Barilla Gluten Free Pasta makes me sick

[MrsT827]

I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease back in October 2009. I seem to be OK as long as i stick to a strict gluten free regiment which can be challenging at times. It is difficult to know if a product is truly gluten free when its labeled as such. I only buy gluten free labeled products and i'm still having problems with my stomach, specifically pasta. In the past year i switched from Tinkyada brand pasta to Barilla. I had heard and read that the taste and consistency of the Barilla gluten free product was not much different from traditional pasta. Being Italian, we typically have pasta every Sunday so this was great for me.

In the past few months my body has been rejecting the Barilla gluten free pasta and i'm not sure if its due to a cross contamination issue. I'm tired of feeling sick and being in pain and would like to get to the bottom of this ongoing problem.

Has anyone else had any problem with the Barilla gluten free brand?

[pschwab]

We eat it every week or at least every other week. My three year old is the only one who currently has celiac (husband and another child have the gene but it hasn't triggered). He is quite articulate and has never complained of any issues nor have I noticed any outward symptoms from him. His numbers (ttg) have decreased significantly since his diagnosis in April 2016 and he was eating the pasta throughout the time before his 6 month check. Maybe it's not the gluten but another ingredient you're unaware of in Barilla pasta that's affecting you? Good luck!

[kareng]

We use it often.  I don't have an issue with it.  But it usually has con and rice - so maybe you can't have corn?

[Lawrence T.]

I hate to ask this because it sounds crazy, but you aren't getting cross contamination from other foods being served, are you? Even a stray crumb of bread will throw my entire system out for weeks.
Another factor might be the sauces and how they are prepared. Certain spices, and I can't figure out which yet, make me feel as if I've eaten gluten. It is mainly when combined with tomatoes too.  I've also found it can come down to the smallest things like the maker of a spice or seasoning I might put into something. Something made from GMO products will do it everytime too.
I've got Barilla gluten-free pasta to try but haven't done it yet. I'm hoping it tastes better than the Tinkyada brand. I like that brand but it can have some weird aftertaste at times.
Good Luck.

[MrsT827]

Lawrence T.-

Thanks for the response. I am very sensitive as well. The tomatoes I used were canned, crushed and a brand i use all the time. All I add is some salt, ground pepper from whole pepper corns and fresh garlic. I'm starting to wonder if its the corn that's giving me the problem. I may have to to go back to the Tinkyada brand.

I would love to hear out the Barilla works out for you.

[RochelleLovesBuddy]

On 1/9/2017 at 7:54 AM, MrsT827 said:

I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease back in October 2009. I seem to be OK as long as i stick to a strict gluten free regiment which can be challenging at times. It is difficult to know if a product is truly gluten free when its labeled as such. I only buy gluten free labeled products and i'm still having problems with my stomach, specifically pasta. In the past year i switched from Tinkyada brand pasta to Barilla. I had heard and read that the taste and consistency of the Barilla gluten free product was not much different from traditional pasta. Being Italian, we typically have pasta every Sunday so this was great for me.

In the past few months my body has been rejecting the Barilla gluten free pasta and i'm not sure if its due to a cross contamination issue. I'm tired of feeling sick and being in pain and would like to get to the bottom of this ongoing problem.

Has anyone else had any problem with the Barilla gluten free brand?

I've tried Barilla gluten-free pasta brand 3 different times. I forget that I have a reaction to it. Each time I'm out of commission for a full day! Far as I'm concerned it has gluten. I've experienced other products listed gluten-free and have had reactions to. I listen to my body. If I feel glutened - I am glutened. You are not alone. This product is not trustworthy. 

[Gemini]

14 hours ago, RochelleLovesBuddy said:

I've tried Barilla gluten-free pasta brand 3 different times. I forget that I have a reaction to it. Each time I'm out of commission for a full day! Far as I'm concerned it has gluten. I've experienced other products listed gluten-free and have had reactions to. I listen to my body. If I feel glutened - I am glutened. You are not alone. This product is not trustworthy. 

https://www.barilla.com/en-us/product-results/pasta/range/gluten-free/?sort=alpha

Many people with Celiac use Barilla without issue and they do a good job of preventing cc.  It is a very trustworthy product. 

When I eat too much dairy, it gives me the exact same symptoms as a gluten hit.  It can be very difficult to pinpoint exactly what makes a person sick because our GI tracts are sensitive anyway. If this and other labeled gluten-free products have made you sick, that does not mean it was gluten that is the culprit.  It could be another ingredient and that can be daunting to figure out.

[kareng]

I second what Gemini said.  I have no gluten issues  with Barilla pasta

 

[notme]

2 hours ago, kareng said:

I second what Gemini said.  I have no gluten issues  with Barilla pasta

 

i third it.  if i was glutened, i would be out of commission for a lot longer than a whole day, because of inflammation.  i eat the barilla, but i don't have issues with corn (soy, however, will make me feel terrible for a day.  that's how i know it's not gluten - if it was, it would take longer to get back to normal.  one day is long enough to get it out of my body, and then i feel better)   it would be a shame to further limit people's diet on a broad assumption such as that barilla has gluten.  if i'm not mistaken, it is produced in italy, and they are waaaaaaaay better at doing the gluten free thing   

i like the barilla pasta because it reheats pretty well and doesn't get all hard when you're trying to eat leftovers.  i like the tink for lasagne and it's good for some other stuff.  it's nice to have some choices being as our diets are so limitied already.

[Victoria1234]

I like it too  it does well the next day, as I always have leftovers!

[tisrandi]

Hi!

 

I have had Barilla gluten free spaghetti twice - once with Gluten-Free red sauce, once with butter and salt. Both times it has made me feel like I'm having a gluten reaction and made me sick! I actually double checked the box to make sure it said gluten free. I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one!

[lisas11lisa]

On 1/9/2017 at 10:54 AM, MrsT827 said:

I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease back in October 2009. I seem to be OK as long as i stick to a strict gluten free regiment which can be challenging at times. It is difficult to know if a product is truly gluten free when its labeled as such. I only buy gluten free labeled products and i'm still having problems with my stomach, specifically pasta. In the past year i switched from Tinkyada brand pasta to Barilla. I had heard and read that the taste and consistency of the Barilla gluten free product was not much different from traditional pasta. Being Italian, we typically have pasta every Sunday so this was great for me.

In the past few months my body has been rejecting the Barilla gluten free pasta and i'm not sure if its due to a cross contamination issue. I'm tired of feeling sick and being in pain and would like to get to the bottom of this ongoing problem.

Has anyone else had any problem with the Barilla gluten free brand?

I have never had an issue with it.(I think it's the best tasting).but I eat pasta sparingly..and not much at a time..I tend to have problems with all grains now...That may be happening to you...Goodluck.

[Vegasgirl2007]

I loved the Walmart brand 100% corn pasta but they stopped making it and switched to brown rice. 100% rice pasta can upset my stomach (gas). I switched to Barilla, and while I don’t love it, I eat it 4-5 times a week with no issues. I get sick from cross contamination whenever others cook for me (restaurants, friends, etc). What was the composition of the brand you switched from? Maybe it is a problem with rice or corn?

[apprehensiveengineer]

It's possible that OP may react to smaller amounts of gluten that seem to be fine for others. Barilla is GFCO certified, so it should contain less than 10ppm gluten. If you are very sensitive then maybe that's too much for you personally. If you eat a lot of pasta in one sitting, that could also do it too - it's not the ppm that kills you, it's the amount in mg that you end up consuming.

Personally, I can't handle most gluten-free alternative products (pastas, breads, flours, baked goods etc.). I don't think this is the companies being dishonest, just a reflection of the regulatory minimums not being protective for 100% of celiacs (it would have to be 0ppm for that). Try taking out the pasta (and change nothing else)... if that fixes it, then maybe that's your answer.

[PIE]

I do not have celiac disease, but have been gluten free for almost a year now. I have recently tried the Barrilla Gluten Free Pasta (both rotini and penne). The first time was the rotini which I made pasta salad. My husband (not gluten-free) and i were so sick all day and just thought I used too much oil ( no salad dressing since I'm allergic to garlic) so last night, 2 weeks later, I made just noodles with home made tomato sauce. Again, sick as dogs where we just had to go to sleep and sleep it off again. I just wanted to put this out there. Thanks.

Edited July 31, 2018 by PIE

[julianasss]

empty

Edited June 14, 2019 by julianasss
I'd like to remove my post. Thanks

[GFinDC]

I don't eat Barilla pasta myself.  But then it's seldom that I eat any pasta.  The old if it makes you sick don't eat seems to apply here.   Barilla does say their pasta is certified gluten-free.  It would be interesting if gluten-free Watch Dog or some other group did a test on it though.

The Barilla website has a contact us page for questions.  Maybe you could contact them and ask about their gluten-free testing process.  If you saved the pasta package you could give them bar code info off it so they could check their records on it.

It is always a good idea to check other ingredients in a product for possible reactions too.

https://www.barilla.com/en-us/help/product-related-questions

[Whitepaw]

I used Barilla for a long time, then developed a sensitivity to corn (likely from favoring too many corn-based products). I agree that GI reactions tend to be similar.  I would consider a new sensitivity to corn, possibly due to the volume of corn flour in one serving of Barilla. 

[Alicia Connell]

On 1/9/2017 at 8:54 AM, MrsT827 said:

I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease back in October 2009. I seem to be OK as long as i stick to a strict gluten free regiment which can be challenging at times. It is difficult to know if a product is truly gluten free when its labeled as such. I only buy gluten free labeled products and i'm still having problems with my stomach, specifically pasta. In the past year i switched from Tinkyada brand pasta to Barilla. I had heard and read that the taste and consistency of the Barilla gluten free product was not much different from traditional pasta. Being Italian, we typically have pasta every Sunday so this was great for me.

In the past few months my body has been rejecting the Barilla gluten free pasta and i'm not sure if its due to a cross contamination issue. I'm tired of feeling sick and being in pain and would like to get to the bottom of this ongoing problem.

Has anyone else had any problem with the Barilla gluten free brand?

Yes!! I am very sensitive and used Barilla pasta and got glutened. I stick to only dedicated gluten-free facilities now that companies can put gluten-free on a label but still process in a plant that processed wheat. Under 20ppm is crap. You hardly ever eat something just once. So even if we assume under 20ppm is safe (which I react to) we know we are going to eat it again. We find good things and we stick our pantry with it. Much like Cheerios (although they’re even worse in my opinion). They should be truthful in their labeling. If it’s truly gluten-free then great but if they are processing gluten too then they should be required to say so on the label so we can make our own choice to the risk we are willing to take. I won’t use barilla again. Sorry you got sick. 

[squirmingitch]

2 hours ago, Alicia Connell said:

Yes!! I am very sensitive and used Barilla pasta and got glutened. I stick to only dedicated gluten-free facilities now that companies can put gluten-free on a label but still process in a plant that processed wheat. Under 20ppm is crap. You hardly ever eat something just once. So even if we assume under 20ppm is safe (which I react to) we know we are going to eat it again. We find good things and we stick our pantry with it. Much like Cheerios (although they’re even worse in my opinion). They should be truthful in their labeling. If it’s truly gluten-free then great but if they are processing gluten too then they should be required to say so on the label so we can make our own choice to the risk we are willing to take. I won’t use barilla again. Sorry you got sick. 

Firstly, you imply that companies used to be prohibited from putting gluten-free on the label if it was processed in a plant that processed wheat. That would not be a true statement. Companies have never been barred form making a gluten-free claim even though the product was made in a facility where wheat also was.

Barilla says their gluten-free pasta is produced on a dedicated gluten free line.

https://www.barilla.com/en-us/product-results/pasta/range/gluten-free?sort=alpha

My husband eats Barilla gluten-free pasta on a regular basis & has never had any problem with it.

[kareng]

3 hours ago, Alicia Connell said:

Yes!! I am very sensitive and used Barilla pasta and got glutened. I stick to only dedicated gluten-free facilities now that companies can put gluten-free on a label but still process in a plant that processed wheat. Under 20ppm is crap. You hardly ever eat something just once. So even if we assume under 20ppm is safe (which I react to) we know we are going to eat it again. We find good things and we stick our pantry with it. Much like Cheerios (although they’re even worse in my opinion). They should be truthful in their labeling. If it’s truly gluten-free then great but if they are processing gluten too then they should be required to say so on the label so we can make our own choice to the risk we are willing to take. I won’t use barilla again. Sorry you got sick. 

I think you have a misconception of how parts per million work.  It is a percentage not an addition thing.  Also, if you ate any gluten today, it’s not still in your small intestines tomorrow.  So it doesn’t add up over time.

I use Barilla and have had no issues . 

 

Also - to get the certification they get - they have to test the products and they have to be < 10 ppm. 

Edited July 29, 2019 by kareng

[kareng]

Here is an explanation from the group that certified the Barilla pasta at <10 ppm

 

“. If you were eating products that were contaminated with gluten at some ppm level greater than zero, then it’s true that the more of those products you ate, the more gluten you would be ingesting. A study from the University of Maryland Center for Celiac Research showed that celiac patients consuming 10 mg of gluten per day for 90 days had no signs of villous atrophy. Using 10mg per day as a safe threshold, a person would have to eat half a kilogram (1.1 lbs.) of product contaminated at 20 ppm to reach that 10 mg mark during the course of a day. If you were consuming a GFCO certified product, contaminated right at the GFCO threshold of 10 ppm, that food volume goes up to a full kilogram (2.2 lbs.) to get to 10 mg of gluten. Keep in mind that most gluten free products don’t have gluten levels anywhere near those thresholds, and you can see that it would take quite a bit of eating to exceed 10 mg of gluten per day. “

 

https://gluten.org/faqs/

[gfjennie]

My son and I both have Celiac. The last few times we've had this he seemed to react as though he's been glutened, and this last time acutely. He is more sensitive than I am and I did not have a big reaction, and could have just had "lasagna tummy" from eating too much as it is delicious. As for the possible corn sensitivity, he does not appear to have one, as we eat corn all of time without any problem. As for dairy, same thing - we don't use too much dairy in the lasagna, but he has dairy regularly without incident. Sadly we are adding this to the list of supposedly "gluten free" products he cannot eat. Does Tinkyada make lasagna noodles?

[Scott Adams]

My guess would be that he has a sensitivity to corn or legumes, because Barilla uses pea protein, but it is indeed gluten-free. My family uses Barilla exclusively, and we've never had issues. 

[Stefano]

I Have had lately experience thecsame problem with some other brand. I started feeling better when I completly removed all type of gluten free product.