Taco Shells

[maeve1956]

I bought Ortega yellow corn taco shells last week and made tacos using Old El Paso Original taco seasonings, hamburger, extra sharp cheddar cheese and shredded lettuce. 

 

The Ortega taco shells box says there is no wheat in the ingredients, and the Ortega site says their corn taco shells are gluten free.  The Old El Paso seasoning packet also says it does not contain any wheat products.  The Ortega shells and the Old El Paso seasoning packet both contain partially hydrogenated soybean oil, but I have not had any problem with this so far.  It may not be healthy, but it does not make me sick (yet).

 

However, I became very sick very fast about halfway through supper.  It was one of the worst attacks of abdominal pain I have ever had, and it happened unusually fast.

 

Next day I tried the leftover seasoned meat without any taco shells as a test - just put it in a bowl and topped it with shredded cheese and lettuce and ate it with a spoon - and had no reaction at all. 

 

Then I bought some Old El Paso yellow corn taco shells and tried again using the same left-over seasoned meat, and had no reaction at all.

 

My conclusion is that Ortega taco shells must have a significant amount of cross-contamination from the factory.  Their website says they are very careful about cross-contamination, but clearly this is not always true.

 

The Old El Paso taco shells label says they do not contain soybean oil, so this is an added plus.  They use Palm Oil.

[kareng]

I have used both brands and been fine.

[maeve1956]

I have used both brands and been fine.

I am very glad to hear it.  I must assume that if what happened to me is caused by cross-contamination, then it is a random occurrence at the factory.  However, my pain was severe and I won't take that chance again.  It is Old El Paso taco shells for me from now on.

[cyclinglady]

It sounds like a gallbladder attack. Just something to think about.

[psawyer]

It sounds like a gallbladder attack. Just something to think about.

Yes, I agree.

[maeve1956]

These replies astonish me.  I do not think it is at all appropriate for people who know nothing about me or my medical history to start making medical diagnoses for a total stranger. 

 

I said I experienced severe abdominal pain.  There are about 100 medical conditions for which this is a common symptom.  I know what my medical history is, and it does not include gall bladder issues.  I explained that I tested the food products thoroughly and the culprit is the taco shells, which I used to eat regularly without issues before I became severely gluten intolerant one year ago.

 

I made this post so that other people might be alerted to a "possible" food product issue, not to receive unsolicited, unprofessional medical advice.

[kareng]

These replies astonish me.  I do not think it is at all appropriate for people who know nothing about me or my medical history to start making medical diagnoses for a total stranger. 

 

I said I experienced severe abdominal pain.  There are about 100 medical conditions for which this is a common symptom.  I know what my medical history is, and it does not include gall bladder issues.  I explained that I tested the food products thoroughly and the culprit is the taco shells, which I used to eat regularly without issues before I became severely gluten intolerant one year ago.

 

I made this post so that other people might be alerted to a "possible" food product issue, not to receive unsolicited, unprofessional medical advice.

 

 

Actually, if it was a gall bladder attack or some other reason - you could certainly eat the next day without the pain. I think they were trying to be helpful and alert you to a possible health issue.

 

For me, unless you have actually tested this product and found it contains gluten, I am going to assume it was something else.  If I avoided every food people claimed that they had a gluten reaction to, I would have nothing left to eat.  I have been told people were glutened by bananas, water, cucumbers, oranges, products tested at <5 ppm, etc.  

 

So I guess I made my post so that other people might be alerted to the fact that these taco shells are probably gluten free and to be careful about eliminating a food because of one person's claim.  

 

I certainly understand why you wouldn't want to eat them any longer.  Actually, we usually prefer the Old El Paso Stand and Stuff shells because my family always puts too much stuff in the regular sized shells and they break.  

[cyclinglady]

I am sorry that you feel that way.

I am NOT a doctor and the advice I gave you was based on personal experience. The worse abdominal pain I have experienced has resulted from a non-functioning gallbladder. Severe enough to cause me to pass out. Like celiac disease, a non-functioning gallbladder can be difficult to diagnose. It was just "something to think about."

Anything could have caused your abdominal pain, I agree. And yes, there was a chance that the taco shells were the culprit. But your testing was not very scientific, was it? You will never know if the Ortega taco shells were the source of your discomfort since you did not risk eating them again.

[maeve1956]

I stated clearly in original post that Ortega Taco shells claim to be gluten free, and the ingredients on the package do not include gluten.  My intention was merely to alert people that eating them caused a gluten attack which "might" be due to cross contamination.  There is no way for me to "prove" this fact since I do not have access to the Ortega factory, and neither do most people reading this forum.  Cross contamination is a serious issue and a much more common cause of abdominal pain in people with gluten intolerance than a diagnosis of gall bladder disease.

 

I did not ask for medical advice, and this is not the WebMD forum.  I repeat that giving unsolicited medical advice to strangers is inappropriate and dangerous.

 

People can assume whatever they like, but posting your medical diagnosis assumptions is not the object of this forum.

[bartfull]

Wow, Cycling Lady did not "diagnose" your pain as a gall bladder attack, she simply said it was something to think about. And let's face it, you have no proof at all that the Ortega product is what caused your abdominal pain. You said yourself that there are about 100 things that could cause it, so there is no way you can pin it on a product you ate once. For all you know it was something else that caused it and it may have happened even if you weren't eating anything at the time.

 

At the risk of having you tear my head off for giving "unsolicited medical advice", I would suggest you see a doctor if it happens again.

[maeve1956]

Wow, Cycling Lady did not "diagnose" your pain as a gall bladder attack, she simply said it was something to think about. And let's face it, you have no proof at all that the Ortega product is what caused your abdominal pain. You said yourself that there are about 100 things that could cause it, so there is no way you can pin it on a product you ate once. For all you know it was something else that caused it and it may have happened even if you weren't eating anything at the time.

 

At the risk of having you tear my head off for giving "unsolicited medical advice", I would suggest you see a doctor if it happens again.

I repeat that these comments astonish me.  I never said at any time that the Ortega taco shells contained gluten.  I suggested cross contamination. I know exactly how to test food products for gluten and contamination, and I did so.  I did not ask for alternative diagnoses.  Saying "sounds like a gall bladder attack" is a diagnosis.  Medical advice is not appropriate in this forum.

 

And yes, I most certainly can pin pain on a particular food product.  That is the standard way that doctors tell you to test for gluten sensitivity.

 

Since people clearly do not understand the point of my posting or the purpose of this forum, I am going to close this subject.

[w8in4dave]

Wow!! 

[Scott Adams]

In general using your gut to decide if something is gluten-free or not isn't the best approach, nor is it at all accurate. You could simply have gotten a bug and the symptoms appeared around the time you ate this meal...but I'm not trying to diagnose you here...

[maeve1956]

On the contrary, you are diagnosing.  And your comment astonishes me, because it is exactly the opposite of what the Mayo Clinic and the 9 gastroenterologists I have consulted in the past 6 years have told me.  If you are tested for celiac disease and you don't have it, and you are tested for other GI or medical complaints and allergies and test negative for all of them, then the ONLY way to be sure you have severe gluten intolerance is to give up gluten completely.  If you then have no pain during or after meals, you are intolerant.  If you eat something questionable, and the pain returns during or shortly after the meal, then it either contained gluten or was cross contaminated.  You can test this by eating it again and waiting for the pain to reoccur, or by never eating it again and not having any more pain.  End of story.  If you disagree, you will have to discuss it with my 9 doctors.

 

I am not even the tiniest bit interested in anyone's comments on my medical condition, which I certainly know much better than anyone else.  This particular topic in this particular forum is for discussing food products that may or may not contain gluten or be contaminated with gluten.  Unless you are a scientist or a researcher you cannot say whether a particular food product may or may not be contaminated.  All people can do on this forum is pass on their personal experiences with particular food items, which is what I thought I was doing.  You can agree or disagree, but nobody has any right to question my very clear and concise original post.  Please stick to the topic in future.

[kareng]

On the contrary, you are diagnosing. And your comment astonishes me, because it is exactly the opposite of what the Mayo Clinic and the 9 gastroenterologists I have consulted in the past 6 years have told me. If you are tested for celiac disease and you don't have it, and you are tested for other GI or medical complaints and allergies and test negative for all of them, then the ONLY way to be sure you have severe gluten intolerance is to give up gluten completely. If you then have no pain during or after meals, you are intolerant. If you eat something questionable, and the pain returns during or shortly after the meal, then it either contained gluten or was cross contaminated. You can test this by eating it again and waiting for the pain to reoccur, or by never eating it again and not having any more pain. End of story. If you disagree, you will have to discuss it with my 9 doctors.

I am not even the tiniest bit interested in anyone's comments on my medical condition, which I certainly know much better than anyone else. This particular topic in this particular forum is for discussing food products that may or may not contain gluten or be contaminated with gluten. Unless you are a scientist or a researcher you cannot say whether a particular food product may or may not be contaminated. All people can do on this forum is pass on their personal experiences with particular food items, which is what I thought I was doing. You can agree or disagree, but nobody has any right to question my very clear and concise original post. Please stick to the topic in future.

First, I think that discussing other causes of this pain is part of the topic/ discussion. I think my point that I have eaten them with no problem is at least as valid as your assertion that they contain gluten. Yes, you did say they contain gluten when you said they were cc'd with gluten.

If you don't try the suspected food again, you can't really be sure it was the food you had an issue with or some other thing that was going on or another food you were eating or, as reactions can be delayed, ate earlier.

As I said before, I have seen many people who are certain many foods contain gluten but have no actual proof. There would be nothing left to eat if I went with that. In fact, many have come back later and realized it wasn't gluten in a food that bothered them but something else - a virus, gallbladder issue, sulfite issue, intolerance to another food, etc.

Edit to add: this is a forum which allows for others to comment or try to help. Many that participate here really want to help others. I guess we assume, when you post here, that you might want some help or suggestions. We also want to help people who read these threads in the years to come. So, even if all the suggestions do not pertain to your situation,perhaps they will be relevant to someone in the future who stumbles across this odd and contentious thread.

Edited July 9, 2015 by kareng

[bartfull]

I repeat, YOU are the one who claimed there could be 100 causes of abdominal pain such as you had. It astonishes me that you can insist that gluten CC is the only possible culprit.

 

It also astonishes me that you have come onto this forum simply to argue with people for caring enough to make helpful and sensible suggestions. But if it DOES turn out to be something else, if the pain reoccurs when you are eating something like plain chicken, or if it occurs when you are not eating anything at all, please go back and see your nine doctors rather than assuming the chicken or the AIR is CC'ed.

[cap6]

Oh my!!! Don't think I will risk voicing my concerns about all of the unhealthy ingredients that were consumed and that could have caused the problems or that we shouldn't blame the slightest thing on cross contamination. Nope. Keeping my mouth shut here.

[Scott Adams]

You are correct that there are lots of possibilities, but it may not be fair to the company to jump to a single conclusion without evidence, and accuse them of not making a gluten-free product. Using "a gut test" ti determine whether products are gluten-free or not, especially in newly diagnosed celiacs, would lead to a rather huge forbidden list of perfectly safe products that don't contain gluten. Just my 2 cents....

[Marian18]

I tested Ortega Taco Shell gluten free labeled with the NIMA sensor and it resulted POSITIVE for gluten. I almost gave them to my 7 years celiac daughter. Do not eat those when you are celiac!!!

 

[SilverLake]

On ‎12‎/‎25‎/‎2018 at 9:21 PM, Marian18 said:

I tested Ortega Taco Shell gluten free labeled with the NIMA sensor and it resulted POSITIVE for gluten. I almost gave them to my 7 years celiac daughter. Do not eat those when you are celiac!!!

 

Thank you for the information. I wonder why I came down with Gluten symptoms and could not figure it out until I saw your post.

 

 

[Marian18]

On 1/7/2019 at 9:35 PM, SilverLake said:

Thank you for the information. I wonder why I came down with Gluten symptoms and could not figure it out until I saw your post.

 

You are welcome! I hope it helps to other people. I even contact Ortega Company to tell them what happened.

I tested Ortega Taco Shell gluten free labeled with the NIMA sensor and it resulted POSITIVE for gluten. I almost gave them to my 7 years celiac daughter. Do not eat those when you are celiac!!!

 

[Scott Adams]

Wow @Marian18, did you notify the company, and keep the package? Telling them about the batch number would be important so they might do a recall. You can also notify the FDA and report this.

[Beverage]

Maeve...you astonish me.

[Marian18]

On 1/7/2019 at 9:35 PM, SilverLake said:

Thank you for the information. I wonder why I came down with Gluten symptoms and could not figure it out until I saw your post.

 

You are welcome! I hope it helps to other people. I even contact Ortega Company to tell them what happened.

I tested Ortega Taco Shell gluten free labeled with the NIMA sensor and it resulted POSITIVE for gluten. I almost gave them to my 7 years celiac daughter. Do not eat those when you are celiac!!!

 

[Marian18]

Hi Scott Adams, of course I contact the company, send them all the information and pictures. They are following the case with their Quality Assurance Team as they said. I live in Argentina, so I just contact them through Messenger and we are in contact by email.