No Name Cheese Flavoured twists Gluten Free?

[FARMHANDYO]

Hey everyone, 

I was recently diagnosed with celiac disease and noticed at No Frills that no name chews flavour twists were on sale so I grabbed a few. I looked at the ingredients and I don’t see anything that screams gluten. Do any of you know if these are gluten free? 
 

Ingredients: Cornmeal, Corn And/or Canola And/or Mid-oleic Sunfloweroil, Seasoning [modified Milk Ingredients, Corn Maltodextrin, Salt,cheddar Cheese Solids (milk Ingredients, Salt, Bacterial Culture,microbial Enzyme), Natural Flavour, Spice Extracts, Lactic Acid, Sodiumphosphate, Calcium Lactate, Disodium Inosinate And Disodium Guanylate,yeast Extract, Radish Concentrate, Citric Acid, High Oleic Sunfloweroil, Black Currant Concentrate, Concentrated Apple Juice, Silicondioxide].

[Scott Adams]

Since it does not have "gluten-free" on the package you may want to contact the company to make sure. In the USA this product would likely be naturally gluten-free, but I'm not so sure about Canada. These are the ingredients that could be an issue:

• Maltodextrin: The source of maltodextrin is not specified. While maltodextrin can be gluten-free, it's essential to know its source.
• Natural Flavour: The source of natural flavoring is not specified. Natural flavors can sometimes contain gluten, and it's recommended to verify with the manufacturer.

[Sue Newell]

In Canada, any source of wheat, rye, or barley must be identified by its plain name in the ingredient list or in a Contains statement immediately below the ingredient list. If the natural flavor contained barley it would be listed as "natural flavor (barley)". If the maltodextrin was made from wheat, it would be listed as "maltodextrin (wheat)". If the yeast extract came from Brewer's yeast, it would be "yeast extract (barley)".  This ingredient list does not include any gluten-containing ingredients.

[FARMHANDYO]

Thank you all for the info. It is very new to me but that completely makes sense. Even if I tried them I would not know if I was glutened or not. I am pretty well asymptomatic. They sound alright though I will contact the manufacturer to be sure 

[Sue Newell]

Farmhandyo, if you are in Canada, check out Celiac Canada for their Gluten-free 101 webinars (https://www.celiac.ca/news-events/events/). The next one is December 14th. It is a great introduction to reading labels, dining out, and all the other things you need to learn as a new celiac. I hope you are feeling well soon.

[knitty kitty]

Do keep in mind that some Celiac people react to the protein in dairy as though it were gluten because segments the casein molecules resemble segments of gluten molecules.  This is called molecular mimicry. 

 

Interesting Reading:

Mucosal reactivity to cow's milk protein in coeliac disease

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1810502/

[FARMHANDYO]

I only got diagnosed because I had some odd bowel movements for about 2 weeks. But nothing that uncomfortable. I went to my family doctor and asked if she could do some blood tests to see if I had some sort of bacteria. I waited 2 weeks for the blood test results and I felt 100% back to normal. I tested positive for celiac disease. Everyone else in my family got tested and no one else has it. Did the endoscopy results came back as inconclusive (I had been eating lots of gluten though). Thankfully I have virtually no symptoms I am not even 100% sure if I have it or not but I probably do. 

[knitty kitty]

You might have been caught at the earliest stages of CeD.  Some of us old fogeys went undiagnosed for years or decades with accruing health problems.  When we're younger, our bodies can heal faster.  But as time goes on, symptoms pile up, too. Don't question your diagnosis.  Be thankful doctors are more aware of CeD than in the past.