How can I trust Food at all?

[Zprime]

Recently Diagnosed Celiac ( A-symptomatic for the most part )

I feel everyones struggle, trust me I do. 

What's really pissing me off is the lack of info on foods.

I was under the impression if you read the food label and it does not mention ' Wheat, Rye, Barley, Malt ' For the most part you are ok.

However then I discovered foods that don't mention these things could still make me sick.

* Baked Beans ( No mention of Wheat, Rye, Barley ) 

* Green Tea ( No Mention of anything other than Tea )

* Flavored Teas ( No mention of anything )

The breaking point for me is this, some people won't even eat gluten free food ( as in labeled stuff that says 100% gluten free ).

At what point do you break and just go f$#% it, I'm going to have to ingest something other than hot water.

I dont want to have to start worrying about green tea, because next I'll have to worry about fruit and vegetables, Who's to say someone didn't eat a sandwhich on their lunch break and processed my fruit or vegetables and a single bread crumb got in.

It almost becomes an anxiety sufferers night mare, thinking that EVERYTHINg is out to kill their villi / intestines.

 

Does anyone here have a rule of thumb for ' Is there gluten in this ' ? Not everything in Canada can be labeled ' Gluten Free ', But I'd love to think for the most part things like Baked Beans, Potatoes, Fruit, Vegetables, green tea ect are safe.

 

[kareng]

Use some common sense- of course plain veggies, fruit, meat are gluten-free.  In general, in the US and Canada, ingredients are required to be labeled.  All ingredients.  Wheat has to be called out in big letters or an allergen statement. Not sure if Canada requires that for barley and rye.

rye is in almost nothing- rye bread or crackers and they would have wheat in them too.  Barley is a bit trickier.  It can be listed as malt - as in malt vinegar or malt flavoring. But it will be listed as an ingredient. 

Some people get a bit obsessive about “ what if ....”.  Start out simple.  Get used to that.  

[Zprime]

Thank-you for the reply.

Where I get confused is with things like this.

This is a product called ' Butterscotch Chips ' by Nestle.

On the ingredient list it mentions nothing about Wheat, Rye & Barley.

Yet according to the Web 

 

Quote

 

Which Nestle Chips Are and Aren't Gluten Free?

The majority of Nestle chocolate morsels (including semi-sweet, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and chocolate peanut butter chips) are labeled "gluten-free" by the manufacturer. However, Nestle butterscotch chips are not labeled "gluten-free," as these morsels contain artificial flavor barley protein as part of the ingredient list.

 

I do not see any mention of ' Artificial Flavor Barley Protein ' On the ingredient list, It just says

SUGAR, FRACTIONATED PALM KERNEL OIL, MILK, NONFAT MILK, 2% OR LESS OF HYDROGENATED PALM OIL, SOY LECITHIN, BUTTER, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS, YELLOW 6 LAKE, YELLOW 5 LAKE, CARAMEL COLOR, CORN SYRUP, BLUE 2 LAKE, ACETIC ACID. CONTAINS: MILK, SOY INGREDIENTS. MAY CONTAIN PEANUTS 

 

So who do I listen to? Artificial Flavors are in damn near everything, does that mean damn near everything is now out to kill me?

 

 

[GFinDC]

1 hour ago, Zprime said:

Thank-you for the reply.

Where I get confused is with things like this.

This is a product called ' Butterscotch Chips ' by Nestle.

On the ingredient list it mentions nothing about Wheat, Rye & Barley.

Yet according to the Web 

 

I do not see any mention of ' Artificial Flavor Barley Protein ' On the ingredient list, It just says

SUGAR, FRACTIONATED PALM KERNEL OIL, MILK, NONFAT MILK, 2% OR LESS OF HYDROGENATED PALM OIL, SOY LECITHIN, BUTTER, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS, YELLOW 6 LAKE, YELLOW 5 LAKE, CARAMEL COLOR, CORN SYRUP, BLUE 2 LAKE, ACETIC ACID. CONTAINS: MILK, SOY INGREDIENTS. MAY CONTAIN PEANUTS 

 

So who do I listen to? Artificial Flavors are in damn near everything, does that mean damn near everything is now out to kill me?

 

 

Short answer, yes!

You may find yourself getting sick from just about any food during the healing process.  Even if the food does not contain any gluten at all.

Why, Why, Why you ask?

Here's why.

Celiac disease damages the small intestine.  The normal surface area of the small intestine is about the same as a tennis court.  Imagine a tennis court sized area of skin that is red and inflamed and irritated, but it is inside you so you can't see it.  Every time you scrape a wound on your skin it hurts right?   How about if you pour hot pepper sauce on a nasty scrape on you knee?  Prolly gonna hurt a lot.  Just because you don't see the damaged area doesn't mean it is not there.

2nd point.  When your gut is healing it rebuilds the villi lining of your small intestine.  That villi lining is the home of bacteria.  They begin to multiply and colonize the new surface area of the repaired villi.  Not all bacteria are friendly or helpful.  And there are multiple strains of bacteria in your gut.  So during this healing process and gut re-colonization, there may be some symptoms from the bad bacteria.  It can take time to re-establish a good bacterial balance.  Sugar and carbs are bad for that re-balancing process.  Dairy is a bad idea too.

If you had a scrape on your knee you would be careful and treat it gently.  Your gut needs gentle treatment now to heal as well.

The antibodies that cause gut damage in celiac are not gone a few days after stopping gluten.  They are going to keep attacking for weeks or maybe months. In addition any hint of gluten will start the immune process roaring back to attack anew.

Once you have been gluten-free for a good while, the immune system may settle down some and not react as fast or as hard.  But that can take a few years.  But any gluten is going to cause some reaction.

Edited August 27, 2019 by GFinDC

[kareng]

2 hours ago, Zprime said:

Thank-you for the reply.

Where I get confused is with things like this.

This is a product called ' Butterscotch Chips ' by Nestle.

On the ingredient list it mentions nothing about Wheat, Rye & Barley.

Yet according to the Web 

 

I do not see any mention of ' Artificial Flavor Barley Protein ' On the ingredient list, It just says

SUGAR, FRACTIONATED PALM KERNEL OIL, MILK, NONFAT MILK, 2% OR LESS OF HYDROGENATED PALM OIL, SOY LECITHIN, BUTTER, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS, YELLOW 6 LAKE, YELLOW 5 LAKE, CARAMEL COLOR, CORN SYRUP, BLUE 2 LAKE, ACETIC ACID. CONTAINS: MILK, SOY INGREDIENTS. MAY CONTAIN PEANUTS 

 

So who do I listen to? Artificial Flavors are in damn near everything, does that mean damn near everything is now out to kill me?

 

 

They used to contain malt.  Looks like they have changed the ingredients. Always go by the ingredients on the current package.  

[squirmingitch]

As Karen says, always go by the ingredients on the package you are buying. And read every label every time. That is your new mantra. Every label, every time. YOU read it. Don't depend on others, they mean well but they don't know all the rules. You read every label every time b/c ingredients change. Manufacturers change ingredients depending upon cost & availability factors. 

If you are still in doubt, then call the manufacturer. Many a time I have been in the grocery store on the cell phone talking to a manufacturer. If it's after hours or the weekend, I often purchase the product, bring it home & then on Monday call the manufacturer if I can't get sufficient info. online before then. 

Just a heads up that many manufacturers have online gluten free lists. If you wan to change to Hershey's Butterscotch chips, they are gluten free. Here's a link to their list, scroll down to the one for Canada:

https://www.thehersheycompany.com/en_us/whats-inside/gluten-free.html

 

[Zprime]

16 minutes ago, squirmingitch said:

As Karen says, always go by the ingredients on the package you are buying. And read every label every time. That is your new mantra. Every label, every time. YOU read it. Don't depend on others, they mean well but they don't know all the rules. You read every label every time b/c ingredients change. Manufacturers change ingredients depending upon cost & availability factors. 

If you are still in doubt, then call the manufacturer. Many a time I have been in the grocery store on the cell phone talking to a manufacturer. If it's after hours or the weekend, I often purchase the product, bring it home & then on Monday call the manufacturer if I can't get sufficient info. online before then. 

Just a heads up that many manufacturers have online gluten free lists. If you wan to change to Hershey's Butterscotch chips, they are gluten free. Here's a link to their list, scroll down to the one for Canada:

https://www.thehersheycompany.com/en_us/whats-inside/gluten-free.html

 

Is it safe to assume that if I read the label or something and it does not say ' contains wheat, rye or barley ' then rule of thumb is I SHOULD be safe?

This has been a burden on me with TEA lately, I LOVE to drink tea, none of my tea say they contain barley, rye, wheat or gluten, but none say they are gluten free either.

websites always have conflicting information, half the time they'll say ' the manufactor claims its gluten free ', but when i go to the site the page has been removed.

 

[squirmingitch]

Generally, yes, except you need to add the word malt (which is derived from barley). However, I know the rules for the US & for the most part the US labeling rules are quite similar to Canadian rules but since I do not know all the ins & outs of the Canadian rules then you would be best to check out the Canadian Celiac Assoc. Here's a link:

https://www.celiac.ca/living-gluten-free/diet-nutrition/

Here's a page with some excellent info. for you:

https://www.celiac.ca/cms/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Gluten-Free-Eating-PEN.pdf

I will caution you on eating oats - even purity protocol grown oats - just don't do it for a minimum of 6 months; a year would be better. Some 8-10% of celiacs react to oats so just leave them off for now & you can try them down the line when you've healed up & your gut has straightened out.