Kind Nut Products

[powerofpositivethinking]

I love the convenience of KIND bars, but I gave them up for awhile because I felt I was finding way too many nuts in my stool and they made me really bloated.  I reintroduced them, and they made me much less bloated, but still slightly, so I wanted to see if the bars were made on the same lines as their oat products since I had a reaction to gluten-free oats.  Turns out they are not, which is great, and I think the reason they make me slightly bloated is because I recently underwent a stool test and it was confirmed I am malabsorbing both neutral and total fats.  I'm sure the high fat and fiber makes it fun for my digestive system to attempt to absorb, and that's why the bloat occurs.  Here's the e-mail I received:

 

 

Dear ******,

 

Thank you for contacting KIND.

 

While our KIND fruit & nut bars are made in the same facility that process gluten-free oats, please note that they are produced on a separate line from our Healthy Grains Clusters and our Healthy Grains bars.

 

I hope you find this information helpful. Please also feel free to contact us with any additional questions.

 

KIND Regards,

 

Kainaz Bhanja

Customer Experience Representative

Open Original Shared Link 

1-855-884-KIND (5463)

Open Original Shared Link | Open Original Shared Link | Open Original Shared Link

[Lizzo]

Have you ever worked in a bakery? I used to... and I am 100% certain that something made "in the same facility" very likely has some cross contamination. There will inevitably be some dust kick-up, which will float EVERYWHERE. I personally am too sensitive to eat things made in the same facility! Maybe that's what you were reacting to. 

 

This is good info though.... I should stop munching on the kind granola they keep at work!

[kareng]

Have you ever worked in a bakery? I used to... and I am 100% certain that something made "in the same facility" very likely has some cross contamination. There will inevitably be some dust kick-up, which will float EVERYWHERE. I personally am too sensitive to eat things made in the same facility! Maybe that's what you were reacting to.

This is good info though.... I should stop munching on the kind granola they keep at work!

If you don't have an issue with oats, why would oat cc bother you? You are saying that there is oats floating around and getting on everything. But you eat oats in the granola, so what does a little gluten-free oat cc matter to you? If a little oat cc is important to you, you shouldn't be eating oats in the granola.

Many people do well with Kind products. Oats aren't like flour that floats in the air. Let's use a little sense.

[dilettantesteph]

The OP said that she reacted to gluten-free oats.

 

I also have a reaction to oats and believe that KIND bars are problematic for me for the shared facility reason.

[Gemini]

Have you ever worked in a bakery? I used to... and I am 100% certain that something made "in the same facility" very likely has some cross contamination. There will inevitably be some dust kick-up, which will float EVERYWHERE. I personally am too sensitive to eat things made in the same facility! Maybe that's what you were reacting to. 

 

This is good info though.... I should stop munching on the kind granola they keep at work!

You munch on Kind granola at work and then make the statement that you are too sensitive to eat anything from a shared facility? 

 

Kareng is correct, a little sense needs to be used here.  Kind bars are one of the safest foods out there for Celiacs. They do an outstanding job of making sure their food is safe and are a trusted go-to snack for many Celiacs.  I am extremely sensitive, make all my own food and do not eat out that often at all and I can tolerate these just fine. I have never heard anyone say that Kind bars made them sick in the 9 years I have been diagnosed.  The OP stated that she found the reason for her problem with Kind bars.....fat malabsorption, which is very common for us. There is the common sense we are talking about.

[Lizzo]

First, I'd like to apologize for not reading the OP super thoroughly.... I saw "same facility" and just freaked out b/c I had literally JUST eaten granola & I seriously CANNOT eat things made in the same facility. SO, super sorry to the OP.... not so sorry to the people who jumped on my back, because I stand by my statement about the same facility being dangerous for the OP.

Oats aren't like flour that floats in the air. Let's use a little sense.

I would like to counter this specific (and only mildly snarky) remark by asking if you guys have ever actually baked using a huge bag of oats. B/c even if you have steel cut, it is going to have a ton of oat flour in the bottom of the bag. Little bags will do this, but it is REALLY noticeable if you are working with a 5+ lb bag. 

 

Bottom line: yeah, Kind is celiac friendly. But if you are sensitive to oat & you know their products are made in the same facility, don't do it. 

[kareng]

First, I'd like to apologize for not reading the OP super thoroughly.... I saw "same facility" and just freaked out b/c I had literally JUST eaten granola & I seriously CANNOT eat things made in the same facility. SO, super sorry to the OP.... not so sorry to the people who jumped on my back, because I stand by my statement about the same facility being dangerous for the OP.

I would like to counter this specific (and only mildly snarky) remark by asking if you guys have ever actually baked using a huge bag of oats. B/c even if you have steel cut, it is going to have a ton of oat flour in the bottom of the bag. Little bags will do this, but it is REALLY noticeable if you are working with a 5+ lb bag.

Bottom line: yeah, Kind is celiac friendly. But if you are sensitive to oat & you know their products are made in the same facility, don't do it.

But you were eating gluten-free oat granola, right? Why would a facility shared with gluten-free oats bother you? kind said they make things on separate machines from the gluten-free oats for oat sensitives.

[Lizzo]

Like I said:

" Kind is celiac friendly. But if you are sensitive to oat & you know their products are made in the same facility, don't do it."

 

The OP is sensitive to oat, therefore, she will have a problem if anything is made in the same facility. 

[Gemini]

So if you are adamant about never eating anything from a shared facility, no matter how good their practices are, I take it you never eat in a restaurant of any kind, never eat in anyone else's home even if you bring your own food because, after all, something might be floating in the gluten eaters abode that could land on your food, and do not eat in a work or school cafeteria for the same reasons.  If someone is sitting next to you at work, eating a sandwich, that's a shared facility.

 

The OP stated that she had testing done which confirmed that she is malabsorbing fats....a problem I share at times when eating high fat foods.  This will definitely cause bloating and discomfort.  Nuts are high in fat and can be very hard to digest so its pretty obvious what the problem is.  She even stated that there were obvious signs of undigested nuts when she went to the bathroom.  As Kareng stated, lets use a little common sense here.  I am another extremely sensitive Celiac and there are some shared facility gluten-free food producers who do a great job of keeping things cc free so lets not scare people into thinking they will get sick from any shared facility.  They are not all created equal.

[Lizzo]

Actually, no. I don't eat out. And I don't trust anyone to make my food. I can't have things made on the same equipment without getting EXTREMELY sick, so it's just not worth it to me. I have tried very hard to go out to more gluten-free-friendly places but I still have mild symptoms (which for me is face twitching and an itchy throat within an hour, feeling incredibly slow for a good two weeks, and being not as nice as usual.) This is why I keep an entirely gluten-free kitchen and none of my cookware or dishes have ever used gluten. And yes, I DO bring my own food when I eat at other peoples houses, because I know I used to make mistakes when I had a shared kitchen and I don't want to put people through that stress. I would think I was really weird for that, but I actually know three other Celiacs who take their food issues as seriously as I do. The one Celiac I know who doesn't take it that seriously gets colds all of the time, constantly has rashes and breakouts, and is basically a jerk all of the time because the gluten turns him into an angry Hulk. 

 

Maybe it's not causation, but there is definite correlation.  

[Gemini]

I bring my own food everywhere I go and never have a non-Celiac make anything for me, either.  I think that's what most people do who take this diet seriously....unless they are well trained by their Celiac friend.  Most people are not food savvy enough to do that though, because they do not understand cc.  However, as sensitive as I and many others I know are, we do eat Kind Bars because they are one company that does an outstanding job with preventing cc.  You can make any food choices you want but people need to know that, sensitive or not, there are companies that do it right and a Celiac can trust. Oats are not the same as flour, as Kareng stated, and do not become airborne like flour does. It's not the same degree of concern.

[dilettantesteph]

Actually, no. I don't eat out. And I don't trust anyone to make my food. I can't have things made on the same equipment without getting EXTREMELY sick, so it's just not worth it to me. I have tried very hard to go out to more gluten-free-friendly places but I still have mild symptoms (which for me is face twitching and an itchy throat within an hour, feeling incredibly slow for a good two weeks, and being not as nice as usual.) This is why I keep an entirely gluten-free kitchen and none of my cookware or dishes have ever used gluten. And yes, I DO bring my own food when I eat at other peoples houses, because I know I used to make mistakes when I had a shared kitchen and I don't want to put people through that stress. I would think I was really weird for that, but I actually know three other Celiacs who take their food issues as seriously as I do. The one Celiac I know who doesn't take it that seriously gets colds all of the time, constantly has rashes and breakouts, and is basically a jerk all of the time because the gluten turns him into an angry Hulk. 

 

Maybe it's not causation, but there is definite correlation.  

 

You aren't alone there.  I also have to be very careful.