Big Macs and sunflower oil
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Posted by Jill Browne Feb 14, 2007 |
In a recent article about McDonald's Restaurants and food allergen disclosure, I mentioned that the Canadian grill spice contains sunflower oil as a listed ingredient, but the US grill spice does not. This is for the same Big Mac McDonald's serves everywhere.
I wanted to know more, because I know there are people who are allergic to sunflower oil and if you do have a sunflower oil allergy, you can't afford to guess about it.
I emailed McDonald's USA using the Contact form on their website, identifying myself as the author of this on-line column, Accessible Travel at Suite101.com.
To their credit, they replied fairly quickly. But what an odd reply! I said in my first email to them that I would be sharing their answer with my readers, so here goes:
From McDonaldsCorporation@us.mcd.com
Sent Wednesday, February 14, 2007 3:57 am
Subject Message from McDonald's USA
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Hello Jill:
Thank you for taking the time to contact McDonald's.
We certainly appreciate your interest in McDonald's; however, you may want to contact our Media Relations Department at (630) 623-3678 with your request.
Again, thank you for contacting McDonald's. We hope to have the opportunity of serving you again soon under the Golden Arches.
Damien
McDonald's Customer Response Center
ref#:4193145
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Please do not "reply" to this email response. All "replies" go to an unmonitored mailbox and are not reviewed. If you wish to contact McDonald's Customer Response Center again, please visit our website at www.mcdonalds.com.
You wrote:
I have written a column on-line about McDonalds allergen disclosure.
In comparing Big Macs in Canada vs USA, I noticed that the Canadian grill seasoning lists sunflower oil as an ingredient, but the USA does not.
Does McDonalds USA use sunflower oil in any of its grill seasonings or other cooking oils?
What cooking oils do you use?
Many thanks.
I will be sharing your reply with my readers. My column can be found at http://accessibletravel.suite101.com/.
Best regards,
Jill Browne
Calgary, Canada
End of email
Well, maybe Damien was just following company policy and referring a request from media to the Media Relations department. Fair enough. But why didn't he just forward my email to them? And why do I have to phone them? I don't want to spend the money on a long distance call AND I would really rather have a factual answer in writing so that I can pass it along to you exactly as received.
If you live in the 630 area code and feel like following up on my questions, please do. I'd love to know the answer. One of my former room mates is seriously allergic to sunflower oil. Can she eat Big Macs in the US or not? What other cooking oils does McDonald's use and where do they disclose them?