Have A List Of "no-no" Ingredients--are All Of These Really No-nos?

[jabberwife]

I have a list of things celiacs should stay away from. are all of these really true? Some I know...like modified food starch, malt, anything with barley, etc. and of course the obvious wheat flour, wheat starch, etc. But what about caramel colorings? Isn't that in colas? It says it's made from barley malt enzymes. Does this mean no more Diet Coke? Also blue cheese. Is it separated with flour? And it says grain vodka--has anyone had issues with this? Sorry so many questions, but I'm new to this. Thanks!

[lovegrov]

Caramel color is not a threat. Some blue cheese culture is started on bread (whether any gluten even transfers is really unknown) but many are started on other mediums now. You have to check. And distilled alcohols are considered OK, even if they use wheat.

richard

[BRUMI1968]

Yes on the blue cheese - they make it get blue with moldy bread - okay, I'm not sure that's exactly it, but they use bread in the process of making it.

I don't know on the other stuff, but you certainly don't need gluten in diet coke to make it troublesome for you - what about the Aspartame - that stuff is devlish, albiet not gluten. I'm sure someone will know more than I on the other things.

My rule of thumb is: did God/Nature make this? If not, it is highly suspect. Needless to say I eat lots of fruits, veggies, nuts, and salmon.

[Lisa]

All Pepsi and 7-ups are ok. Modified food starch, should be watched but most in the US are dirived by corn, as you said, void all products that say barley, wheat, rye and (even oats for the time being until it is suggested safe).

After you learn to read lables, it may be difficult, but that is the clear way to know what is safe and what is not. Believe it or not, but this process on choosing the correct food and for you to feel better will take about a year to learn. It is a slow learning process, but once you get a handle on it, you can go to the grocery store and pick up a bottle of salad dressing, read the lable and either put it down or buy it.

The key to being a person (not a victum) of Celiac Desease is knowledge. Educate yourself, and everything is a no-brainer.

The only difficult part is going out to a restaurant and being invited out for dinner. Working on that.

Hope this was helpful. Lisa

[sparkles]

If you have a favorite food that has one of the "forbidden ingredients" in it, email the company and ask them if the product in question is gluten free. "Caramel Color" might or might not contain gluten depending on how it is processed.... That is only one example; unfortunately, there are lots of different ways to process foods and process some of the ingredients. I have found that the most effective method in learning what is gluten-free is by asking the company about their products, how they are processed, etc. Remember some plants process wheat (etc) in the same facility that processes non gluten food BUT because of the processing plant, the gluten-free food might be contaminated. There are so many variables. Most companies are really very helpful and if they aren't then I don't buy their food. It is not worth the risk!!!! You will find that McCormick, Hormel, Kraft, Conagra clearly mark their products if they contain wheat, rye, barley, oats. Kraft though considers all vinegar gluten-free regardless of origin....just something to keep in mind. But write the company....

[jabberwife]

Thanks for everyone's help. My dad, who is celiac, has no issues with any diet coke/pepsi. But you're right too to say that it's probably bad for me anyway! I'll die of some asparatame cancer. I am trying to incorporate more seltzer water in its place--I'm truly just a fan of carbonated drinks. I would be better off health-wise if I could just cut out most all processed, refined, preservative-laden foods. It's just hard to get into the habit when you're groomed to depend on convenience foods. Good thing I enjoy cooking!

[KaitiUSA]

As far as sodas are concerned. All coca cola and pepsi soft drinks are gluten free and so is dr. pepper.

[BRUMI1968]

--I'm truly just a fan of carbonated drinks.

Have you tried carbonated fruit juices? or natural sodas (Hansens, etc.)? They might be a bit better.

I'm lucky - I HATE carbonation...so it's easy for me to avoid soda. In high school (20 years ago now) I drank two or three diet cokes a day, along with a snickers or two (it was boring and I needed to keep awake).

[majicbunnies]

I'm pretty sure it was this site where I found the forbidden list. It said:

1) If this ingredient is made in North America it is likely to be gluten-free.

2) The problem with caramel color is it may or may not contain gluten depending on how it is manufactured. In the USA caramel color must conform with the FDA standard of identity from 21CFR CH.1. This statute says: "the color additive caramel is the dark-brown liquid or solid material resulting from the carefully controlled heat treatment of the following food-grade carbohydrates: Dextrose (corn sugar), invert sugar, lactose (milk sugar), malt syrup (usually from barley malt), molasses (from cane), starch hydrolysates and fractions thereof (can include wheat), sucrose (cane or beet)." Also, acids, alkalis and salts are listed as additives which may be employed to assist the caramelization process.

In number 2, it says it could be made from malt, which celiacs aren't supposed to have (malt flavorings) AND can be made from wheat. Might be better to avoid it. Sometimes I get stomach aches from diet pepsi when I drink it. It has caramel color but also has aspartame, so the reaction could be from either.

[penguin]

All Pepsi products and all Coca cola products are gluten-free, caramel color or not.