I am not sure who pointed me to this post but it illustrates, yet again, the terrible confusing tangle that is allergy labeling…. The question is, effectively, whether hydrolysing, or breaking down a protein into its amino acid components, destroys its allergenicity or reduces it to so low a level that it no longer causes reactions – so does it need to be ‘allergen’ listed?
In this case, the blogger, who has an allergic son, was told that McDonalds french fries
were ‘safe’, but when she looked on the McDonalds website, she found this:
‘Potatoes, vegetable oil (canola oil, hydrogenated soybean oil, natural beef flavor [wheat and milk derivatives]*, citric acid [preservative]), dextrose, sodium acid pyrophosphate (maintain color), salt. Prepared in vegetable oil (Canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil with TBHQ and citric acid added to preserve freshness). Dimethylpolysiloxane added as an antifoaming agent.
CONTAINS: WHEAT AND MILK.
*(Natural beef flavor contains hydrolyzed wheat and hydrolyzed milk as starting ingredients).‘
However… On investigating the last comment, she found that the general view was hydrolysing proteins did render them allergen free. After all, are not CMA (cow’s milk allergic) babies given ‘hydrolysed’ cow’s milk formula which they can tolerate? (See here for more on formulae for allergic babies.)
In a totally different field, the new and gluten-free beers so much appreciated by beer-deprived coeliacs are made by extensively hydrolysing or breaking down the proteins in barley so that they are so small that they do not, it is thought, trigger reactions. See here for more.
It is still not 100% certain that breaking down allergenic proteins into their component parts really does render them totally harmless to allergic people (or coeliacs) as there really is still no certainty as how tiny a fraction of an allergen can cause a reaction. (See Micki Rose’s Truly Gluten Free site for more on the levels to which sensitivity can go.) However, it is generally accepted that hydrolysation does render allergens effectively harmless for the average allergic person.
So, we are back to the labeling issue…
If hydrolysing the wheat and milk which formed the base of the ‘natural beef flavour’ in the McDonald’s french fries renders them harmelss to a wheat/milk sensitive person, then should the label state ‘Contains: wheat and milk’? If the only purpose of the warning is to ‘warn’ an allergic person, but the processing has already rendered the product harmless for an allergic person, then is this alert just causing unnecessary confusion?
But then, the allergic community tends to see everything from its own perspective only – doesn’t everyone?… So, what about other communities? Vegans, for example? Might they not want to eat the french fries because they contain milk? Or, from a vegan perspective, does hydrolysation remove the ingredient so far from the cow that it no longer counts?…
Is it a question of degree rather than absolutes? Has anyone done research on the extent to which coeliacs – for instance – can tolerate hydrolysed proteins?
Well well well. This is interesting. Their allergen information states clearly that these chips are OK for dairy allergy sufferers. I don’t think I’ve had an allergic reaction to them, but I do have to say, they are vile. And another point – from a vegetarian and vegan perspective – why on God’s earth do these chips contain beef flavouring? GROSS!
Are Burger King any better? Burger King French Fries ingredients: Potatoes, partially hydrogenated vegetable shortening (soybean oil), modified potato and corn starch, rice flour, dextrin, salt, leavening (sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium bicarbonate), corn syrup solids, xanthan gum, dextrose.
Hi Ruth and James…
Well – James – that is the problem. There is on going research into how much of any substance will affect
someone who is sensitive to it – but it is almost impossible to establish as the level tends to be different for every substance and for every sensitive person.
Ruth – I entirely agree – what on earth is beef flavouring doing in a chip?….. Unless they are trying to mimic the flavour of the lard in which chips would originally have been cooked, although I seriously doubt it! And no, I am quite sure that Burger King’s are no better – nor any of the other fast food chains’ chips! I must admit that on this occasion I was not thinking of the flavour – just the labeling……..
Be aware that ingredients in the UK McDonalds are different to those in the US. The original post is from a .com and they spell hydrolysed with a Z which points to the origin being US based.
Check the ingredients out on the UK McDonalds website and it lists nothing of the sort!!
Is this just about US McDonalds Fries? I just found this on the UK website. Thanks to Yvette on my Facebook page for pointing this out when I shared a Link to this Michelle. “McDonald’s UK French Fries are made using Russet Burbank, Pentland Dell, Innovator and Shepody potatoes, which are chosen for their quality, taste and long shape when cut. The fries are not coated in any fats or substance from an animal. Once at the restaurant our fries are simply cooked in dedicated frying vats in a non-hydrogenated blend of sunflower and rapeseed oil which is 100 percent suitable for vegetarians. McDonald’s UK French Fries are officially accredited by the Vegetarian Society. “
Hi Both –
You are right – it was a US blog that I had found so presumably it was referring to US McDonald’s fries. Afraid it did not occur to me to check the listing on the UK site…. However, I am glad that McDonalds UK are producing a ‘purer’ fry.
Michelle