Mysteriously Glutened By Amy's Kitchen?

[lizzy]

hi all

pamelas dont make they products in a wheat enviroment either and i cant stop eating her chocolate chip and walnut cookies they the best liz

[Rachel--24]

hi all

pamelas dont make they products in a wheat enviroment either and i cant stop eating her chocolate chip and walnut cookies they the best liz

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Are you sure Pamela's are made in a dedicated facility because she does sell cookies that are NOT gluten-free as well as the gluten-free cookies??

[lizzy]

hi well at leasst on the product she states that they are made in a facility which produces tree nuts dairy eggs and soy but no mention of wheat, so i will have to look into that thanks liz

[skbird]

Here are a few things I'm responding to: I *think* Pamela's does make one cookie with oats, but I could be wrong.

And Felidae answered the question from Lizzy about potatoes - I am intolerant to nightshades.

Also, for a mac and cheese recipe without wheat, I cube up or shred cheddar cheese and put in a sauce pan. I put one tsp of sweet rice flour in, stir it up. Add milk to halfway cover the cheese, then I do other things like add minced garlic or onion, pepper, white pepper, etc, heat while stirring, and that is what I pour over my pasta. More or less of any ingredients to make it the right consistency.

About Amy's mustards and kechup - isn't it Annie's, not Amy's that makes those? Pretty sure about that one... or maybe I just don't have Amy's other products (those other than the frozen dinners) in my area? But we have lots of Annie's mustard, ketchup, salad dressing, etc. Annie's also makes a boxed gluten free mac and cheese mix, like Kraft, with rice pasta. Pretty good, but the pasta isn't as great as Tinkyada.

Stephanie

[Rachel--24]

Stephanie,

I'm pretty sure you're right about the condiments...those are Annie's.

I saw a whole line of new Pamela's cookies in Whole Foods...I remember looking at all of them and realizing I couldnt have any of them.

[bluelotus]

Yes, you all are right about the ketchup stuff. Sorry. Brain fog making its presence known.

[skbird]

Yeah, I see Annie's and Amy's get mixed up a lot... in fact I had to go check in my kitchen!

Stephanie

[quantumsugar]

I have also stopped eating food not made in dedicated facilities.  Very hard.  After these postings, I stopped eating Amy's ketchup and mustard too.  For those of you that have done the same, any suggestions on what condiments to buy or how to make your own?    Sorry for the bold, just want my question to be noticed.

Open Original Shared Link I haven't ordered any of their stuff yet, but they are a dedicated facility that makes ALL of their own ingredients on site, and have ketchup, mustard, bbq sauce, and lots of spices... pretty much everything you need, including (dairy-laden) pre-made stuff. As soon as I have more money, I plan to get lots of those items.

And here is the email I got from them:

Monica,

Gluten Free is all we do. The employees are not even allowed to bring in lunches that contain Gluten. Thank You for your interest.

Bill & Julie Swintkowski

Grandma Ferdon's

[quantumsugar]

Here are all the dedicated facilities that I have personally verified (if anyone wants copies of the emails, I can do that, too):

Gluten-free facilities:

Star Olive Oils are gluten-free, and processed in a facility that only does oils--no possibliy for cross contamination

Nu-World Foods*

Enjoy Life Foods (all are free of top 8 major allergens, and they have chocolate)

Chebe breads

Kinnickinick pasta

Glutino products

Ener-g products

Foods by George

Boomibar (all Divine foods)

Made by Mona

Grandma Ferdon's

Dakota Free (Bath & Beauty)

Gluten-free areas:

GFPantry items are manufactured in a "clean room"

Bob's Red Mill has a fully separate room

*Nu-World foods has lots of Amaranth-based cereals and foods that are pretty good (the Cinnamon cereal snaps are really good, and remind me of some cereal I used to eat as a child). Amaranth is super-good for you, too. Open Original Shared Link

**Edited to add something else: Open Original Shared Link <--- that company calls itself "Your food allergy grocer" Their catalog has lists of foods, each is labeled with the allergens they are free of (for example, WF, DF, SF, etc). They have stars next to the one's (including Amy's) that DO have risk of cross-contamination. This is a great reasource if you've got additional allergies or want to avoid CC.

[bluelotus]

Wow, thanks quantumsugar.

[Guest BERNESES]

Here's an email I received from them today:

Beverly,

I wanted to let you know that we did more testing on the Shepherd's Pie samples we had in retain from the manufacturing day H055. We did not detect gluten in either the filling or the potatoes for these products. It is fortunate in that we do not want to have gluten in these products but it is also unfortunate because this testing did not help us learn how the gluten got in to the first batch you consumed.

I wish I had something more definitive to report. We are continuing to work on this issue...checking raw materials, talking to suppliers, checking our own cleaning and equipment clearance procedures, etc. I assure you though that we will continue to try to find any possibilities that could result in gluten contaminating our product and correct these situations.

Hope all is well with you.

Kind regards,

Marsha Kopral marshakopral@amyskitchen.net

[jenvan]

so glad they're keeping you up on this...

[mroper]

Just wanted to let everyone know what the end result was.  I got a call from Amy's Kitchen today. They sent a sample of the Shepherd's Pie and the gluten-free rice mac n cheese to the University of Nebraska. UN can test down as far as 10 parts per million and the Shepherd's Pie had 31 parts per million in it so, according to Amy's, it DID have gluten in it. They "think" (and are going to conduct some more tests) that the problem is that they started getting one of the ingredients in the Shepherd's Pie from a new distributor. They just found out that this distributor also processes wheat on the same equipment. So, they are going to investigate.

She is going to send me a copy of the test results from U of N and "compensation" (I didn't ask what that meant). Frankly, I was just relieved to find out that I wasn't insane- just insanely intolerant of gluten!

She told me that she had heard that most Celiac's do NOT react to under 200 parts per million. Does anyopne know if this is true?

Anyway, I was happy with their response and just wanted to let you all know. I applaud them for their honesty in the situation and the attention they paid to me. I don't know if there'll be a recall, but thought you shouldf all know. Beverly

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[mroper]

AH HA- I know I got glutened somewhere...I have been so strict and have watched everything that I have used. Low and behold yesterday I had an Amy's meal and within 30 minutes bloated and gassy..... seems like everytime I eat one of those meals I feel this way. I was just trying to enjoy something easy and frozen that is actually good. Up to this point I have enjoyed those meals, but apparently I have enjoyed my last one!

[Guest BERNESES]

Hi Melissa- Yeah- it's without a doubt a HUGE drag! Nothing like losing the convenience. As if we haven't lost enough convenience already (no fast food which is fine with me, but no popping in anywhere for a slice of pizza, now come on!) and now, sadly, Amy's. I would encourage anyone who has become symptomatic after eating Amy's to call them as they are taking this very seriously. Which they should.

[Guest BERNESES]

the latest on Amy's Kitchen: Some good News

I received this email today:

Beverly,

Thank you for your kind words. The owners are extremely sensitive to their consumers. Without going into much detail, I will tell you that they are personally involved in getting to the bottom of this contamination issue.

You may be happy to hear that we are in the process of setting up a wheat free facility to make two products -- Rice Crust Cheese Pizza and Rice Mac and Cheese. In addition, we are setting up a lab to do our own testing for allergens so we can do more screening of ingredients and finished products and also get results right away.

If we learn the specifics of how the gluten got in to the Shepherd's Pie, I will definitely contact you and let you know.

Kind regards,

Marsha

I replied with a Yippeeeee! Nothing like a good pizza.

[bluelotus]

That new facility....wow, Berneses.....you actually made something happen! That's got to feel great. I appreciate it....more food will now be available from a wheat-free (though maybe not gluten-free) facility. Thanks for the update!

[jenvan]

That rocks!!! I love the pizza, now a wheat free facility will make it even better Way to influence!

[Guest BERNESES]

Thanks! Although I don't take credit because I think the plans were already underway! But don't get me wrong- I'd be psyched to return to eating Amy's if possible. B

[jaten]

hi i was wondering if anyone had a problem with vans waffles as they too are made in a wheat enviroment too and i felt ill yeserday after having some for breakfast and besides a baked potato was all i had to eat

Alright, months have passed since your question, but YES I had them this morning and an unmistakable glutening was the result. I've suspected it before, but this time there is no doubt....it HAD to be the Van's waffles. That's what brought me to the boards, to determine if anyone else had problems with Van's. I trashed them and won't ever try them again. Severely sick.

[jerseyangel]

Alright, months have passed since your question, but YES I had them this morning and an unmistakable glutening was the result. I've suspected it before, but this time there is no doubt....it HAD to be the Van's waffles. That's what brought me to the boards, to determine if anyone else had problems with Van's. I trashed them and won't ever try them again. Severely sick.

Van's Waffles got me, too. Made me very sick--

[Guest cassidy]

I really hope that anyone with reactions will call Amy's. I called when I got sick from the mac and cheese and some sort of mexican bowl that were clearly gluten-free. They reimbursed me for those items and the others I had in the freezer that I was afraid to eat. They actually sent me $35 in cash. They also said that I was the only one having problems and they rarely get complaints. I told them to check out this message board and they would see otherwise.

They did say that they are moving the gluten-free stuff to a new plant and those items should be in stores in June. I asked her about the allergy warning on the back "produced in a plant with wheat" and how some have it and some don't. She said right now they are all made in the same place but they don't have warnings on all of them because the warnings have upset people. Not sure how that makes sense. I asked if the warning would be gone when they move the gluten-free stuff to a new plant and she said they haven't decided.

[Lillyth]

Lizzy- You should call them (and anyone else who has had a reaction to their products). They need to know so they can look into it. I probably won't be buying anymore Amy's Kitchen either, mostly because I think I am only going to buy anything processed only from places that are dedicated facilities, but you should let them know. as far as I know, my call was the first they'd heard of it. B

Both my sister and I (separately and without taling to one another about it for weeks) have been glutened by Amy's.

I guess this teaches me to call right away every time now.

When I called Sojo Foods about a glutening, they fixed their very next batch, and also said that my call was the first they had gotten. (Funny then that I have been glutened by Amy's twice, and never called. I emailed my celiac yahoo group about it, but never called to tell them that their gluten-free Mac & Cheeze - isn't).

I am also one of those micro-sensitive individuals. The USDA standards for gluten in 20 ppm. The Canadian standard is 0. (Which I reacted to on the Sojo Foods product, despite the test coming back 0 - it had malt viniger in it, so I don't know how that works)...

My gluten reaction is immediate and reliable. Ten minutes (almost to the second) after consumption, I get a headache, my left shoulder pain (I was in an auto accident & have ruptured discs) DOUBLES, and I get really sleepy. Every time. Like clockwork.

The upside to my reaction is that I ALWAYS know where the gluten came from.

I for one, commit to calling the mfrs of gluten-free foods every time I get glutened from here on out.

Any one else game, too?

Lil

[Robina]

Well.... I've tried a few of Amy's concoctions and although never had a reaction... thought the stuff tasted pretty nasty... so I won't be purchasing anymore products anyway...