When A Product Shouldn't Have Gluten But Does- Aaarrrrgggghhhh!`

[JazzyJake]

As a newly diagnosed celiac, shopping is frustrating.  And it takes much longer!

 

The worst are products that should not have a gluten substance but do according to their labels:

 

Nuts (this after I bought the only thing from a vending machine that I thought was OK)

Trail Mix

Quinoa side dishes (lists wheat flour!)

Oatmeal

Spanish Rice

Polenta

mango sauce

baked beans

BQ sauce

 

the list goes on and on

 

Sorry, just felt like whining! 

 

[kareng]

I haven't found many BBQ sauces with gluten.  I don't use canned baked beans - but there are many that are gluten-free.

 

I am in the US - so products differ in other countries. Just trying to make life easier.  

[mamaw]

have  you  read  the newbie  thread?  it  can  be  hard  in the beginning but  some  of  the  food  items   you  mentioned  are or  could  be  okay   to  eat  if  your  gut  had  already  been  healed  up... Remember food  in  the naked/raw natural  state I.e.  beef,  chicken, fish, pork,  fresh veggies  & fruit are  all  gluten-free... it  is  when  sauces , marinades,  rubs,  coatings  & other  ingredients   are  added  that make  them  not  okay.....

Plus in the beginning  it is  best  to  eat  a  plain,  healthy  gluten-free  diet  ,  void  of  a lot  of  processed   gluten-free  food.. This allows  your  gut  to  heal  without  added  stress to it.....

Quinoa  can be  CC & "side  dishes"  as  you mentioned can  many times  contain   ingredients  not permitted  on the gluten-free  diet....pre-packaged  side  dishes   would  be  again  a  processed  product.... quinoa organic  by  itself  is  gluten-free....

They do  make  gluten-free  oatmeal  that  is not  CC. But  most doctors  do not  recommend  the  newly dx'd    to  eat  it  for  at  least a year ....oatmeal  is  a  problem  for many celiac, gluten-free  or not.

 

Regular  soy  sauce, beer  do contain  gluten , again  there  are  gluten-free  ones  available....

 

Learn to  carry a safe  bag  of gluten-free  foods  in your  car, pocket at  work.... this  will save you  time  &  energy  when  you  are starving  &  can't  find  any  available  gluten-free  items... Kind  bars, jerky, nut  butter  packets  & so on....

There  is  a gluten-free  counterpart  for  almost  every gluten product  out  there.. Name  a few  things  you love  & we can  point  you  into  finding  the  best gluten-free  one....

Changing  a lifestyle  does  take  time  & learning..... no  whining  at all --- we all have  been  there....

[bartfull]

Anything from Kraft foods or Con Agra will clearly state in the ingredients if a product contains any glute grains, plus they will tell you if a product is made on the same line or same facility as gluten products. Planter's nuts are from Kraft and I eat them all the time. Someone gave me some Fisher's nuts for Christmas and before I ate them I contacted the company and sure enough, even though the ingredients don't list any gluten grains, they are made on the same line as gluten products and they responded that they were'nt safe for celiacs.

 

So stick with whole foods as much as possible for now, but when you buy processed foods, look for Kraft, Con Agra, or Nestles. Read the ingredients and if you don't see gluten, they will be fine. And remember, these are giant parent companies who make all sorts of things. Marie Calendar's for example, is a Con Agra product. So check which brands fall under these parent companies and you will be pleasantly surprised.

[MycasMommy]

It took me a while to come to terms with cooking everything, sauces and side dishes and all, from scratch, but now when I DO buy a product that is not in its natural state... or just THINK i want to... its a little ironic, I usually end up putting it back on the shelf even if it is gluten free. Because I just read all the OTHER chemical *^%&^ in it and why would a person eat that anyway???

[JazzyJake]

Yea Hershey's!  Boo Lindt's!

 

It's also frustrating when a company's web-site says that a product is gluten-free, but the product itself isn't labeled as such.  I've been complaining to them. 

 

And to the ones with products that should not have gluten at all - like the bag of roasted peanuts.

 

I got a sympathetic reply from the Customer Service person at Giant Foods about labeling their house brands better.

 

One of the Progressive pea soups is gluten-free; the other one isn't.  Go figure.

 

I've whined elsewhere: gluten-free beer is awful and should be banned by Presidential and papal decree. 

[bartfull]

If you like clam chowder try the Progresso "Rich and Hearty New England Clam Chowder" It says gluten-free on the label and it IS gluten-free. I eat a lot of it.

[mamaw]

I know  many  who  enjoy Green's  beer......I use it  for  the liquid  in  beer  batters  for  seafood....I second  the  clam  chowder &  Progresso creamy mushroom....all progresso  soups  are  labeled...

but  no beer  just  yet!  there  are  also many hard  ciders  that  many enjoy...not  just  yet  for  you  tho!!!  

[Lisa]

As a newly diagnosed celiac, shopping is frustrating.  And it takes much longer!

 

The worst are products that should not have a gluten substance but do according to their labels:

 

Nuts (this after I bought the only thing from a vending machine that I thought was OK)

Trail Mix

Quinoa side dishes (lists wheat flour!)

Oatmeal

Spanish Rice

Polenta

mango sauce

baked beans

BQ sauce

 

the list goes on and on

 

Sorry, just felt like whining! 

Whining is allowed.

 

Sometime, it's just as easy as switching brands.

Ancient Harvest Quinoa is gluten free (I cook mine in HerbOx chicken bouillon)

Quaker Oatmeal has never bothered me, although there may be a risk of cross contamination

Spanish Rice, is so easy to make - I never buy it prepared.

Polenta - should be just corn.  I love my grits

Mango Sauce ?

Baked Beans - B&M or Bushes BBs

BBQ Sauce - My all time favorite - all of Sweet Baby Ray's are gluten free

Soy Sauce - Kikkoman's has a gluten free option as well as LaChoy.

[nvsmom]

Whine away.    We've all done it.  It takes a (long) time to find the safe brands but once you do, life gets easier.

[sunny2012]

I remember taking hours and hours in the store reading only to walk out without anything but toilet paper and paper towels.

It's best to shop around the outside of the store at first. Purchase only the fresh/frozen fruit/veggies and fresh meat. Take a journey of adventure down one of those other aisles when you have nothing else to do.

[sadvilli]

From BJ's I get

 

Naked medley (nuts and raisins)  are marked gluten-free

Bush's baked beans some varieties are gluten-free

Sweet baby rays BBQ sauce marked gluten-free

 

from the regular market

Jones frozen sausage

 

and from the health food store

Bobs Red Mill does a hot cereal it  takes twice as long in microwave as Oatmeal "Hot and Tasty"?

Bigalow teas

the rest I keep natural.

[Hoos]

Planter's (a division of Kraft) does have a couple of trail mixes that don't contain gluten products.  They're not certified gluten-free, but they've never bothered me and I'm pretty sensitive.  Kraft is one of the very few food companies I've been comfortable using since being diagnosed.  If one of their products contains an allergen (wheat, soy, nuts, etc.), they list it on the label.

[Nikki2777]

I have heard McCormick spices are very clear in their labelling, but no one's yet mentioned them on this thread.   I tend to buy McCormick's spice blends because I'd heard they would call out any gluten. Is that not true? 

[kareng]

I have heard McCormick spices are very clear in their labelling, but no one's yet mentioned them on this thread.   I tend to buy McCormick's spice blends because I'd heard they would call out any gluten. Is that not true? 

 

I do use McCormicks.  But I think no one mentioned it because that wasn't part of the discussion/original quesiton?  This thread would be a million pages long if we could find the time to  list every thing we eat  !  

[Nikki2777]

Thanks Karen!

Yes, that's true. I just always have read Kraft and McCormick as being very clear in their labeling and started to panic when i saw one and not the other ;-)

[Kegrace]

We bought some veggie patties at a health food store similar to Whole Foods. Both were labeled as gluten free, however one of the boxes, lower on the label, said processed in a facility that also processes wheat! I took a chance..... my son finished the box. I was sick quite a while after eating them. Unfortunately I seem to be pretty sensitive to cc. The 2 doctors involved in my diagnosis just told me to stop eating gluten... that's it. Most of what I have learned since has been from the internet. Maybe because I am a Nurse they figured I would know what to do.... It's been a lot of trial and a few errors in the little over 3 months since diagnosed & I sure am glad for places like this to help figure it all out!