Contaminated Flour?

[ROYAL BLUE]

Is their anyone here that buys flours from Westpoint in Vancouver BC Canada?

It is a whole sale company that distributes it the health food stores. If you do, can you give me your opinion on any reactions to the flour?

The reason I am asking is I wonder if it is contaminted. Since my son has been gluten-free, his Tissue Transglutaminase numbers have gotten worse, doubled.

[Guest gillian502]

I'm confused now, because I thought all flour was off limits! Except "specialty" flours such as Potato, Tapioca, and things like that. But regualr general use flour is a huge no-no I believe.

[tarnalberry]

I don't buy their flour, but had two suggestions, if you can't just switch brands for a while.

The first is to call the company and find out how things go in the processing plant. Are all grains (gluten-free and non-gluten-free) processed in the same room? Are gluten-free and non-gluten-free foods ever processed on the same line? Are the lines cleaned at any point in the day? Etc. They may be able to tell you if there is a reason to suspect cross contamination.

The second is to consider the following: Open Original Shared Link. It's expensive, and not suitable for all types of food - but should work for flours. It's a home test for detecting gluten. It's been around for a while, but at $50 for a 5-pack (which is what I recall the price being when I emailed them for a quote), it's not particularly practical for frequent use.

[ROYAL BLUE]

Oops, sorry. When I said flour I meant Rice flour, tapioca flour, garfava flour etc.

As for switching brands, it is the only health food store in my part of the province and I drive 2 hours to get thier.

The health food store told me it was appropriate for celiacs. She better not be wrong because I can only imagine how many other people are using the same flour since this store is the only one that sell these types of foods.

Tracy

[tarnalberry]

Have you tried buying gluten-free flours online? Just a thought, but I know some people would prefer not to. I know that sometimes people - even at the company, not just the store - will recommend something, but not realize the risks of cross contamination...