Lupins??!!

I read anything and everything put in front of me – so when I was sitting in McDo’s having a short break on a long journey recently, I looked at the paper sheet on the tray.

Then I turned it over and read the nutritional information on the back. Did you realise that a meal of Crispy Chicken and Bacon Salad, with Low Fat Ranch Dressing, washed down with Tropicana Orange Juice contains 538 calories [and 44% of your salt intake] ? And a banana milkshake with a double chocolate muffin will fill you with 1020 calories [and 36% of your recommended salt intake for the day] But a hamburger, fries and cup of tea contains 490 calories [and 32% of daily salt intake]  

The part that fascinated me most was the allergen information.[btw you need very good eyesight to read the minuscule print!] Here’s the list of ingredients which you may need to know about if you are unfortunate enough to suffer from allergies, or have other dietary preferences. The first column [V] indicates which products are suitable for vegetarians. Then they list these

• gluten
• soya
• nuts
• peanuts
• sesame
• milk
• eggs
• fish
• crustaceans
• celery
• sulphur dioxide&sulphides
• mustard
• molluscs

and finally – LUPINS. You know, those pretty flowers found in cottage gardens up and down the land

What??? but  it is true, apparently in some parts of Europe, manufacturers use lupin flour quite frequently in bread and pastry products and it can cause severe anaphylactic reactions.

You will be pleased to know that in the UK, McDos do not appear to use lupins in any of their products. I imagine they have to protect themselves from any litigious customers. Or from Dennis Moore [older readers may remember MPFC, when John Cleese, dressed as a highwayman, held up the Lupin Express]