What Did Chick-Fil-A Do To Change Its Famous Waffle Fries?

Chick-fil-A has long been the chicken chain that's one of the best spots for gluten-free eats. But now folks with a different food sensitivity are upset with the company for a recent change made to a popular menu item. The fast food franchise recently posted a notice on its website that its beloved waffle potato fries are now being coated with a substance containing pea starch.

The stated reason for the change is the coating makes the fries stay crisp longer. Using similarly coated potato products is not uncommon among fast-food restaurants, which is one reason fast-food french fries are often not a good choice for gluten-free diners, as these coatings frequently contain wheat. Chick-fil-A's waffle fries have similarly been hailed as celiac-friendly, but now customers affected by pea allergies are speaking out about reactions to the new recipe.

"My son had waffle fries on Friday and had a terrible stomachache the rest of the day," one commenter posted on Chick-fil-A's Instagram page. "We couldn't figure out why until my husband saw an article about the change. My son is allergic to peas. You cannot change a recipe and add an allergen without posting signs in your restaurant. I'm so upset and disappointed."

In its notice about the revamped recipe, the restaurant disclaims that it "doesn't contain any of the nine major allergens," which are: milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame. However, pea protein allergies have been identified as the most rapidly increasing allergy among both youth and adults, surpassing sesame. While pea starch is a different pea derivative, any pea products will trigger reactions for those allergic and should be avoided. Similarly, peas are legumes, just like peanuts, and while many who have peanut allergies can safely consume peas, others cannot and should be aware of the change. 

But why coat the fries in starch in the first place? That starchy coating forms a crust, which stops the fries from losing moisture, which is important if the fries aren't made fresh to order every single time. Theoretically, this should keep the inside soft and fluffy and the outside nice and crunchy.

Chick-fil-A's post even declares that its updated waffle fry recipe "offers the same great taste" as its original fries. Fans are begging to differ. Posters across cyberspace are complaining that the change has rendered the fries less tasty, difficult to chew, and a recurring complaint is that the new recipe leaves the fries seeming dry.

Multiple complainers state they thought they'd gotten a bad batch of fries, but additional trips to the restaurant yielded the same results. For reasons ranging from the unwelcome texture and taste differences to family pea allergies, many are saying they've stopped purchasing food from Chick-fil-A altogether.

With more than 3,000 locations in the United States alone, Chick-fil-A is a widespread presence and also the fast food chain you're most likely to find in U.S. airports. It remains to be seen whether this customer backlash and calls for the old recipe to return will persuade the popular brand to ditch the pea starch.