Family of Autistic Boy Files Suit against McDonald’s Alleging False Advertising

By Nathan Abbott

Published on October 17, 2006

The guardians of the boy filed the suit in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging that additives in McDonald’s french fries aggravated symptoms of the boy's disease, and that McDonald’s did not make consumers aware of the ingredients contained in the fries.

Up until Feb. 13, McDonald’s had claimed, through advertisements and official statements, that its french fries contained neither gluten nor casein. Gluten and casein are proteins found in wheat and dairy products, respectively; the suit states that eliminating gluten and casein from an autistic child’s diet usually helps to improve the child’s condition.

According to the lawsuit, after eating french fries at a restaurant in Valencia, the boy suffered increasingly severe symptoms of his disorder. He allegedly showed greater signs of aggression and threw more tantrums, while his ability to communicate and care for himself decreased.

It was not until Feb. 13, the suit alleges, that McDonald’s disclosed the fact that wheat and milk ingredients were added to their hash browns and french fries for flavoring. Prior to the disclosure, McDonald’s had touted these products as being allergen-free.

This suit joins several others filed against the fast-food giant by plaintiffs with various food allergies.

Comment on this article →