MacDonalds ARFID Query

[Verbena17]

Hi
Does anyone who mostly relies on macd’s food for their ARFID loved one, find it tricky to get plain options made correctly?

What i mean is, say if you order a ‘plain’ burger, so that would mean zero onion, gherkin, ketchup and mustard, have you found a failsafe way of ensuring they make it plain, and not with little piece on onion stuck to the paper wrapper or say a streak of mayo slopped down the side of the bap etc? DS won’t let me say out loud at drive through window (that’s his choice obviously) to them he’s autistic with ED. If I go back in without him, I’ll tell them he’s autistic with ED. It would reduce so much of DS’ anxiety if he knew he would be getting a decent one each time.

We spend £££’s at Macdonald’s on DS’ safe foods and have a multitude of ones to go to, should one fail in making it ‘plain’. The miles i drive to and fro is huge too but that’s fine - I do it for him to get his nutrients and calories.

I know this sounds like a non-problem to many people but the amount of times DS won’t let me go back in to swap it and the guilt I feel going in and asking them to swap it as DS has an eating disorder, etc is endless!

Ive even asked staff members the best way to order to ensure it’s completely plain. I know Macd’s says they cannot guarantee ‘no allergens’ and that’s fine but this isn’t an allergy - it simply means a lot of wasted food because they’re not careful enough to ensure it’s plain, plain…..not plain with bits of not plain stuff in 😂.

I clicked on this thread as we also have the plain burger issue at McD’s although DD doesn’t have ARFID (she is autistic though). It’s really useful to read some of these tips. Also what a lovely supportive & informative thread it is!

I guess a big part of it is that it's the same "brand" so trusted to taste the same.

My son has very mild food issues so nowhere near boat of others on this thread but the benefit of Mcdonalds is that the core to their model is that it is always exactly the same which ever branch or time you go, the same presentation, the same packaging, the same taste etc. Highly predicable and fairly simple food.

Idk about kids but I am an autistic adult, not got arfid but definitely have safe foods and mcdonalds is one of them because they're practically the same everywhere you go. It's so consistently universal. If I want chicken nuggets in Manchester they're going to be the same as the chicken nuggets in Edinburgh.

They are very unlikely to change and they always have the same texture.

What kind of a specialist? My child has CBT and exposure therapy through CAMHS and a sensory occupational therapist for support.

I'm just relieved to find some understanding of ARFID here. It's very hard to deal with - try to change it, try to accept it and be patient and be glad that they're eating anything at all? My youngest has been semi-diagnosed, his dietician thinks he has it and has requested a referral to CYPS for help but that has been refused. My eldest is actually probably even worse and is desperate to eat normally and gain some weight. He's 6'3" and less than 10 stone, and has around 6 or 7 safe foods which don't give him much in the way of calories. He's got long days at college with the travel, much longer than his school days, and I'm sending a packed lunch with him, but he brought it back the other day only half eaten. Youngest doesn't have a packed lunch at all. They both just catch up on eating once they're home. Sending love to everyone trying to deal with it.

We have this issue with McDs and ARFID. Most times it’s ok but we have an awful time on the rare occasion the fries are pale and not salty enough or the nuggets aren’t 2 of each shape in the happy meal 🤦‍♀️

An ARFID specialist - psychologist for example who works with an NHS/Primary Care Trust ARFID ED team - they might also be a private practioner. The Orri clinic is the only one I’ve heard of that’s private and treats ARFID but I’ve never really looked into it as DS refuses to go.

@WinkyTinky it might be the referral you need to change. So instead of the CYPS route, we went through GP due to DS being very underweight and having very selective eating choices. The GP referred us to the paediatric outpatient ED clinic, saying their service (to which we had previously applied but unsuccessfully as they didn’t treat ARFID), was now being funded for ARFID services too.

Even when he was discharged into adult ED services (who were very newly funded for ARFID last year and to where he refused to go), the paediatric service still wrote to the GP with their discharge report and asked for him to be monitored every two weeks with his HR and BP readings too. We No longer so that but for growing children especially, it’s really good to have the GP link for regular monitoring if you’re not regularly being checked at an ED service.

Oh gosh - not having equal numbers of nugget shapes must be super tricky! Thankfully ds hasn’t mentioned that although he does have a scale of golden, overdone, not golden enough etc. He scores them out of 10 😂

Thanks for explaining x

I've always asked for a plain burger for my ARFID son and it's been served as such. Never had an issue with it. If it's wrong, take it back!

Or go in and speak to somebody. I've genuinely never had an issue but if absolute detail is a thing, I'd avoid drive through and ask that they make it and wrap it freshly.

Not at all. It's nice that people want to understand ARFID better. It's something that has such a big impact on my son's life and therefore our family life, and a lot of people we've encountered seem determined to misunderstand it as 'fussy eating' or shit parenting. One day I won't be around to support my son and advocate for his needs, including his dietary needs. Hopefully by that point the understanding of ARFID in the general population will be much greater 🙂

Might have changed since I worked there, but I'd go into store so it's easier to communicate and to check, there's sometimes less rush as well. You don't need to explain the ins and outs of why, just say very clearly bun, burger and cheese with zero remnants of anything of anything else and they'll be more cautious.

Not speaking for the OP but my child would eat anything at all as a toddler / small child. Then slowly things got dropped until we were left with a very small selection of safe foods

she actually wouldn’t eat at McDonald’s at all until she was about 10 (the smell!) . She’d wait outside while we grabbed a burger etc on a long journey. One day she tried one of my nuggets and the rest is history.

Same problem here although it's my DD. Like another posted suggested she now uses the Screens inside to order.

Drive Thru's seem to be a bit of a lucky dip around here.

An onion allergy they can’t guarantee as the onions go on the grill with the meat, it is cleaned down between runs of meat but it isn’t sanitised etc it’s just cleaned down with tools and a cloth so cross contamination would always be an issue.

You could be allergic to cheese and they’d wear gloves as they have touched cheese and even with handwashing, at my store we’d put gloves on as well to just be extra sure. We cannot make any guarantees with actual allergies obviously but as it isn’t an allergy, there’s no harm in asking.

If you asked for a plain hamburger meat and bun separate, the bun would come in a hamburger wrapper and the meat would come in a box. So if he would be comfortable doing so he’d be able to put it on the burger bun - same with any plain burger. It is the most effective way without checking at the window of ensuring an item is plain.

Mistakes will always happen when they’re serving thousands of people a day and if you’re not able to ask them to check, or check yourself that is the way to do it if he’s okay with it.