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Contaminated Flour?

ROYAL BLUE

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ROYAL BLUE Apprentice
ROYAL BLUE
Posted

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.

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Guest gillian502
Guest gillian502
Posted

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 Community Regular
tarnalberry
Posted

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 Apprentice
ROYAL BLUE
Posted
  • Author

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 Community Regular
tarnalberry
Posted

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...

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    • knitty kitty
      Desperately need a vitamin D supplement. I've reacted to most brands I've tried.

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      @Jane02, I hear you about the kale and collard greens.  I don't do dairy and must eat green leafies, too, to get sufficient calcium.  I must be very careful because some calcium supplements are made from ground up crustacean shells.  When I was deficient in Vitamin D, I took high doses of Vitamin D to correct the deficiency quickly.  This is safe and nontoxic.  Vitamin D level should be above 70 nmol/L.  Lifeguards and indigenous Pacific Islanders typically have levels between 80-100 nmol/L.   Levels lower than this are based on amount needed to prevent disease like rickets and osteomalacia. We need more thiamine when we're physically ill, emotionally and mentally stressed, and if we exercise like an athlete or laborer.  We need more thiamine if we eat a diet high in simple carbohydrates.  For every 500 kcal of carbohydrates, we need 500-1000 mg more of thiamine to process the carbs into energy.  If there's insufficient thiamine the carbs get stored as fat.  Again, recommended levels set for thiamine are based on minimum amounts needed to prevent disease.  This is often not adequate for optimum health, nor sufficient for people with absorption problems such as Celiac disease.  Gluten free processed foods are not enriched with vitamins like their gluten containing counterparts.  Adding a B Complex and additional thiamine improves health for Celiacs.  Thiamine is safe and nontoxic even in high doses.  Thiamine helps the mitochondria in cells to function.  Thiamine interacts with each of the other B vitamins.  They are all water soluble and easily excreted if not needed. Interesting Reading: Clinical trial: B vitamins improve health in patients with coeliac disease living on a gluten-free diet https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19154566/ Safety and effectiveness of vitamin D mega-dose: A systematic review https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34857184/ High dose dietary vitamin D allocates surplus calories to muscle and growth instead of fat via modulation of myostatin and leptin signaling https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38766160/ Safety of High-Dose Vitamin D Supplementation: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31746327/ Vitamins and Celiac Disease: Beyond Vitamin D https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11857425/ Investigating the therapeutic potential of tryptophan and vitamin A in modulating immune responses in celiac disease: an experimental study https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40178602/ Investigating the Impact of Vitamin A and Amino Acids on Immune Responses in Celiac Disease Patients https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10814138/
    • Jane02
      Desperately need a vitamin D supplement. I've reacted to most brands I've tried.

      By Jane02 · Posted

      Thank you so much @knitty kitty for this insightful information! I would have never considered fractionated coconut oil to be a potential source of GI upset. I will consider all the info you shared. Very interesting about the Thiamine deficiency.  I've tracked daily averages of my intake in a nutrition software. The only nutrient I can't consistently meet from my diet is vitamin D. Calcium is a hit and miss as I rely on vegetables, dark leafy greens as a major source, for my calcium intake. I'm able to meet it when I either eat or juice a bundle of kale or collard greens daily haha. My thiamine intake is roughly 120% of my needs, although I do recognize that I may not be absorbing all of these nutrients consistently with intermittent unintentional exposures to gluten.  My vitamin A intake is roughly 900% (~6400 mcg/d) of my needs as I eat a lot of sweet potato, although since it's plant-derived vitamin A (beta-carotene) apparently it's not likely to cause toxicity.  Thanks again! 
    • knitty kitty
      Desperately need a vitamin D supplement. I've reacted to most brands I've tried.

      By knitty kitty · Posted

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    • Scott Adams
      Desperately need a vitamin D supplement. I've reacted to most brands I've tried.

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      I do not know this, but since they are labelled gluten-free, and are not really a product that could easily be contaminated when making them (there would be not flour in the air of such a facility, for example), I don't really see contamination as something to be concerned about for this type of product. 
    • trents
      Desperately need a vitamin D supplement. I've reacted to most brands I've tried.

      By trents · Posted

      Contact them.
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