Ensure, What's Up?

[key]

I am very upset right now. I just bought ENsure to drink, because I am sick of being sick and thought maybe this would help me. I read it was gluten free. I found some, bought it and it said gluten free and lactose free on the side. No listing of wheat on the side under allergies. I take three sips and as I am drinking it, I see Oat Fiber! Since when are oats gluten free. The company is ROss. I just wasted my money and I want to take it back, even with one opened. Does anyone else drink this and have you noticed this before??

Monica

[barilla]

I just had a similar experience today with Ensure. I bought it and saw that it was gluten free, but had a reaction after I had it. I've been trying to figure out all day why it made me sick when it says gluten free. I can't find where it says oat fiber, but I wonder if that is what did it.

[flagbabyds]

oats can be consideeered gluten-free but they are usually CC and major other problems with it.

[Becky6]

Email the company for an explanation and ask for your money back.

[key]

I emailed them and haven't heard back yet. We will see. I definitely want an explanation. Especially when I am sure the oats they are getting aren't from another country that "may" be safe. I tried McCann's oats several times and reacted to them. It was different then with gluten from other sources, but definitely did not agree with me or my son.

Monica

[VydorScope]

ERF OAT FIBER???

Please let us know what they say!

[Guest cassidy]

Boost is gluten free. I think they have one flavor that isn't (chocolate malt I believe) I drink the hi protein vanilla and chocolate without problems.

I know that doesn't help with your Ensure issue, but at least you can have Boost. I'm sure the store will take the drinks back and give you your money back, but I would definitely take it up with the manufacturere as well.

[jaten]

I hope you get somewhere with your contacting the company, but what Molly is saying is correct. Technically-speaking oats themselves are gluten-free. Combine that with the fact that in the US we have no laws governing "gluten-free" labels, and I'm not sure that you'll get a lot of satisfaction from the company. I hope you do, but it's definitely a buyer-beware market out there for Celiacs in the US.

[eKatherine]

I think a lot of times you will get better response sending a snail mail than an email, which is easier for them to blow off or respond to in a condescending way. It is foolish of them to treat their customers this way, thinking that because they never heard of us that we're nobodies and have no connections.

A while back I bought a Baby George Foreman grill which turned out to be defective. The timer didn't work right and the temperature was so hot that the meat was burnt black in half the time it should have taken to turn it blood red. So I took it back to Sears and got another one. This one seemed to be cooking properly when it exploded hot glass all over the floor. I pulled out the chicken, shoveled the glass and the unit back into the box, and took it back for a refund.

I sent Salton an email, and they responded by saying I had abused a perfectly good machine. I wrote a long. involved, scathing review, Open Original Shared Link on amazon .com that 21 of 23 people have found helpful.

[astyanax]

i have spoken on the phone with ensure about the oat fiber. they say that ensure tests below the level of "gluten free" in europe. since america does not have a standard, they used that standard. i personally am ok with the european standard and i actually drink about 4 cans of ensure a week without any problems. i also eat anything labeled gluten free when i'm europe though so i guess it's just a personal decision as to whether or not accept the european standard since it does allow a very low number ppm of gluten (i forget what the number is)

[tarnalberry]

eh... they all have milk! (checked yesterday, as I was smacked in the jaw with a tree during a volunteer restoration event snd eating real food is tricky.) homemade smoothies are a good option too, though you'll need to be aware of ingredients, using protein powders (I use rice to minimize soy intake) and fat containing iems loke flax oil and coconut milk to keep calories up and balance sugar content from fruit it's worth investigating recipes that use vegetavbles (which i'll be doing this week), if you're going to rely on them a lot.

[Carriefaith]

Are you ok from drinking the ensure? I would call the company and ask them why they have gluten-free on the label.

[key]

I emailed the company, but haven't seen a reply yet, but it is the weekend. I took it back to the store and explained it to the guy taking it back. He said, "I bet you were ticked!" I was surprised he understood my dilemma. They even took back the opened box. I didn't notice being sick from the three very small swallows I took, but I have had a reaction from oats and wasn't about to experiment on myself. I thought we hadn't decided in this country whether oats were safe or not and especially not oats from this country. I think they should say "wheat free" and not gluten free personally.

I really don't understand the issue of oats. I wish that someone would figure it all out. WHo eats oats without a problem? I really miss them, but they made me sick without a doubt. I used McCann's.

I will let you know. I think I will definitely call them and make my suggestions at least.

Monica

[angielackner]

i have been drinking the ensure plus drinks for the last month...i lost my appetite when i got postpartum depression after i had my son a month ago...so i knew i needed calories to breastfeed...anyways, i just looked on my ensure plus label and read the ingredients, and there is nothing that says oats...so maybe its just the regular ensure? i have had no problems at all, and i usually get an itchy throat from gluten.

angie