"processed In A Plant With Wheat"

[VydorScope]

OKay, thanks to the new labling laws alot of foods that are labled gluten-free, now say stuff like "Processed in a plant with wheat" , things like mission corn toritlas, Amy's stuff, and etc.

How big of a deal is that in reality? I feel like theres a point like some one mentioned were whe will say "Processed on a planet where wheat is grown", heh.

[Nancym]

Actually, that isn't due to the new labeling law, its just manufacturer's trying to really cover their hindquarters.

I don't know what it means. I would venture a guess it could mean something different from one factory to the next. At one, it could mean they combine the left over wheat containing stuff in the machinery with the new batch that doesn't. At another perhaps they wash down the machinery between runs.

There is no real meaning or standards attached to it. Its just "information".

[key]

I have been thinking the same thing. I used to get regular pinto beans at Wal-mart and now they all say this. It is really annoying. The new laws aren't really SO helpful for us. It is very frustrating. I am wondering if flour is floating around my beans or if the flour is on the other end of the plant!

It never ends! I really just want to buy my food and have it say without a doubt, "Gluten Free"!

MOnica

[gabby]

This is actually pretty serious. Just take out the word 'wheat' in the sentence, and insert the word 'rat poison'. Now see how the sentence reads: may contain rat poison. Processed in a facility that processes rat poison.

Dear customer,

we do not add rat poison to any of our cocoa drinks. We take great pains to make sure that our cocoa is rat poison-free. However, the cocoa is processed in a facility where rat poison is also processed. We try really hard to clean the equipment as best we can to try and prevent cross-contamination.

We hope you like our cocoa and all of our other products that we can 99% assure you do not contain rat poison!

Now, rat poison does exist on this planet in great quantities...but it still makes sense to label products that may contain rat poison. The same logic should be applied to toxic waste, cancer causing additives, allergens and gluten.

[VydorScope]

This is actually pretty serious. Just take out the word 'wheat' in the sentence, and insert the word 'rat poison'. Now see how the sentence reads: may contain rat poison. Processed in a facility that processes rat poison.

Dear customer,

we do not add rat poison to any of our cocoa drinks. We take great pains to make sure that our cocoa is rat poison-free. However, the cocoa is processed in a facility where rat poison is also processed. We try really hard to clean the equipment as best we can to try and prevent cross-contamination.

We hope you like our cocoa and all of our other products that we can 99% assure you do not contain rat poison!

Now, rat poison does exist on this planet in great quantities...but it still makes sense to label products that may contain rat poison. The same logic should be applied to toxic waste, cancer causing additives, allergens and gluten.

Well changing the world "gluten" to posion does not change the question for me at all, cause they are synomus to us. The question is how much of this is jsut silly CYA where there realy is no real CC chance.

[plantime]

My husband was going to tell me that I could not eat something (I forget what it was), because the label said "processed in a facility that processes wheat." I pointed out to him that, technically, everything I eat is processed in a facility that processes wheat, since I am the only one in my home that is glutenfree. And while I do not have rat poison in my house, I do have worm, flea, tick, roach, and ant poison, and am very careful to keep it from contaminating food!

[psawyer]

Vincent, I think you must mean my post in the Hershey Bar thread:

Open Original Shared Link

You do have to read some of posts preceding it to get the context clearly.

[elonwy]

I personally choose to be ok with that, but its really on a case by case basis, and if something makes me sick, I tend to avoid all things from that company. I'm getting my 6 month follow up blood test on the 2nd of march, so we'll see how I'm doing with that

To digress slightly, I was on the phone with a lovely gentleman from Morans Texas Hot Sauce ( best salsa on the planet) and he was reading the label off a fifty gallon drum of white vinegar for me to make sure it was distilled. As he's reading down the label he passed by "bug parts per gallon".

I understand the concept intellectually, I know we can't escape it, but eeeeeeeeewwwwwww.

Elonwy

[danikali]

That's it. I agree with gabby. I'm sick of being sick, and I DO care about the CC because I am obviously very very sensitive. When I don't eat anything processed, AT ALL, I feel like a million dollars, literally. But then I go back to trying the 'gluten free' stuff, and here I am again, symptoms popping up all over the place.

I get mad and jealous because it's not fair that EVERYONE AROUND ME can have anything on any shelve, in any store and that's why I tell myself that I'm being 'too causious' and should relax a little. But I CAN'T, and that is what I have to realize, PERIOD! I am not like them, and just because it says 'gluten free' obviously doesn't mean Sh*t for me because if there is any little sign of gluten, I AM SICK!

To those of you that CAN have those products labeled 'gluten free' I am so happy, FOR YOU! But not all of us are that lucky, and it's nothing to joke about.

In the meantime, are there ANY facilities out there that DO NOT make ANY products with gluten in them, therefore, have NO RISK of CC?

[jerseyangel]

Dani--I understand your frustration. I am one of the 'lucky' ones that more times than not, react to things made in the same facility as wheat. I really like the Enjoy Life brand. It is free of the top 8 (I think it's 8) allergens and made in a factory with no gluten or nuts. Their cookies are great--I eat them with no problem at all. They have lots of other items, too.

[elonwy]

Kinnikinnik and Tinkyada both state very clearly that thier products are made in dedicated facilities. Enjoy life doesn't allow any gluten or peanuts anywhere in their facility. So there are several companies where there isn't a chance it ever came in contact with gluten, barring the fedex guy rubbing bread all over your package.

Obviously, this doesn't cover other allergens, except for enjoy life, which is gluten, dairy, soy and nut free. And despite all that, rather tasty.

Elonwy

[danikali]

Thanks guys! I never knew this! I'll try them all!!!! I'm excited!!!!!!!!

[CMCM]

The "shared equipment" statement means a real no-no. That's a sure recipe for contamination, even though they supposedly clean the equipment. The "same facility" statement is definitely a legal thing to cover all bases in case of lawsuit, I suppose. My son is deathly allergic to peanuts, and we eliminate everything that has either message. It's nice to know about dedicated facilities, though....my poor son can't eat hardly anything prepared (all the dessert, cookie, candy stuff etc). Although he doesn't care so much...he grew up without this stuff so it's not something he cares to eat, thank goodness.

[psawyer]

I don't live in a gluten-free facility, and I know that many others here are in the same situation. My wife is not a celiac, and she has some foods in the house that are off limits for me. We don't have two kitchens. We don't have two sets of dishes. We don't have two sets of flatware. We don't have two dishwashers.

We DO wash thoroughly and regularly.

At the end of the day, this has to be a personal decision. But there are never any guarantees, even if you grow all your own produce in a greenhouse in your backyard, and never eat anything else, there is still SOME risk of contact with SOME gluten somewhere in your life.

Please don't take this as me belittling anyone for being cautious. But you have to make a determination about how far you are going to go to avoid gluten. There is no absolute, 100% certain way. You have to make a choice about how much risk you are prepared to accept, and balance that against the effect it will have on your life. I have made my decision. I will not sacrifice my life in an attempt to guarantee a longer existence. To me, a life and an existence are not the same thing. I am cautious, and I don't think that I am reckless, but I will not let fear of cross contamination destroy my life.

[Guest BERNESES]

Well- I'm one of the happy ones about this. I react to such small amounts (yes- I'm the wonderchild who reacted to an Amy's gluten-free shepherd's Pie. Amy's sent a sample to U of Nebraska and it came back at 33ppm) and when I say react I mean down for the count, home sick react so the processed on the same machinery is CLEARLY out for me. Same facility, questionable. But, I'm not the majority (I hope). Most people don't react to such minute amounts. I think it's a personal choice. If you don't have a reaction and the product has no gluten in it, I say go for it!

I think psawyer makes a good point- you can't let fear of cc rule your life (unless you are super-sensitive like me). And in my case, I give things that are processed in a facility with gluten one chance. If I react, never again. If I don't react. then no problem. Ironically, I've had better luck with some of the bigger companies, like Frito lay and Hershey's than I have with smaller companies like Amy's and Blue Diamond. Weird.

[Guest BERNESES]

Actually- on a funny note. I called Teva Pharmaceuticals once about a drug to see if it was gluten-free and the rep (who was actually a chemist for the company) said it was. I said "You're 100% sure?" His answer was, "Let me tell about 100%. Nothing we use in this facility has grains in it, but I can't guarantee you that the corn used to make the corn starch wasn't planted in a field that was next to a wheat field and some of the wheat blew over." He went on to explain that even if that DID occur, it would have been distilled out in the process, but I actually chuckled. i don't think there are any 100% guarantees.

[CMCM]

For myself, I wouldn't worry about food prepared in the same facility, and probably not even the shared equipment, if that occurs with gluten products. I doubt I'd react to 33ppm items, although I'm sure my mom would, and she gets deathly ill from any minute contamination. I believe she also had a reaction to the Amy's once, by the way, and she was vomiting all night long and said she honestly wanted to die she was so sick. I'm always amazed at the severity of her reactions.

For my peanut-allergic son, we can't take that risk because he could die. The creepy thing about peanut allergy is you may not KNOW how severely you'll react and you'd never ever want to challenge it. So we are very careful with labels, never buy stuff for him from bakeries, and so on.

[Chap]

Vydorscope;

I'm new at this, so my input is just from recent research/reading. I haven't even been diagnosed; I'm waiting on my test result to return, and I will see my Rheumatologist in three weeks. I may not even have Celiac. However, your question is interesting. I read a doctor's report on the web, and he said that a slice of bread contains about 4.8 grams of gluten. According to this doctor, it only takes 0.1 gram of gluten to activate an immune response in some people with Celiac disease. That's 1/48th of one slice of bread. So, if this is the case, then if foods are cross-contaminated when being processed, then people with Celiac stand a good chance of getting further "poisoning" simply through cross-contamination! Now, my common sense tells me that not EVERYONE is that reactive to gluten, but, how do you know you're not? It would be very disappointing if one goes on a gluten free diet for 6 months or so, doesn't get any better, and only because they have accidentally ingested a "grain or two" of gluten every couple of days or so. I've read that the human body is not geared to digest gliaden and prolamin proteins contained in wheat, rye, and barley. Cows can digest it - however, they have several stomachs that food goes through before digestion! Also, this doc says that wheat, rye, and barley can be equated to "wild grass" that cows graze on. So, if you simply go out into your yard and eat a few blades of grass every few days, you're eventually going to get sick. You may not feel it right away, but after months/years of eating a few blades of wild grass every few days or so, something has got to give. I've read that possibly 1 of every 3 people in the world has problems with gluten because it is simply wild grass that they're eating, and their bodies are not digesting it or getting nutrition from it. However, they don't have the severe reaction to it that Celiacs have. In this regard (boy, this may sound like stupid logic), "Celiac Disease" is not really a "disease"! Your healthy, well meaning immune system is doing what it's suppose to do - fight off any "poison" entering your system, whereas those who take this poison without a "sick" reaction are the ones with the "weak" immune system. But, since Celiacs react to ingesting poison, you're labeled with a "disease". It doesn't make sense to me. Also, I've read that those who do not have a noticeable reaction to gluten poison, slowly continue to poison themselved throughout their lifetimes, then think they are just "unlucky" because in later years they get cancers, diabetes, etc. By eliminating "poison" from your diet, I would say that your immune system has done it's job, by alerting you to stop ingesting poison, even in minute amounts. Cross comtamination is like going out to the garage and eating 1/2 grain of rat poison every two or three days for years - it'll get you in the end. However, with all of the conjucture/assumptions I've just written, I don't even know if I have Celiac Disease yet. But, I've found Celiac disease, and Lupus very interesting and reading about these conditions have let me know how little I knew about the human body, and not to assume that every doc I see knows all. It's just a fact that some docs are far better than others, and the bad out-number the good ones. So, if I'm eventually disagnosed with "Celiac Disease", I'm not going to regard it as a disease - I'll view it as me having a great immune system that does it's job well, whereas some other people aren't as lucky as I am. They can't detect the poison that they ingest everyday. They are the true "Celiacs". I've only been researching this for three weeks, and those are my conclusions, and I'm sticking to them. Boy, what a long post, I hope someone finds my interpretation reasonable.

[Guest BERNESES]

I've read that the human body is not geared to digest gliaden and prolamin proteins contained in wheat, rye, and barley. Cows can digest it - however, they have several stomachs that food goes through before digestion!

Chap- On a serious note, your response was totally reasonable to me. On a silly note, I'm thinking that I need a few more stomachs!

[CMCM]

Vydorscope;

"Celiac Disease" is not really a "disease"! Your healthy, well meaning immune system is doing what it's suppose to do - fight off any "poison" entering your system, whereas those who take this poison without a "sick" reaction are the ones with the "weak" immune system. But, since Celiacs react to ingesting poison, you're labeled with a "disease".

Chap...I totally agree. This is the conclusion I myself came to after a lot of reading. I really do think the human digestive system is NOT able to digest gluten. Possibly not casein either (after infancy). I think it's quite wrong to label it celiac DISEASE...and in fact, there are a number of celiac researchers who have suggested eliminating this label, preferring to call it gluten sensitivity. I think reactions to gluten could well be behind a lot of what ails our society these days....the explosive rates of high blood pressure, diabetes 2, autoimmune diseases, overweight, and so on. Doctors have tried blaming everything....sugar, fat, carbs, but oddly, they never zero in on GLUTEN as a potential culprit. The rise in all these debilitating conditions is right in step with the rise in grain consumption. Seems pretty obvious to me.

And as I read somewhere, a person with celiac doesn't have a non-functioning immune system; rather celiacs have overactive immune systems triggered by the gluten consumption.

[Felidae]

Plus, cows have some great critters (I think bacteria, I forget my invert. zoology) that help them digest. They can't digest much of anything without their symbiotic friends inside. They kept a newborn calf in a pristine room so that it couldn't eat dirt and therefore it didn't get the necessary bacteria for its stomachs. Lets just say the calf had a very short life.

[nettiebeads]

OKay, thanks to the new labling laws alot of foods that are labled gluten-free, now say stuff like "Processed in a plant with wheat" , things like mission corn toritlas, Amy's stuff, and etc.

How big of a deal is that in reality? I feel like theres a point like some one mentioned were whe will say "Processed on a planet where wheat is grown", heh.

I'm one who doesn't react right away to CC from minute amounts. It turns out that I do have problems with CC in the way of fatigue and a little brain fog; but it would be so minor that I would attribute it to work, family pressures and such. Since the labeling laws came out I've avoided products with the disclaimer, even though I would assume that the chances would be very remote that there would be a problem. (Like Great Value's frozen cauliflower. Why would there be wheat involved in that?) Anyhow, since then I've felt much better and have had more energy. It's a personal decision, but the healthier my body gets, the more I'll do to keep it that way.

Annette

[Guest BERNESES]

I too have read that those with Celiac's don't have a poor immune system, but rather an overactive one because it is fighting off gluten.