's has been charged with negligence by failing to provide accurate nutritional information at best, and consumer fraud at worst. Either way, you'd think they would have got it right October, 2002 when $10 million were allocated in the famous "french fry" settlement.