Curious About Bulk Items

[AmyNColorado]

Has anyone had the courage to try any of the foods available to purchase in bulk at Whole Foods, sprouts or trader joes? Where you bag your own from the bins.  I'm really curious to know if I would react to that stuff but I'm hesitant to try as I am super sensitive but damn it would save me money when making my own trail mixes. 

 

Has anyone had a good experience or just plan stay away?

 

Thanks!!!!

[bartfull]

Stay away. All it takes is for one person to use the wrong scoop, and the whole bin could be contaminated. The only thing I would buy in bulk would be nuts still in the shell, like the grocery stores have at this time of year.

[Adalaide]

Not recommended. From top down things fall into lower bins, people double dip with scoops and when it comes to flours and such there is usually a dust in the air if it's a small room that they're kept in.

 

That said, I do shop bulk I simply do so in the only safe way. I order full boxes/bags from customer service as long as I know what company the stuff is and that it's safe. Then when I get it I also get 10% off the bulk price for buying a whole box of it. I love it! Of course, you need to have a lot of room to do this sort of thing. We have a cold storage room and I have a fair number of 5 gallon food storage buckets full of things like corn starch, salt, pasta and other more or less non-perishable items. I don't buy flours that need to be frozen this way.

 

I'll also buy nuts in the shell from wherever. If you're worried about their origins or whatever, you can give them a rinse under running water and let them dry before digging in. Which reminds me, I haven't bought any nuts yet this year. Brazil nuts are my favorite, so divine.

[WinterSong]

Stay away. No question. 

[AmyNColorado]

What about the items that are already in separate containers? Like the veggie chips etc that they will package and sell right next to the bulk area?

[ItchyAbby]

No bulk bins for me. They are not to be trusted. Go to Nuts.com for all that stuff (their quality and selection is great). Just make sure you click on the "gluten free" heading.

[IrishHeart]

What about the items that are already in separate containers? Like the veggie chips etc that they will package and sell right next to the bulk area?

Depends. What do the labels say?

 

and NO, NO, NO on bulk bins with scoops! absolutely not.

[Ashcat]

I had this same question as I'm new to gluten free (blood tested negative for Celiacs, but have family history and a lot of other health problems so I'm treating going gluten free seriously).

 

My local Whole Foods that I get nuts and dried fruit from have them all set up as a seperate table where even if you use the same scoops the only thing you could scoop would be other dried fruit and nuts not any grains.  I also like to buy quinoa that way, and they are in bins where you press a lever and it falls out, no scoops and they are up top above all the grains. 

 

Do you still think that's contaminated too?

[IrishHeart]

I had this same question as I'm new to gluten free (blood tested negative for Celiacs, but have family history and a lot of other health problems so I'm treating going gluten free seriously).

 

My local Whole Foods that I get nuts and dried fruit from have them all set up as a seperate table where even if you use the same scoops the only thing you could scoop would be other dried fruit and nuts not any grains.  I also like to buy quinoa that way, and they are in bins where you press a lever and it falls out, no scoops and they are up top above all the grains. 

 

Do you still think that's contaminated too?

 

I do.

I would never buy anything like that without a label on it.

There problem with cross contamination is...it's not enough that the food is an inherently gluten free food, it's how it is handled.

I would have no idea where those fruits and nuts came from or how they were put in the bins etc.

For people with celiac disease and serious gluten intolerance, this is risky business.