Imagine, a family member suggests an outdoor picnic with food from KFC. Doesn’t that sound nice?
Initially, you imagine a red and white checkered tablecloth with a nice spread of KFC favorites and Colonel Sanders’s smiling face looking right at you. Then your mind shifts into food allergy mode. You ask yourself, what can I safely eat from KFC?
You quickly pull up the KFC allergen menu to investigate. In this article, The Food Allergy Advisor will review and rank KFC’s allergen menu.
Remember: this post is for informational purposes only and may not be the best fit for you and your personal situation. It shall not be construed as medical advice. The information and education provided here is not intended or implied to supplement or replace professional medical treatment, advice, and/or diagnosis. Always check with your own physician or medical professional before trying or implementing any information read here. For further information please see full Disclaimer.
Table of Contents
The Food Allergy Advisor™ Ranking System is Based on Four Major Criteria:
- The Top 9 food allergies friendliness – Does the restaurant provide several options accommodating the Top 9 food allergies?
- The overall confidence ranking for food allergy diners
- The completeness of the food allergy menu
- The intuitiveness of the food allergy menu
Each category is ranked on a scale of zero to five stars. Together, these categories are combined to provide a single overall score.
Top 9 Food Allergies Friendliness
To rank high in this category there should be a variety of selections across the Top 9 food allergens (tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soy, egg, milk, shellfish, fish, and sesame). This should be across the menu board including chicken, salads, sides, and desserts.
Milk Allergy
If you have a milk allergy, you will need to omit any original recipe chicken (breast, drumstick, thigh, whole wing) selections. Popcorn nuggets also are noted to contain milk.
As far as sandwiches go, you should not have the Crispy Twister or honey BBQ Sandwich.
Sides that should be omitted are the biscuit, the Cinnabon Dessert Biscuit, KFC cornbread muffin, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes (with or without gravy).
The chicken pot pie and KFC Famous Bowls contain milk.
The Caesar salad is not safe. Many salad dressings and dipping sauces/condiments also contain milk.
Many desserts are not safe for milk allergy diners. Unsafe options include: Reese’s Peanut Butter Pie, Oreo Cookies and Crème Pie, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Café Valley Mini Lemon Cake, and the Café Valley Mini Chocolate Chip Cake.
Unsafe Regional Menu items include KFC Livers, KFC Gizzards, Country Fried Steak (with or without gravy).
You do have to be mindful that fryers likely share oil with items that contain milk. For example, The Extra Crispy Chicken is listed as not containing milk, however, it is likely that Extra Crispy Chicken shares the fryer with other milk containing items. This is a concern.
Dessert is limited, however. The Apple Turnover is the only dessert item that is listed as milk free.
Egg Allergy
Original Recipe Chicken is listed as unsafe for those who have an egg allergy. The buffalo Kentucky Fried Wings are also listed as unsafe.
Sides which include egg are coleslaw, KFC cornbread muffin, macaroni & cheese, macaroni salad, and potato salad.
The Chicken Littles sandwiches (all varieties), classic chicken sandwich, Crispy Colonel’s Sandwich (all varieties), Crispy Twister, Honey BBQ Sandwich, and Spicy Chicken Sandwich all contain egg.
The Chicken pot pie contains egg.
The following desserts contain egg: Café Valley Chocolate Chip Cake, Café Valley Lemon Cake, Café Valley Mini Chocolate Chip Cake, Café Valley Mini Lemon Cake, and Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Regional menu items that include egg are the KFC gizzards and KFC Livers.
Many dressings and dipping sauces/condiments may contain egg so check their food labels.
There is still a risk of cross contamination as foods likely share fryers with foods that contain egg. This is a real concern as many of the menu items are fried.
Soy Allergy
The Kentucky Grilled Chicken (all varieties) and all varieties of the Kentucky Fired Wings contain soy. Popcorn chicken and Nashville Hot Chicken (all varieties) contain soy as does the Beyond Fried Chicken Nuggets.
Regional menu items that contain soy include the country fried steak (with or without gravy).
Sides choices that include soy are the BBQ Baked Beans, KFC Cornbread Muffin, Mashed potatoes (with or without gravy), and secret recipe fries.
Sandwiches that include soy are the Chicken Littles, (all varieties), Classic Chicken Sandwich, Honey BBQ Sandwich, and Spicy Chicken Sandwich.
The Chicken Pot Pie and KFC Famous Bowls also contain soy.
Many dressings and dipping sauces/condiments may contain soy so check their food labels.
The following desserts contain soy: Café Valley Chocolate Chip Cake, Café Valley Lemon Cake, Café Valley Mini Chocolate Chip Cake, Café Valley Mini Lemon Cake, chocolate chip cookies, Oreo cookies and crème pie, and Reese’s Peanut Butter Pie.
Many soy free options are listed, however, there is a risk of cross contamination with many of the menu items. Always pay attention to the risk of cross contamination in things such as a fryer where other soy containing products may be fried.
Soybean oil may be used when frying, please visit KFC’s site for more information as they do a nice job explaining concerns around consuming soybean oil.
Dessert is limited, however. The Apple Turnover is the only dessert item that is listed as soy free.
Wheat Allergy
Wheat is present in the Beyond Fried Chicken Nuggets, the Original Recipe Chicken (all varieties), Extra Crispy Chicken (all varieties), Kentucky Grilled Chicken (all varieties), Spicy Crispy Chicken (all varieties), Extra Crispy Tenders (both original and Nashville), Kentucky Fried Wings (all varieties), popcorn nuggets, Nashville Hot Chicken (all varieties).
Many sides contain wheat including the BBQ Baked Beans, biscuit, Cinnabon Dessert Biscuits, KFC Cornbread Muffin, Macaroni and Cheese, Macaroni Salad, Mashed Potatoes with Gravy, and Secret Recipe.
All of the sandwiches include wheat.
The Parmesan Garlic Croutons contain wheat.
The chicken pot pie and KFC Famous Bowls contain wheat.
Some regional menu items contain wheat. They are the Country Fried Steak (with or without gravy), the KFC livers, and KFC gizzards.
Many desserts contain wheat including the apple turnover, the Café Valley Chocolate Chip Cake, the Café Valley Lemon Cake, the Café Valley Mini Chocolate Chip Cake, the Café Valley Mini Lemon Cake, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Oreo Cookies and Crème Pie, and Reese’s Peanut Butter Pie.
KFC’s menu is limited when it comes to wheat free choices. You do have a couple of salad options and a few homestyle side options. But, overall it is fairly limiting.
Tree Nut Allergy
KFC has a very large selection of choices from all categories except for dessert. The only dessert that is considered tree nut free is the apple turnover.
Peanut Allergy
Desserts are the main area of concern when dining at KFC. Otherwise the menu is free of peanuts. Desserts that contain peanuts include the chocolate chip cookies, the Oreo Cookies and Crème Pie, and the Reese’s Peanut Butter Pie. There are peanut free dessert options.
Shellfish Allergy
KFC’s entire menu contains no shellfish.
Fish Allergy
There is only one menu item at KFC that is noted as unsafe for those who have a fish allergy. It is the KFC Creamy Parmesan Caesar Dressing.
Sesame Allergy
Sesame was recently added as one of the top nine allergens in the United States. At this time, sesame is not listed as one of the allergens that you can easily filter within KFC’s Food Allergies & Sensitivities wizard. You can, however, read full ingredients on menu items.
KFC’s Food Allergen Menu Confidence Ranking
Let’s review The Food Allergy Advisor™ Ranking System for Confidence.
Is there Ambiguity?
The big item of concern is the concern about shared fryers. KFC does have statements about fryers, but I do think there is ambiguity about which items are safe vs not safe when it comes to sharing a fryer. I do wish this was more clearly stated in more than one location of their allergen menu.
The KFC food allergy wizard does offer a choice of filtering menu items by items that do not contain the allergen or by items that do contain the allergen (again the fryer is a potential source of cross contamination).
Is there a Mission Statement?
While I did not find a food allergy specific mission statement, I did see some personal touches that could be appreciated from a food allergy perspective.
KFC does mention diversity & Inclusion. KFC states, “At Yum!, diversity and inclusion are part of living and leading our culture, as well as key enablers to our success. We apply this cultural mindset to our people, our franchisees and our suppliers as we continuously work to reflect our ever-changing communities, customers and investors.”
There is a statement, “no allergen or nutritional information on our website should be considered a guarantee, but simply a good faith effort to serve our customers”.
Are there Personal Touches?
There are personal touches on KFC’s website.
KFC does mention that customers with allergy-related questions can contact Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE) and lists FARE’s website and phone number. I feel this is nice as not everyone with food allergies may be familiar with FARE and it is a website with so much important information.
Has the Menu Been Updated Within Six Months?
At the time of this review, KFC’s allergen menu was last updated 1/10/2022. It had been updated within the last six months.
KFC mentions that variations in the menu may occur due to different suppliers, ingredients substitutes, recipe revisions and/or product production at the restaurant.
These types of statements are never comforting to someone with food allergies, but fairly standard types of statements.
Are there Clear Cross Contamination Statements
KFC does have cross contamination statements.
KFC mentions that there is risk of cross contamination due to preparation of food on the same equipment or the same kitchen. This is a fairly standard statement.
KFC does explain the type of oil used in their fryer.
KFC’s site does mention the risk of cross contamination with frying items. This is mentioned in KFC’s “Nutrition & Allergen Notice” which every user of the food allergy wizard agrees to.
The Food Allergy Advisor’s opinion is that it would be great to make more of a continued mention about the risk of fryers potentially having cross contamination with other foods when using a shared fryer.
Having this statement in more than one place would help remind the food allergy diner of less obvious potential allergen sources.
If you plan to order anything fried, it would be appropriate to ask a manager about what food is fired in the fryers. There could be risk of cross contamination if a fryer was used to fry something with your particular allergen. If there is doubt, the best approach is not to eat the item.
KFC’s Completeness Ranking
Below is The Food Allergy Advisor™ ranking for Completeness of KFC’s allergen menu.
Are All Nine Major Allergens Included?
KFC does not include all nine major allergens. They have information on 8 of the top 9 food allergens. They are missing information on sesame at this time.
Are Full Ingredient Lists Available for Menu Items?
Yes! KFC does an amazing job with this! Full ingredient lists are so important when dealing with food allergen identification and helps individuals who may not have one of the top 9 food allergens.
You simply click on the menu item that you would like to view or click the “more info” button and the ingredients for the particular menu item are clearly displayed.
Not only is the ingredient list provided, but there is an extremely nice visual with easy to understand red circles or green circles that indicate whether the menu item does or does not contain one or more of the top allergens (again, they do not list sesame). A really great feature!
Is the Nutrition Information Easy to Compare to the Food Allergy Information
Definitely! You can easily select more than one allergen to compare at a time, easily being able to scan KFC’s menu for safe options if you have more than one food allergy.
Is it Easy to Complete an Online Order within the Food Allergy Section of the Menu?
The Food Allergy & Sensitivity menu does not link to online ordering.
You will need to pay attention to the name of your menu item before leaving the food allergy and sensitivity wizard and placing an online order.
KFC Food Allergen Menu Intuitiveness Ranking
Below is The Food Allergy Advisor’s Ranking System for Intuitiveness.
Is the KFC Menu Easy to Understand?
I think that the menu is very easy to understand. The wizard is great. I especially love that you can click on menu items to read a full ingredient list.
The wizard has everything clearly labeled and you can easily search by foods that contain your allergen or search for foods that do not contain your allergen.
The visuals are very clear and easy to understand.
Ease of Mobile Access
There is allergen menu access for KFC on mobile. You simply scroll to the bottom of kfc.com and select “KFC Food” and then select “Food Allergies & Sensitivities.”
Is it Easy to Find Allergy Information on KFC’s Website?
It is very easy to find the allergen menu on KFC’s website. Simply scroll to the bottom of the page and select “Food Allergies & Sensitivities.” under the “KFC Food” heading.
Easy to Sort
KFC’s interface is very easy to sort. The interface is very user friendly and you can even search by multiple food allergies, something that you can’t easily do at many restaurants.
Is there an Application for Your Phone?
The KFC app has over 6.8 thousand users.
The app does not include the food allergy wizard per se in the app itself, but it clearly links out of the app to their website which contains the information. Therefore, I don’t consider this a huge flaw.
Of note:
The Food Allergy Advisor™ Scoring System is for menus in the United States and review is based on the date/time that the food allergy menu was accessed. The Food Allergy Advisor™ will make best efforts to update restaurant scores periodically.
Always check the food allergen menu of the particular restaurant where you will be dining, do not rely on information on this blog post as food menus may change. Check KFC’s food allergen menu site for the most updated information.
This post is for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as advice.
Global chain supply issues may affect menu items at restaurants Be sure to read individual statements for all restaurants regarding changes in menus/ingredients and their statements regarding cross contamination.
Ranking a restaurant here and/or including a menu item here does not guarantee that the particular restaurant/menu item is safe for your individual needs.
This Website Does Not Provide Medical Advice
The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material contained on this website are for informational purposes only. No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website.
Conclusion
The Food Allergy Advisor feels that KFC’s wizard is great for clearly identifying food allergens. It is especially nice to have a full ingredient list available for menu items.
The us of a shared fryer for many of the menu items makes cross contamination a possible concern.
A mission statement specific to food allergies would be a nice addition to KFC’s website.
KFC includes 8 of the 9 food allergies in their food allergy wizard. However, finding allergy information is fairly easy if you go to ingredients for specific menu items.
The Food Allergy Advisor ranks KFC as very intuitive with the exception of online ordering. It is easy to determine what items KFC states contain or do not contain allergens from their online wizard.
Don’t get left behind. Subscribe to my email list and be the first to know when there is a new review or blog post. The Food Allergy Advisor aims for more talk around food labeling and how it affects the food allergy diner.
Last Updated on May 27, 2022 by Amber DeVore, RD, CSSD, CLT