Reaction From Aylmer's Diced Tomatoes

[Gabzounette]

Hi everyone,

I am new here, I have been reading your posts almost everyday for the past two months but I decided to join today. My son has been gluten-free for almost two months, and egg free for a month and a half.

Now, my question today is the following. My son has had two gluten reactions in the past two days from (I think) Aylmer's diced tomatoes. The ingredients only say tomatoes, water & salt, no spices and no tomato paste... Has anyone here ever reacted from these tomatoes?

My son was so sick during the night, he threw up multiple times (this was the first time he would throw up from being glutened) and he ate some again the next day at the sitter's and he had a very "gluten" poop.

Could he be senitive enough that he reacts from cross-contamination?

Thanks a lot for your input!

[kareng]

Hi everyone,

I am new here, I have been reading your posts almost everyday for the past two months but I decided to join today. My son has been gluten-free for almost two months, and egg free for a month and a half.

Now, my question today is the following. My son has had two gluten reactions in the past two days from (I think) Aylmer's diced tomatoes. The ingredients only say tomatoes, water & salt, no spices and no tomato paste... Has anyone here ever reacted from these tomatoes?

My son was so sick during the night, he threw up multiple times (this was the first time he would throw up from being glutened) and he ate some again the next day at the sitter's and he had a very "gluten" poop.

Could he be senitive enough that he reacts from cross-contamination?

Thanks a lot for your input!

 

I have never heard of this brand.  The way tomatoes are grown and processed, gluten contamination seems unlikely. 

 

What stands out to me here is "at the sitter's".  Maybe that is the issue?  Maybe he got a cracker from another kid?  A sitter that isn't careful about cc?

 

Not sure what else he ate with the canned tomatoes....maybe they are too acidic for him?  maybe the other food or cc from the preparation of the other food?

[seraphim]

Curious..I thought tomato paste was dehydrated tomato or something...does it have gluten?

[dilettantesteph]

I have to agree than any possible tiny cc from tomatoes would most likely be much less than any cc from the sitter.  There is also the nightshade sensitivity issue to consider.  In how much detail have you described the situation to the sitter?  How old is your son?  The transition period can be a bit tricky, but once you get things figured out, you will be fine.  I hope he feels better soon.  It is hard to watch your children be sick.

[Gabzounette]

Thanks for your replies,

The sitter is my mom, she is very careful with CC, so I don't think it could be that.

The first time he was sick, he had cod (fish), potatoes, tomatoes and corn (both canned), and a gluten free cookie for dessert.

The second time he had homemade vegetable soup (homemade chicken broth, brocoli, carrots, celeri, canned tomatoes and gluten free noodles), gluten free ham, red and green peppers, cucumber, avocado, a piece of laughing cow cheese, a gluten free cracker and a piece of cantaloupe for dessert.

Do you see anything that could possibly contain gluten or eggs?

Thanks a lot!

[Adalaide]

I don't see anything in particular that could contain gluten but one thing jumps right out at me immediately. Both times a cutting board would have been used.

 

I was looking up the website for the company, and I guess you're in Canada? Didn't they just pass some new law about gluten free labeling? I'm not there so I don't know the ins and outs of it, but as I understood it you would know if something wasn't safe, just by reading a label. You can call them tomorrow if you if you are worried about the possibility of cross contamination since that is what you asked specifically. But, and this a huge but, if he is so terribly sensitive that he would react to the least bit of cc from a manufacturer that has to adhere to standards that are mind boggling to most people, he would almost certainly start reacting to pretty much everything prepared in a kitchen that isn't gluten free.

 

It is also possible that maybe he is just sensitive to tomatoes. Many food intolerances almost exactly mimic a gluten reaction.

[Gabzounette]

That's a very good point kipenzi, thanks a lot. I am going to ask his doctor to prescribe a more thorough panel of allergy tests, I think. We are still getting used to the gluten free diet but I think after 2 months we are getting pretty good...

Thanks a lot guys!

[Adalaide]

Unfortunately with an intolerance an allergy test won't help. The only real help is eliminating a food and then eventually adding it back to see if it bothers you. Lots more people than me have experience with that sort of thing. Still, with the type of reaction he had, as a mother I would want to know what it was to avoid it in the future. Not many things suck like watching your babies sick.

[dilettantesteph]

It could be additional intolerances, it could be cc from your mother.  It could be cc in the food.  I would suspect the gluten-free products before the tomato sauce.  It might be a good idea to only buy gluten-free foods that have been tested to below 5 ppm.  It could be that he is sensitive to lower than usual amounts of gluten.  It could be that he still needs to heal.  It has only been 2 months.  Throwing up one night and then a gluten poop the next day could be from one contamination incident.  That would be the case for my symptoms.  If I get enough to throw up, it is pretty fast, and I don't usually get gluten poops till the next day.  It may just take awhile to figure out.  You need to keep careful track of what he eats and his reactions.  When reactions come on can vary.  These days I will often not see symptoms until two days after I have had the offending food.  Try to keep the diet constant with only weekly changes and it will be easier to tell what is going on.  I hope he feels better soon.  It is hard to watch our children be sick.

[Gabzounette]

Thanks guys. It's great getting all this different input, it gives me a better idea of what I need to watch out for. I have been keeping a food journal for over a month now.

I know it has not been a long time and we still need to adjust many things in our diet, it's just so hard Plus no one around us had ever heard of gluten before so basically we're on our own, AND my doctor is not so skilled in the "gluten intolerance" field so she doesn't really know what she's doing. I absolutely REFUSE to have my son tested for celiacs because when he eats this tiny bit of gluten he gets super sick, so there is no way in heck I will have him eat gluten for 3 whole weeks in order to do a test that may or may not be accurate. Dilettantesteph, where do you find out how many ppms of gluten there are in gluten free food? I looked on the pasta package as I was making supper and didn't find any info...I don't usually keep packages so all my gluten free food is in tuppperware now, so I have no way to know. I'll google it tonight

[Gabzounette]

Also, how long after being glutened do you get your reactions? A few hours? Less than that? That's another thing I have trouble with. For example when he threw up a few days ago it was around 8:30, we'd had dinner around 6. I guessed it was supper, but could it have been from lunch? What he threw up was definitely his supper, but maybe it was because of lunch?