Top 10 Gluten Free Restaurant Lies

1. Applebees: We offer a huge gluten free menu!

It would be huge, if everything on it was gluten free! A large chunk of the food on this gluten free menu is nowhere close. If the food is fried, then it is fried in the same oil as gluten foods, contaminating it. Be sure to read every menu’s fine print!

2. Yeah, this pasta is gluten free! Isn’t it amazing you can’t tell a difference?

If it tastes too good to be true, it might be! Recently, a chef proudly admitted to lying about his gluten free food. He served the normal, high-gluten pasta and called it gluten free!

3. We sell gluten free food now because we care about you!

All lies. Business is business and they are only looking to profit. Gluten free food brings in the money, and they can charge more for it! Which brings me to…

4. Gluten free is more expensive so we have to sell it for more.

Completely false! The main reason companies charge more for gluten free food, is because they can. The ingredients really aren’t much more. Add $2 for a pizza crust? $3 for pancakes? Why not. If you’re really allergic, then you’d probably be happy to pay a little extra for something besides the usual safe-salad.

5. Dominos: We’re the first national delivery chain to offer a gluten free pizza!

Too bad it wasn’t really gluten free. They used used shady tactics to make this claim which was a stretch at best. Their fine print recommended only people who are “mildly” sensitive eat the pizza, because it wasn’t really gluten free! always read the fine print.

6. The FDA’s gluten free certification is at best misleading, at worst all lies.

The government’s certification of gluten free isn’t truly gluten free. For the FDA to certify something as gluten free, it has to have less than 20 parts per million of gluten. One would assume free means none, zilch, nada, but it is simply a threshold. Gluten is poison for someone with Celiac disease in ANY amount. In comparison, regularly eating fish with 0.3 parts per million of mercury is considered dangerous by the FDA.

7. Mcdonalds: Our fries are gluten free!

Mcdonalds had to take back this claim because it was completely false. Sure, fries are mainly potatoes, but their fries are flavored with a chemical made directly from wheat. Not to mention the fries are fried in oil with gluten chicken nuggets, contaminating them. McDonalds was sued (what haven’t they been sued for??) so this lie was quickly laid to rest.

8. Eating gluten free is healthier for everyone!

Not necessarily true. You wouldn’t know that though if you looked at the number of people participating in this as a fad diet! There are plenty of unhealthy gluten free foods, and a lot of the time they have more calories than their gluten containing cousins. Gluten helps keep food lighter and less dense, so gluten free means it’s probably denser and needs more sugar and fat to taste good. Wheat is also an important source of vitamins!

9. Great Specialty Bread Co: Our bread is 100% gluten free!

The reason their gluten free bread was so good was because it was full of gluten! 23 former customers testified in a trial against the chef, who was convicted of 23 counts of fraud. He gets to spend the next 9 to 11 years in prison.

10. We have a gluten free menu now!

Really? No, your 5 item note card with a few salads and “order a hamburger without a bun and fries” does not count as a gluten free menu.

Date Modified - 04/02/2024