Walmart Now Has Bales Of Hay?

[seraphim]

My husband just texted me from walmart informing me that the local garden center now has bales of hay? I don't recall ever seeing this other years. Does this make anyone else a little uncomfortable considering it opens the flood gates for cross contamination of ...pretty much anything in the store now? I knew farms could be a concern i didn't realize going to the garden center would be now =\

[shadowicewolf]

Even if it was made of wheat (or the other gluten grains), it is just the stalk and leaves. I doubt any of the seeds (or grains for that matter) would be left on the stalk.

 

I've seen walmart carry them before.

 

I would not be worried.

[seraphim]

Seems new around here. There is the actual top part of the grain there....the part where the wheat comes from it's not just the stalks. His shoe laces came undone while stepping over some that were spilt on the floor he's pretty annoyed. He's going to wash his sneakers now but it was definitely the actual top where the grains are.

[seraphim]

He sent me a picture and this is what it shows  http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Wheat_close-up.webp

[daisy buchanan]

So what?

 

what does that have to do with EATING gluten?

 

You really have to stop panicking about every single thing that you see ....or step on. Like milk and hay.

 

shoelaces?? seriously....they are NOT a concern.

[seraphim]

Yes I know the shoelaces aren't but it raises the question of if people put these things on the conveyors...Personally i wouldn't walk into a non gluten free bakery. When people throw stuff around like that i don't know what's in the air. I guess I'm just surprised they would have open wheat around like that considering all the people with actual allergies to it out there.

[kareng]

Hay for feeding cattle, etc isn't wheat. It's Timothy or alfalfa or a couple of other things. Sometimes it will have the seeds in it and they look sort of like a wheat seed. But I wouldn't really worry about wheat, outside a store and on the ground.

But you and your hub can decide for yourselves.

A bale of hay weighs 45 pounds. These might be smaller, but people don't wing those things up on the conveyor belts very often. Usually, they just pay and get them on the way out or leave them in the cart. The cashier doesn't want to lift them.

[seraphim]

Timothy or alfalfa? Vaguely remember hearing about those names before I'll look them up and see what they look like. Might be that. Which reminds me..still have to call a local farm and see what they use for hay...i miss hay rides

note: it was in the store all over the floor. Not sure why.

[daisy buchanan]

Yes I know the shoelaces aren't but it raises the question of if people put these things on the conveyors...Personally i wouldn't walk into a non gluten free bakery. When people throw stuff around like that i don't know what's in the air. I guess I'm just surprised they would have open wheat around like that considering all the people with actual allergies to it out there.

 

But hay for cattle feed isn't wheat. like kareng says.

 

Just walking into a bakery will not kill you.   I walk in the bakery aisles in the supermarket and nothing happens,

 

And allergies are not the same a celiac disease, as far as I know.

[kareng]

How long do you think a seed would stay in the air? Throw up a sesame seed ( even lighter than a wheat seed) and see. I bet it falls immediately. Lots of people are allergic to pollen and Walmart sells plants and flowers. Now that can float in the air for a while.

[seraphim]

Naw not either of those grasses unfortunately. Oh well. Laundry night

[seraphim]

I don't know all i know is i saw numerous people say before they wouldn't ever work on a farm even if not directly handling the hay *shrug* So I figured it's about breathing stuff in.

 

As for what hubby saw....doesn't look like any of the above. So i think it's wheat. I personally wasn't there.

 

And daisy..for someone with so few posts you sure seem to know my posts pretty well. As for bakeries there are numerous people who've said they got sick after being in a bakery. That's the only reason the thought went through my head about airborne gluten.

 

I was just curious if anyone else had seen this I wasn't looking for a fight. I'm done with this thread.

[daisy buchanan]

so, you got all upset over nothing? why?

[daisy buchanan]

I read a lot and I try to learn  

[seraphim]

I was worried about cross contaminationon conveyors. And possibly air born because of what others said about bakeries. That is all. Done.

[w8in4dave]

I live on a farm. My husband has thrown Thousands of bails of hay around!! Thousands!! It has never affected me. There are alot of different kinds of hay out there but your not going to eat it. No worries it is hay not anything eles Here are some types right here ...

 

Open Original Shared Link

 

Now when we go on hay rides well most of the time it really isn't hay , most of the time it is straw , People sometimes get straw and hay confused. They sometimes think "what ever !!" but there is a difference , Hay Horses eat and Straw is used for bedding .. not eating .. Straw is made from wheat stalks... The head is taken off and the plant left over is straw. If what you see in the store is hay. It is not wheat. If what you seen in the store is straw it is from wheat. There are different kinds of Straw just as there are different types of hay.. here we have that :  

 

Open Original Shared Link

 

But really it is all good!! 

[notme]

So what?

 

what does that have to do with EATING gluten?

 

You really have to stop panicking about every single thing that you see ....or step on. Like milk and hay.

 

shoelaces?? seriously....they are NOT a concern.

thank you very much, daisy - this is more much ado about nothing 

[notme]

I don't know all i know is i saw numerous people say before they wouldn't ever work on a farm even if not directly handling the hay *shrug* So I figured it's about breathing stuff in.

 

As for what hubby saw....doesn't look like any of the above. So i think it's wheat. I personally wasn't there.

 

And daisy..for someone with so few posts you sure seem to know my posts pretty well. As for bakeries there are numerous people who've said they got sick after being in a bakery. That's the only reason the thought went through my head about airborne gluten.

 

I was just curious if anyone else had seen this I wasn't looking for a fight. I'm done with this thread.

 

dude, *everybody* knows your posts well.  and nobody is looking for any kind of fight.

 

if you go hollering 'free bananas' in the monkey house, then i don't know the sort of response you are looking to invoke.  (my apologies to the monkeys) ......  like O MY GOSH THERE'S WHEAT AT WALMART well, hells ya, there is, up and down the aisles, in every other thing you can think of.  really.. there IS   honestly.   google was invented for a reason and obviously you can work the interwebs, so jump up runnin' and e-mail the dad.  gum.  wal.  mart.  and ask them if you should be scared of hay that may or may not be wheat in their stores that got on your husband's shoes.  we have people on here who will actually avoid the (whatever) because of something you posted that happens to be perfectly safe.  is that what you really want ?    

[notme]

I live on a farm. My husband has thrown Thousands of bails of hay around!! Thousands!! It has never affected me. There are alot of different kinds of hay out there but your not going to eat it. No worries it is hay not anything eles Here are some types right here ...

 

Open Original Shared Link

 

Now when we go on hay rides well most of the time it really isn't hay , most of the time it is straw , People sometimes get straw and hay confused. They sometimes think "what ever !!" but there is a difference , Hay Horses eat and Straw is used for bedding .. not eating .. Straw is made from wheat stalks... The head is taken off and the plant left over is straw. If what you see in the store is hay. It is not wheat. If what you seen in the store is straw it is from wheat. There are different kinds of Straw just as there are different types of hay.. here we have that :  

 

Open Original Shared Link

 

But really it is all good!! 

this is awesome thanx, w8n4 for good info

[w8in4dave]

Ragweed is worse!! Stores do not accommodate for allergies ...

[notme]

Ragweed is worse!! Stores do not accommodate for allergies ...

if i am in the lawn and garden section, i expect i might sneeze    that's why God invented kleenex's!  

[Adalaide]

I buy hay for my bunny. We buy alfalfa, timothy or plain old grass hay, whatever is cheap because Freya isn't picky. There are some grasses that look remarkably similar to wheat but aren't wheat. I keep the hay (an entire bale) in a large tote in my living room with my bunny who has a large "bunny condo" in the living room. Hay gets all over the room. I do wash my hands after handling her hay, but I don't particularly worry about gluten. Hay is just messy.

[mommy2krj]

I don't know your posts from anyone else's posts. However, it is a decision you and your hubby need to make. I see your question and while, yes, it does seem a little over the top fear wise....but if I think about it a little bit....it does have some validity.

 

I can see, if you're in the store and the hay is in the store (and yes, I've seen these at my Walmart, inside as well) and it looks a lot like wheat....and there are seeds crushed all over the floor (and we all know store employees are always quick to rush over and clean up messes!) there is the potential for an airborne issue. Heck there's even the potential for the issue coming from your husband's shoes...if he's the celiac. Aside from my kids, I don't know too many people that don't use their hands to put on their shoes or tie their shoelaces. If you can become contaminated from flour in the air at a bakery, why not crushed up seeds on the floor? It's not completely crazy. Or from the carts themselves if people are putting them into the carts. Those things don't exactly get washed too often (if at all). Not to mention kids are weird little creatures and pick stuff up off the floor and put it in their mouths all the time. For most, healthy children it lends to their immune systems.....for others, not so much.

 

I do think, though, a phone call to Walmart to verify the source of the hay would be the best option here. Failing that (because really, I can almost guarantee I could walk into my local Walmart and not be able to find a single person that could answer that question) taking a sample and finding someone that does know would be my second thought.

I did learn the difference between hay and straw. I always just thought one was more dried out than the other. Never really was around either. I do know I have a skin reaction to wet hay, er straw (couldn't tell you which one!) and my little guy has a seasonal allergy reaction to.....one or both of them. But we still go on hayrides. We do, however, tend to stay away from petting zoos as he reacts to the animals and they always seem to have those adorable little kittens that he is just so dang allergic to!

On a side note.....took him to a regular zoo. We've never had problems like this before...but once we got to the big cat area, it was instant allergic response like he has with cats! It was really weird. But anyway....

 

I do think further research is a good idea before getting too upset about it.

[dilettantesteph]

In my opinion, if there is wheat straw with seeds on it tracked around the garden center at Walmart, there are some more sensitive celiacs who would want to avoid it.  It might be nice to post this in the super sensitive section where they could see it.  It would be a good idea to first find out if it really is wheat.

 

I am not familiar with saraphim's posts so I guess I'm not part of "*everybody*".

[notme]

In my opinion, if there is wheat straw with seeds on it tracked around the garden center at Walmart, there are some more sensitive celiacs who would want to avoid it.  It might be nice to post this in the super sensitive section where they could see it.  It would be a good idea to first find out if it really is wheat.

 

I am not familiar with saraphim's posts so I guess I'm not part of "*everybody*".

no doubt.

 

my point is, as a service to people on this forum, who do alot of research and try to back things up with facts, why would you post potentially alarming things without doing some kind of independent research on it first.  

 

i just called my local walmart - it is 'fake' straw, (first she said it was made of plastic or paper, which actually might be true, considering that's what they make their shoes from lolz)  with a paint-like coating on it for decorative purposes only, so you can't feed it to your animals.  she said you probably can't even get it apart................................................................  took me 5 seconds, it will take me longer to type this.....................  as a celiac, i am sensitive as well, although you probably have more problems than i do.  guess where i'm going today?  walmart.  

 

later, taters