Please Help Me Find Gluten In This Products

[Carriefaith]

As some of you know, I had a serious allergic reaction the other night and I had to go to the emergency room (I was having trouble breathing and my throat felt like it was closing over). I had a shot of benedryl and the symptoms quickly lessoned. Today, I am still having minor symptoms from the reation. I am not 100% sure what caused the reaction, I have tested positive for wheat allergy, milk allergy, and yeast allergy in the past. However, the most recent blood test (taken in February) said that I had a non detectable allergy to wheat. I am really confused and I need to have more testing done. I know that I was exposed to gluten recently becasue I have also been having celiac disease reactions.

I was really silly and started eating a lot of new products. If anyone knows anything about these products or has had a reaction to them, please let me know. These are the foods that I had the day of my reaction:

Que Pasa salsa

Que Pasa corn chips

Tropical Source chocolate

Sweedish Berries by Trebor Alan

Oskri sesame bar

Larabar

[Carriefaith]

I just found this on the Que Pasa website:

"All our tortilla chips are certified by Kosher Supervision of America. The salted and unsalted tortilla chips are designated as kosher DE (dairy equipment) and the seasoned snack chips are kosher D (dairy)"

And this is the definition of Kosher on Wikipedia:

"Foods are kosher when they meet all criteria that Jewish law applies to food. Invalidating characteristics may range from the presence of a mixture of meat and milk, to the use of produce from Israel that has not been tithed properly, or even the use of cooking utensils which had previously been used for non-kosher food".

I ate a lot of those chips within a span of 24 hours. Does anyone think that is enough to trigger a serious allergic reaction?

[Ursa Major]

Carrie, I am sorry you had such a bad reaction to something. I don't know about the products, just wanted to say I am thinking of you, and hope you figure it out soon.

[barilla]

I am so sorry you had this horrible reaction.

I know sometimes Larabars have pecans, walnuts, almonds, things like that in it. Do you think you could be allergic to tree nuts?

[mamaw]

Hi Carriefaith

I'm sorry you are so sick. I too was going to say about the Larabars. I love them but they are really sweet and the nuts!!!!

Also are you under alot of stress? I know everyone gets stressed when thay don't feel good but I know for me when something is bothering me I react to the smallest of things.I too think sometimes it isn't just one thing causing a flair-up but when combining a couple of foods then I seem to flair-p. Like I can eat something by itself then when I add another food group with it , it throws me a curve.....

I make your breadsticks weekly now!!!! I have added italian seasoning & pepperoni to them and my kiddip them in sauce. Even the neighbor kid loves them.... cheese too!!

hope you get feeling better

mamaw

[2Boys4Me]

Hi Carrie,

We don't use any of those products so I can't help as far as that goes. About the Kosher thing though, I think you want to be buying Parve or Pareve labelled products that have never come into contact with dairy.

Here are a couple of sites that may have some helpful info.

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

[Carriefaith]

Thanks for your help

I still don't know what is wrong with me, I took another attack last night and I am now on predinosone to relieve the symptoms. However, I don't want to live on this drug for the rest of my life. I am going to another doctor today to see what he can do. I feel so helpless

If a product is Kosher, can it have dairy in it? Does anyone know?

[jerseyangel]

Thanks for your help

I still don't know what is wrong with me, I took another attack last night and I am now on predinosone to relieve the symptoms. However, I don't want to live on this drug for the rest of my life. I am going to another doctor today to see what he can do. I feel so helpless

Carrie--Good luck with the doctor! Let us know...

[Carriefaith]

Thanks Patti, I really need the doctors to help me figure out what is causing these allergic reactions. It's so hard since I am in a new place and no one knows me or when they don't have all of my medical records.

[Sarah8793]

Hi,

I just tried a lara bar a few days ago for the first time. My mother had one and gave me a taste (about 1/4 of the bar-so not much). Within 20 minutes I was feeling nauseous and like it was just sitting in my stomach. I can imagine what would have happened if I ate the whole bar. Now of course I am suspicous of them. Hope you get to the bottom of this. Sorry you aren't feeling well.

Sarah

[Carriefaith]

I just tried a lara bar a few days ago for the first time. My mother had one and gave me a taste (about 1/4 of the bar-so not much). Within 20 minutes I was feeling nauseous and like it was just sitting in my stomach. I can imagine what would have happened if I ate the whole bar. Now of course I am suspicous of them. Hope you get to the bottom of this. Sorry you aren't feeling well.

Hmmmm, that's interesting. I ate about 3 of those bars in 24 hours.

[jerseyangel]

Thanks Patti, I really need the doctors to help me figure out what is causing these allergic reactions. It's so hard since I am in a new place and no one knows me or when they don't have all of my medical records.

Carrie--I know things work a little differently there, but could your old doctor (where your records are) fax them to your new doctor? I recently had a doctor's office do that--the fax came in while I was still there. Just a thought. I'll be thinking about you this afternoon--I really hope this new doctor can get to the bottom of this so you won't have to live in fear--that has to be terrible.

[jenvan]

Thanks for your help

I still don't know what is wrong with me, I took another attack last night and I am now on predinosone to relieve the symptoms. However, I don't want to live on this drug for the rest of my life. I am going to another doctor today to see what he can do. I feel so helpless

If a product is Kosher, can it have dairy in it? Does anyone know?

boy--that's a hard one. the swedish berries say gluten-free, trop source def is gluten-free/cf. Ever had issues with nuts or soy? Have any weird drinks? I hope you feel better soon...hard to be sick, esp when away from home... Maybe dairy cc in the chips?

[penguin]

I'm horribly confused by kosher law, but I thought that kosher dairy and kosher dairy equipment meant that dairy is run on those lines?

I know that if something is considered kosher DE, that means that all of the ingredients are pareve (not dairy at all) but run on lines that process dairy.

And in the US, at least, A "D" next to the kosher symbol means that it's dairy.

I don't know if that was helpful at all

[2Boys4Me]

I'm not too sure about Kosher laws either, I only know that people who eat kosher could never have a cheeseburger, because they can't mix meat and dairy. I thought that Parve/Pareve meant never ever been near anything dairy ever.

We need some help from our Jewish friends. Isn't Fiddle-faddle Jewish? Or am I confusing her with someone else?

[psawyer]

I'm not Jewish, but have some knowledge in this area. Kosher food can be meat, dairy or neither. Pareve means that the food is neither meat nor dairy, that is, it is neutral. In strict kosher observance, meat and dairy must be completely separated, with different dishes and cutlery, each in their own kitchen. Less strict observances are common.

Items which are pareve can be eaten with either meat or dairy (or by themselves). They must, therefore, be dairy free as interpreted by Jewish law. In some cases, rabbinical certification as pareve may be granted even though traces of dairy residue may remain on the equipment after washing.

Open Original Shared Link

[Carriefaith]

Thanks again everyone. Your support is really helping me right now. The past week has been very exhausting and I am finally getting some relief

My visit with the new doctor went well and I'm hoping that he will be my new doctor. The prednisone seems to be helping for now. I'm just so glad that I am feeling better. The secretary at my doctors office on PEI has faxed me some of my allergy testing and if I am for sure a new pateint with this new doctor, then I will get her to send the rest of my information.

Thanks for the information on Kosher, I think that I finally understand what the term means now. I think that I am going to stay away from Kosher products for now.

I have decided to eat really bland foods for awhile, just in case. I'm going to definately stay away from milk, yeast, and of course gluten! And I won't be eating out or anything like that until I figure out what is going on.

[jerseyangel]

Good to hear that it went well, Carrie. I was worried about you!

Now that your appt is over, I have to tell you--I made your Velvet Brownies today, except I substituted potato starch for the flour. They taste very good--the potato starch changed the texture, I'm sure, but it was good to have a brownie again

[Carriefaith]

Now that your appt is over, I have to tell you--I made your Velvet Brownies today, except I substituted potato starch for the flour. They taste very good--the potato starch changed the texture, I'm sure, but it was good to have a brownie again

Thanks Patti, I'm glad that you liked them!

[Fiddle-Faddle]

Sorry it took me so long to read this thread, I took kind of a long vacation in Rachelville....

Psawyer gave a good explanation of kosher. To confuse things more, though, there is also "Kosher for Passover," which means that the product can NOT contain leavening; most people think it means "no wheat" because there are so many wheat-free baked goods available at Passover, but this is because the wheat that is allowed has to come from matzoh--which is made from wheat. So instead of buying flour, everybody buys matzoh meal that has been certified "kosher for Passover." It's basically just ground-up matzoh, and cakes made with it are very dry and heavy. The matzoh that you see on the shelves year round is just regular crackers with leavening. The matzoh sold at Passover only contains Passover flour (wheat) that has been specially blessed, and water.

Matzoh meal makes very dry cakes (remember, no leavening allowed during Passover), so enterprising chefs have come up with what turn out to be gluten-free cakes, using potato starch, etc., which is the real reason there are so many gluten-free goodies available at Passover

I don't think Kosher is a problem for celiacs; actually, Kosher meats might be a good idea, as the diet of the animal is strictly controlled (my grandpa told me they don't use hormones or antibiotics, either, but I guess we need to do some research to confirm that). The slaughterer also says a ritual prayer for each animal out of respect for the animal and gratitude to God--I like that (I'm a reluctant carnivore).

[jerseyangel]

Fiddle Faddle, Maybe you could answer this for me. Would a regular brand of potato starch from the grocery store (I see them in the Kosher sections) be alright for us? I always buy Ener-g, but have to make a special trip to get it. Thanks!

[Fiddle-Faddle]

As long as it doesn't list any gluten-containing ingredients or warnings, I don't see why it wouldn't be okay. I think, these days, most manufacturers are carefully covering their butts on the CC issue by printing the warning, "may contain wheat" after the list of ingredients if the product is produced on lines shared with wheat. I use the Manischevitz brand simply because it was cheaper than the Bob's Red Mill brand. I haven't had any reaction, but I (so far) (kock on wood) don't seem to be particularly sensitive to CC glutening.

[jerseyangel]

As long as it doesn't list any gluten-containing ingredients or warnings, I don't see why it wouldn't be okay. I think, these days, most manufacturers are carefully covering their butts on the CC issue by printing the warning, "may contain wheat" after the list of ingredients if the product is produced on lines shared with wheat. I use the Manischevitz brand simply because it was cheaper than the Bob's Red Mill brand. I haven't had any reaction, but I (so far) (kock on wood) don't seem to be particularly sensitive to CC glutening.

Thanks--I give it a try

[mamaw]

Someone I met at a gluten-free store just told me that on the box of the Manischevitz potato starch there is a recipe for an angel food cake that is wonderful. Fiddle-faddle where did you buy this at? I didn't want to run to Squirrel Hill & I can't find it at Butler or Cranberry? I ended up getting it while I was in Erie....

mamaw

[Green12]

Thanks again everyone. Your support is really helping me right now. The past week has been very exhausting and I am finally getting some relief

My visit with the new doctor went well and I'm hoping that he will be my new doctor. The prednisone seems to be helping for now. I'm just so glad that I am feeling better. The secretary at my doctors office on PEI has faxed me some of my allergy testing and if I am for sure a new pateint with this new doctor, then I will get her to send the rest of my information.

Thanks for the information on Kosher, I think that I finally understand what the term means now. I think that I am going to stay away from Kosher products for now.

I have decided to eat really bland foods for awhile, just in case. I'm going to definately stay away from milk, yeast, and of course gluten! And I won't be eating out or anything like that until I figure out what is going on.

Carrie,

I just popped in here to see how you were doing! I am so glad to read you had an appt. with the new Dr. and that you are feeling better. I hope all continues to go well while you get yourself established with this Dr. , and with his help figure out your allergy situation. Best of luck!