McDonalds sued over non-disclosure of wheat, gluten in fries

Jack Daly, a McDonald's senior vice president, said in a statement that the company had not yet reviewed the case and is testing its fries for gluten through a food allergy research program at the University of Nebraska.

Fast food giant McDonald's is reportedly facing three lawsuits that claim it misled customers after it acknowledged last week that milk and wheat ingredients are used to flavor its fries. Advertisement Debra Moffat of Lombard, Illinois is seeking unspecified damages in a suit filed on Friday in Chicago. Her attorney said his client suffers from celiac disease, an intolerance to a protein found in wheat that causes gastrointestinal symptoms. Another suit has been filed by the parents of five-year-old Florida girl, Annalise Chimiak. They claim that their daughter became seriously ill after eating the fries due to a gluten intolerance. On Wednesday last week, Nadia Sugich, a vegan, sued McDonald's claiming that she would not have eaten the fries had she known they contained dairy products. Jack Daly, a McDonald's senior vice president, said in a statement that the company had not yet reviewed the case and is testing its fries for gluten through a food allergy research program at the University of Nebraska. A number of press reports have alleged that the fast food giant, which previously said its fries were free of gluten and milk or wheat allergens, has quietly added "Contains wheat and milk ingredients" to the product's ingredients listing on its Web site. Earlier this month McDonald's acknowledged that its fries contain a third more trans fats than it previously knew, citing results of a new testing method it began using in December.