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Seasoning Mixes - Learning It The Hard Way

Thickleg

By Thickleg
in Coping with Celiac Disease

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Thickleg Rookie
Thickleg
Posted

Hi  Folks

 

I've been living gluten-free for 3 1/2 months now - so I thought. But for about five weeks now I felt very tired and I suffered from brainfog. Ok, I was ill with the flue and lay in bed for a week; that could be an explanation; but there was another symptom: My legs felt heavy and I had problems walking right after standing up from a chair. After walking some meters it gets better. This is not a symptom of the flue. I know that from gluten. And I had some small lesions in the skin that reminded me of DH.

 

I started thinking and examined everything I had eaten. Here is my result:

 

- I have bought a salad sauce that following the label contains no wheat. But it contains a "seasoning mix". I found the exact declaration of the ingredients of another salad sauce from the same house in the internet. The seasoning mix contains wheat. I have sent an e-mail to the producer to know the exact details of my favorite; but I guess I already know the answer.

 

- At an aperitiv three weeks ago I ate the only thing I could eat: roasted chicken. Yesterday I was at another aperitiv and before starting to eat the only thing I could eat (chicken) I asked the caterer if the seasoning mix on the chicken contains gluten. It does.

 

- I phoned my brother to be sure that the ice-cream I had at his house on christmas eve really was gluten-free. It was. But my brother investigated further. The seasoning mix he uses for the rice contains wheat.

 

I realise that even food I never-ever would think there's wheat in, contains wheat. I was at a restaurant and discussed my possibilities for a desert with the waitress. She recomended sorbet. I asked her to verify that it was really gluten-free as during the last few weeks I had become skeptical. Guess what the answer was. The sorbet contained gluten. I got a wonderful house-made cream. At the table we discussed why in the world sorbet should contain gluten. We found no answer, but I have to live with the fact! Of course there are brands of sorbet, that don't contain gluten and there are seasoning mixes, that contain no gluten, too. But one has to verify everything.  

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kareng Grand Master
kareng
Posted

The good news is, they have to list wheat as an ingredient. It can't hide as " seasoning" or "spice". The bad news is, you have to read everything because they seem to use wheat as a cheap filler to make the taco seasoning, or whatever seasoning, seem fuller.

This is for the US, Canada and some other countries.

I would either not eat at these gathering or being my own snack.

Thickleg Rookie
Thickleg
Posted
  • Author

Hi Kareng

In Switzerland they have to write the declaration too - at least the big companies. With the small local producers, who produce a limited amount, the law is not that strict. The salad sauce comes from a little family-owned creamery 15km away and is only sold in some nearby villages. That's the reason, why I bought it. Industrial salad-sauces have a terrible taste. But this family-made sauce ist just wonderful in taste! Like homemade... But as tasty as it is, I think it contains gluten. But let's see what they answer.

:-))))

gilligan Enthusiast
gilligan
Posted

I feel exactly the same way as you do!  I thought I was being so careful, and I felt great about being gluten free for a few months.  Today I realized that Swanson Vegetable Broth is not gluten free like the chicken and beef broth.  I was making yet another healthy pot of soup and decided to scan the bar code while I was waiting for the soup to simmer.  BAM!  It's not gluten free!  That would explain why I've been so gassy lately.  It also means that the soups and stews I put in the freezer are not safe for me to eat.  I don't remember which ones had chicken vs. vegetable broth.  So disappointing in so many ways….   Lesson learned!  

NoGlutenCooties Contributor
NoGlutenCooties
Posted

Just a word of caution... not all Swanson chicken broth is gluten free either.

kareng Grand Master
kareng
Posted

I feel exactly the same way as you do!  I thought I was being so careful, and I felt great about being gluten free for a few months.  Today I realized that Swanson Vegetable Broth is not gluten free like the chicken and beef broth.  I was making yet another healthy pot of soup and decided to scan the bar code while I was waiting for the soup to simmer.  BAM!  It's not gluten free!  That would explain why I've been so gassy lately.  It also means that the soups and stews I put in the freezer are not safe for me to eat.  I don't remember which ones had chicken vs. vegetable broth.  So disappointing in so many ways….   Lesson learned!  

 

 

Just a word of caution... not all Swanson chicken broth is gluten free either.

 

 

The wheat will be labelled in the ingredients.  Stupid to put wheat in it..... but at least you can read the ingredients.  I like Kitchen Basics

 

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Thickleg Rookie
Thickleg
Posted
  • Author

Hi Kareng and Gilligan

 

Thank you for all your replies!

 

Gilligan and I are surely not the only ones who make the same beginner-mistakes... Gilligan: Looking forward to your post, that you fell better after not eating the contaminated broth anymore!

 

I got the anwer from the creamery: No gluten in my favorite Salad-Sauce. The "wheat" in the other sauce is a different Seasoning-Mix, that my favorit doesn't contain. And in the other sauce the wheat is clearly declared. So my life get's easyer and happier again with my favorite salad-sauce (but stilll without roasted-chicken at aperitivs and with another mix at my brothers!)

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MChase Apprentice
MChase
Posted

New to gluten free also.  I am scared of most things.  I make my own salad dressings.  I also make my own seasoning mixes by using gluten free single spices.   I do not ingest anything that I do not know is gluten free.  I've only been out to restaurants a couple of times since going gluten free and I question the servers like crazy.  Better safe than sorry.  

Thickleg Rookie
Thickleg
Posted
  • Author

You are so right!

 

:-))))))))))

  • 4 months later...
rwilson65 Newbie
rwilson65
Posted

I sell spices and get lots of inquiries about gluten in our products. The answer is always no but in casual conversation with a lot of these people, they are not gluten intolerant, they just think it's trendy not to consume gluten. I wonder how many fit into this category? Actually they may unconsciously be helping those who truly have an intolerance or have Celiac by driving up demand for gluten free products. Interesting.......

NatureChick Rookie
NatureChick
Posted

I see that some people commenting about buying foods based on the ingredients lists and I'm half jealous that their reactions are so minor that they can't tell when there are minute amounts of gluten, but at the same time, concerned that they are telling people that foods are safe when they are not.

In my experience, the only processed items that are 100% safe are those that say gluten free on the label. That means that the manufacturer is not only paying attention to the ingredients but also to hidden sources that may come from premade ingredients bought from third-party suppliers, and cross contamination from equipment used to produce items that do contain gluten, or even items simply made in shared facilities. 

I have a jar of powdered garlic on my shelf right now that I'm certain contains gluten despite making no mention of any sort of anti-flaking ingredients on the label. No doubt, it was processed in a facility that was not dedicated gluten-free, powdered ingredients being almost impossible to control, even coming down from the air.

Nuts sometimes get me. Buying unsalted seems to help as does buying bulk, so again, powdered ingredients in shared facilities with shared machinery seems to be the problem.

For the first month that I was gluten free, I continued to eat my favorite spaghetti sauce, hoping it was safe. It wasn't. I even called the manufacturer, hoping, but all they could confirm was that it likely DID contain gluten.

It probably took me 4-5 containers of ice cream over 7-8 months before I gave up trying. One time everything would seem to be fine, another time not, so I'm guessing whether or not it was contaminated was related to what kind of ice cream was made on the machinery prior. I will eventually figure out how to make it from scratch at home, but until that happens, I'll just have to be satisfied with not feeling guilty about eating empty calories.

I'm not saying that there aren't plenty of foods out there that are safe, but just don't presume anything.

There are also plenty of products being sold as gluten free that I won't touch. Any baked product that didn't come out of a dedicated facility won't make it into my grocery cart and I have found that brands that make both gluten-free and gluten products are more likely to have issues with their gluten-free line. (I won't buy Amy's brand gluten-free pot pies or anything from the Whole Foods bakery.)

mzeppo3 Newbie
mzeppo3
Posted

McCormick's brand spices are gluten free. I too had a bad reaction to spices and went through my cabinet and chucked anything questionable. It took a bit of money to replace everything, but now I can cook without having to think twice. 

 

Below is a link I read that got me to switch:

 

 

 

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JodyM75 Apprentice
JodyM75
Posted

There were free samples of seasonings from Virtuous Living at our last Gluten Free group.  I haven't tried them yet but I'm looking forward to it.  They are certified:

 

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      @Riley, on this forum we sometimes get reports from people with similar experiences as you. That is, their celiac disease seems to go into remission. Typically, that doesn't last. At age 18 you are at your physical-biological peek in life where your body is stronger than it will ever be and it is able to fight well against many threats and abuses. As Wheatwacked pointed out, absence of symptoms is not always a reliable indicator that no damage is being done to the body. I was one of those "silent" celiacs with no symptoms, or at least very minor symptoms, whose body was being slowly damaged for many years before the damage became pronounced enough to warrant investigation, leading to a diagnosis. By that time I had suffered significant bone demineralization and now I suffer with back and neck problems. Please, if you choose to continue consuming gluten, which I do not recommend, at least get tested regularly so that you won't get caught in the silent celiac trap down the road like I did. You really do not outgrow celiac disease. It is baked into the genes. Once the genes get triggered, as far as we know, they are turned on for good. Social rejection is something most celiacs struggle with. Being compliant with the gluten free diet places restrictions on what we can eat and where we can eat. Our friends usually try to work with us at first but then it gets to be a drag and we begin to get left out. We often lose some friends in the process but we also find out who really are our true friends. I think the hardest hits come at those times when friends spontaneously say, "Hey, let's go get some burgers and fries" and you know you can't safely do that. One way to cope in these situations is to have some ready made gluten-free meals packed in the fridge that you can take with you on the spot and still join them but eat safely. Most "real" friends will get used to this and so will you. Perhaps this little video will be helpful to you.  
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