Starbucks warning

[SherriN]

Starbucks warning! I ordered a Banana Caramel Frappuccino, and they put something on top of it. I asked what it is, and was told 'crinkles'. I enquiried whether it has any gluten or wheat and was told no. aI felt assured. However the same night I started having bad tummy and bowel problems. I checked Starbucks website,and the 'crinkles' they put on my drink were actually graham, which is wheat! Huh. I was very,very sick for 3 days and also complained to Starbucks head office. They said they will talk to the staff at that branch and they then sent me £20 gift card to Starbucks. Huh, not good enough response imo to such a serious complaint, please be very careful if you drink/eat there.

[Jmg]

I've found myself choosing simpler drinks and food since I went gluten-free.  The fewer variables the less chances for something like this. Even so there seems to be so many ways you can get glutened.   

A soy latte is about as adventurous as I get now and as my palate changes the starbucks one of those seems too sweet. I had heard the chocolate sprinkles had gluten but never heard of crinkles before. Thanks for the warning and hope you're feeling better now!

[kareng]

I don't think you can really blame Starbucks.  You could have looked  the ingredients or asked to see the ingredients, first.  That is why they have the ingredient list on Starbucks.com.  I think it was nice of them to send you a gift card. I guess where Starbucks is at fault is that the employees are supposed to tell you to check the ingredients or website.  They shouldn't have said whether it contained gluten or not.

Edited June 6, 2016 by kareng

[Gemini]

Kareng is correct......Starbucks is not to blame here.  In the US, I do not believe the Frappuccino's are gluten free. I never order those anyway. I would imagine that their drink ingredients are the same in the UK, just like any other chain does. As stated beforehand, simpler drinks are safe.  Soy chai's and coffee latte's are always safe......I have been drinking them since diagnosis 11 years ago and have never gotten sick from them. It really is up to each and every Celiac to decide what is truly gluten free and goes in our mouths.....not the waitstaff. Sprinkles, crinkles or powders should never be ingested by us unless confirmed to be gluten free via an ingredients list that you see yourself. 

Really, being offered a 20 pound gift card is pretty generous.  I have never seen that much offered in the US.....ever!

[Missque]

On 06/06/2016 at 3:56 PM, Gemini said:

Kareng is correct......Starbucks is not to blame here.  In the US, I do not believe the Frappuccino's are gluten free. I never order those anyway. I would imagine that their drink ingredients are the same in the UK, just like any other chain does. As stated beforehand, simpler drinks are safe.  Soy chai's and coffee latte's are always safe......I have been drinking them since diagnosis 11 years ago and have never gotten sick from them. It really is up to each and every Celiac to decide what is truly gluten free and goes in our mouths.....not the waitstaff. Sprinkles, crinkles or powders should never be ingested by us unless confirmed to be gluten free via an ingredients list that you see yourself. 

Really, being offered a 20 pound gift card is pretty generous.  I have never seen that much offered in the US.....ever!

Thanks for the comment about the chai. I had one the other day and felt sick but maybe there was some kind of cc. Glad to to know I should be okay to try them again. I've read the ingrediants a bunch of time but always wonder if im missing something 

[cap6]

This is something learned with experience.  You may want to go with a simple coffee that offer less chance for cross contamination.  Starbucks offers so many different drinks and do not "celiac" wash the equipment.  

[Jennynogliten]

The chai tea latte has malt syrup in it, it is not gluten free. 

[kareng]

8 minutes ago, Jennynogliten said:

The chai tea latte has malt syrup in it, it is not gluten free. 

Every year or season it seems the ingredients change.  Might have been gluten-free 2 years ago.  Always check at you actual store.

[kareng]

These are the ingredients I see on the website today.  Looks gluten-free.  Don’t see any malt syrup

 

Milk, Water, Chai Tea Concentrate [An Infusion Of (Water, Black Tea, Cardamom, Black Pepper, Ginger, Cinnamon, Cloves, Natural Flavours, Star Anise), Sugar, Honey, Ginger Juice, Natural Flavours, Vanilla, Citric Acid].

 

this is the US ingredient list

Edited July 15, 2018 by kareng

[LilyR]

I contacted Starbucks once to ask about gluten-free drinks and they were not very reassuring and they do seem to claim to be able to guarantee anything to be gluten-free.  I basically realize I can't get anything there unless I want a plain coffee, and so far I haven't even bothered with that.  I don't dare order a flavor or even a plain latte since they don't thoroughly clean the machines in between each drink, so if someone ordered a latte with a flavor before you, and that flavor had gluten, you could get contamination. It is a bummer how many drinks we can't get anymore now with gluten issues. It stinks.