Gluten Busters: Gluten-Free Product Alerts by Celiac.com

Thanks for the tip!

Good to know. Great reminder to all of us to never assume and to always read labels....thanks.

Just called Nestle about this and got the run around with the response. Basically, the long and short of it was that they DID reformulate the Instant Breakfast, however in the next batch of packaging they will be removing wheat starch from the ingredient list and switching it back to a cross-contamination warning. She would not go so far as to say that the addition of "wheat starch" to the ingredients list was a mistake, but did tell me that they are still considering the product gluten-free (although, as always that was a call that I should make with my doctor's advice, etc.) Feel free to contact the company and perhaps you'll get a clearer (and less rude!) explanation than I did!

I compared the 'packets' of instant breakfast and the 'container' of loose instant breakfast. The packets contain wheat starch while the container does not. Why the difference? preservative issues I'm thinking but otherwise have no clue. The website is misleading as it contains the ingredients as set forth in the container not the packets. Keep reading those labels!! Thanks for this site BTW I'm knew to celiac so these resources really help me.

I recently emailed the company and this is the response I received:

Kim,

Thank you for contacting CARNATION® BREAKFAST ESSENTIALS™, an excellent breakfast choice with 21 vitamins and minerals.

As a service to our consumers, we chose to disclose all sources of gluten by adding a statement on the label indicating the existence of barley in CARNATION BREAKFAST ESSENTIALS. The degree of sensitivity to gluten varies among individuals, please discuss with your physician if you have concerns.

Wheat has been present on the CARNATION BREAKFAST ESSENTIALS Powder labels for the past couple of years in the form of an allergen cross-contact statement: “made on equipment that also processes wheat.†CARNATION BREAKFAST ESSENTIALS Regular Powder varieties were recently reformulated with additional Vitamins C and D and now have new labels with wheat starch as the last ingredient. The wheat starch will be removed from the list of ingredients during the next packaging update, however the label will include the allergen cross contamination statement “made on equipment that also processes wheatâ€. Gluten sensitivity does vary among individuals, so we advise you to consult with your physician before using any product that declares wheat or other gluten-containing ingredients on the label, whether in the ingredient list or in the allergen cross-contact statement

The flavorings used in CARNATION BREAKFAST ESSENTIALS Ready to Drink contain barley malt syrup, which contribute less than 1 part per million of barley gluten in the final product.

For CARNATION BREAKFAST ESSENTIALS powder, the only variety containing gluten is CARNATION BREAKFAST ESSENTIALS Chocolate Malt, which has wheat flour and barley extracts. All other CARNATION BREAKFAST ESSENTIALS powder varieties do not contain gluten. However, we want to inform you that all varieties are processed on the same equipment as CARNATION BREAKFAST ESSENTIALS Chocolate Malt. Gluten sensitivity does vary among individuals, so we advise you to consult with your physician.

Your interest is appreciated, and we hope you'll visit us at CarnationBreakfastEssentials.com for the latest information on our products and promotions. You can also visit our Where to Buy section where you can find a store near you, order by phone or purchase online through our Nestle Nutrition eStore.

040098277A

WIMBERO1/cl

Wishing you the best of health

carnationbreakfastessentials.com

Sadly, as of now (2.5.2011) all instant breakfast, regardless of packaging, contains the Wheat Starch. I bought the last can without it so now we are out of luck until Carnation changes it back (if they will. On another breakfast friendly note ...Just thought I'd share that with all my fellow celiacs!

I called Carnation on 2/10/11. They said the powder varieties do not contain gluten (except for the Choc Malt) even though the label says "wheat starch". They will be changing the label, but not the product, in the near future to remove "wheat starch". They do make the product on the same equipment as the Chocolate Malt, but they wash off the equipment each time they change products.