Desperate For A Safe Candy

[tsomo]

I've tried peanut butter cups, hersheys chocolate, mike and ikes, junior mints...all say they are gluten free but Ive been contaminated by all of them. Does anyone know of a candy that IS totally gluten free?

Its so hard to live with zero candy..please help.

Tsomo

Also been contaminated by chewing gum that says its gluten free.

[penguin]

All of those ARE gluten-free...do you have other intolerances, such as casien?

Otherwise, I'm a fan of kisses, hugs, skittles, starburst, and sour patch kids

[Franceen]

I eat ALL of the candies you mention with no problems EVER.

You must be sensitive to another ingredient. (SOY?)

There's also lactose intolerance, which is different than cassein sensitivity.

And there's also sensitivity to choclolate, in and of itself (cocoa beans).

If you don't react to Lindt or Hershey's WHITE chocolate then maybe that's the problem!

[tsomo]

All of those ARE gluten-free...do you have other intolerances, such as casien?

Otherwise, I'm a fan of kisses, hugs, skittles, starburst, and sour patch kids

I love your picture penguin, so cute

I have celiac disease and DH, and Ive gotten the rash from the candies. The thing is, I have a very strict diet. I eat pretty much the same foods everyday only introducing one new food, like the candy, at a time. So I can't be in doubt that it was the candy (and not the homemade corn tortillas, beans, cheddar, beef and vegetables).

I also know that I am more sensitive than the average celiac.

I wish it wasn't so. Drats. Maybe it was something else in my diet that I reacted to like cheddar cheese? Ive recently cut out butter and now im going to cut out cheese.

Tsomo

[lorka150]

Could it possibly just be from the sugar? I am not sure how long you've been gluten-free, but when I first was gluten-free, sugar gave me a 'gluten-like' reaction (although I don't have DH). I was CONVINCED I was getting glutened.

However, I didn't really eat any junk food, especially sweets, ever, so I think that when I did eat them for the first time in a long time, it might have been from that, too.

Anyway, I hope you feel better! But for sure those are gluten (and most that you listed, casein) free.

[LKelly8]

The only candy company I can think of that's both ingredient-and-facility gluten-free is St. Claire's Organic. Open Original Shared Link

They make mints, hard candies, etc. I tried their ginger snaps, they were very good.

There must be others , maybe Tropical Source chocolate? What about Newman's Organics?

[KaitiUSA]

Those candies are gluten free. Maybe you have another intolerance like to milk or sugar. Many candies are gluten free. Also, could you be having something else in your diet or products that may contain gluten and you are thinking its the candy?

[Rikki Tikki]

I agree you might have another intolerance. I highly doubt you are more sensitive than most of us celiac's, we get very ill. The longer one is gluten free the harsher our reaction seems to be to gluten.

I have eaten all of the candy you listed, except for the mints and mike & ikes without a problem, I do eat snickers. Anyway, I would look into seeing if you are possibly lactose intolerant or something.

Hi Kaiti: Good to see you again!

[CarlaB]

I get almost the same reaction from casein as I do from gluten. Maybe it's some other intolerance. Most of us around here seem to be as sensitive as you! I eat Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips. Choc. chips are not necessarily my favorite, but they're gluten, dairy and soy free, and they qualify as candy!!

[Guest Norah022]

oh man mike and ike's are gluten free?! You guys just made my day!

[lorka150]

most (if not all) of their stuff is gluten AND casein free.

[IrishKelly]

I love your picture penguin, so cute

I have celiac disease and DH, and Ive gotten the rash from the candies. The thing is, I have a very strict diet. I eat pretty much the same foods everyday only introducing one new food, like the candy, at a time. So I can't be in doubt that it was the candy (and not the homemade corn tortillas, beans, cheddar, beef and vegetables).

I also know that I am more sensitive than the average celiac.

I wish it wasn't so. Drats. Maybe it was something else in my diet that I reacted to like cheddar cheese? Ive recently cut out butter and now im going to cut out cheese.

Tsomo

I went through this too...and then i found out all dairy (not just because of the casein but the lactose) bothers me...i would definitely consider starting with eliminating all dairy...then maybe you can try soy after that if they're still bothersome, then maybe the sugar or nuts, etc... But i would definitely try to eliminate the dairy first!

[jknnej]

Have to agree with the others...those candies are gluten-free for sure...maybe it's the sugar, or dairy, or soy? Don't know but I know there's no gluten in those candies...

[Carriefaith]

Skittles!

Maybe the high sugar content is upsetting your stomach? If you have recently started the gluten-free diet, foods high in lactose, carbohydrates, and sugar may upset your stomach until your villi heal.

[tsomo]

As far as I know, dairy and sugar doent cause DH. If I get a outbreak of DH Im assuming I've ingested gluten.

I dont get any intestinal discomfort from the M&I. I wonder if people with DH are more sensitive than Celiacs without DH. Because, Ive often thought that if I didnt have DH, I wouldnt know I was ingesting gluten (except when I have a significant amount of gluten).

After our discussion I was more anxious than ever to eat Mike and Ikes so I did. My hands were more itchy and more eruptions in the skin have come out the past two days.

Tsomo

[Rikki Tikki]

As far as I know, dairy and sugar doent cause DH. If I get a outbreak of DH Im assuming I've ingested gluten.

I dont get any intestinal discomfort from the M&I. I wonder if people with DH are more sensitive than Celiacs without DH. Because, Ive often thought that if I didnt have DH, I wouldnt know I was ingesting gluten (except when I have a significant amount of gluten).

After our discussion I was more anxious than ever to eat Mike and Ikes so I did. My hands were more itchy and more eruptions in the skin have come out the past two days.

Tsomo

My understanding is that the DH is a symptom of the celiac, so if you ingest gluten the DH is going to come out just as with me the D is extreme and the pain nausea is also more extreme than say the flu for other non celiac people. Make sense?

[Carriefaith]

As far as I know, dairy and sugar doent cause DH. If I get a outbreak of DH Im assuming I've ingested gluten.

I dont get any intestinal discomfort from the M&I. I wonder if people with DH are more sensitive than Celiacs without DH. Because, Ive often thought that if I didnt have DH, I wouldnt know I was ingesting gluten (except when I have a significant amount of gluten).

After our discussion I was more anxious than ever to eat Mike and Ikes so I did. My hands were more itchy and more eruptions in the skin have come out the past two days.

Tsomo

Maybe those candies do have trace amounts of gluten in them. There are foods that I react to like Maple Leaf All Beef Hot Dogs and Butterball products and others don't. I would contact the companies of the products that make you sick and ask if there is any risk of cross contamination. Then you will know for sure.

[Franceen]

ALL Butterball products have wheat/gluten in them. The "self-basting" stuff that's injected has flour in it.

The candies mentioned really are gluten-free, but ANY candy can have CC (but probably rare).

I have DH and I don't react to the any of the candies mentioned.

I don't get digestive symptoms from any foods and don't have damage to villi. I DO get DH when I repeatedly get glutened at restaurants. That seems to be the biggest problem - the hidden gluten in restaurant foods, even those that SEEM like they should be gluten-free - like a patty of beef, or a baked potato).

But, it's a pretty much accepted fact that DH is a delayed reaction (average is 3 days), so it is very very hard to tell what food was the guilty one.

When I get "itchy" and not a fullblown DH rash, it's usually heat rash, sweat, a lotion (not necessarily with Gluten - could be fragrance or other chemical), a tight wastband, rubber rash (like sweat with elastic and too tight), or too much fabric softener and sweat/heat, etc etc. etc - or INSECT BITES!!!!

People who get DH have sensitive skin in general and can react to hundreds of things, not necessarily with gluten, ingested and applied.

But I eat at least one of the mentioned candies just about everyday and have been DH rash free for quite a while now.

Skin reactions to allergies are possible from anything and everything but my Dr. tells me that the most common rash from ingested things is hives, not DH-like. Also was told (and read on NIH/UM/JHU sites that food allergies causing rash (other than DH from Gluten and swelling) are pretty rare in adults in general........(I used to get hives from strawberries, tomatos when I was a kid. Grew out of that).

Swelling is supposedly the most common allergic reaction in adults (e.g. hives, anaphylaxis, difficulty breathing, etc from the 8 common allergens: wheat, tree nuts, shellfish, dairy, etc PLUS chocolate and chicken).

Have you tried to eliminate fowl?

So, it's not clear what your DH is coming from. It's probably a combination of things, and probably cummulative and probably unidentifiable at this time.....(I was there - I sympathize with you a whole lot - it's miserable). But to calm the system, go on a "raw food" diet for a few days (that's what I do).....eat plain meat, vegetables, fruit, water, coffee, tea, rice, corn etc - all home made. After a few days your rash should start to abate - if it doesn't then it's not gluten-caused.

(I had a bout with gnat bites from mowing my lawn, and I SWORE up and down it was gluten in SOMETHING and it turned out not to be so, after I did the above and got the rash after mowing on the third week of "raw food"..........I had to take prednisone for THAT rash! YUK.

GOOD LUCK and HOPING you discover the offending thing SOON.

[Carriefaith]

ALL Butterball products have wheat/gluten in them. The "self-basting" stuff that's injected has flour in it.

Really? Well that explains a lot.

[jerseyangel]

ALL Butterball products have wheat/gluten in them. The "self-basting" stuff that's injected has flour in it.

This is not true.

Butterball is a Con Agra company. I have verified by phone that they will clearly list any gluten in the ingredients.

Their turkeys, for instance, did not contain gluten the last I checked.

While some of their products may contain gluten, it's misleading to state that *all* of their products contain it.

Always read the label!

[Franceen]

You may be right about their products other than self-basting whole turkeys.

However, that's the only Butterball product I've ever seen on the shelves!

Last Christmas my sis-in-law was cooking for the family dinner (in Reno NV, I live in Virginia), and we went to the store to look at turkeys. My husband and I had just been thru this drill at Thanksgiving in Virginia.

When we looked at the Butterball turkey that she wanted to buy, we looked at ingredients and it had something suspicious in the self-basting stuff. I called them and they told me that all self-basting turkeys have gluten used in the self-basting stuff. I don't remember, but I think it was Barley-derived thickener - something like modified food starch.

So, I've stayed away from Butterball and all other self-basting turkeys/chickens.

However, they - like everyone else - change their ingredients and suppliers - so re-reading labels is a good thing!

[Rikki Tikki]

You may be right about their products other than self-basting whole turkeys.

However, that's the only Butterball product I've ever seen on the shelves!

Last Christmas my sis-in-law was cooking for the family dinner (in Reno NV, I live in Virginia), and we went to the store to look at turkeys. My husband and I had just been thru this drill at Thanksgiving in Virginia.

When we looked at the Butterball turkey that she wanted to buy, we looked at ingredients and it had something suspicious in the self-basting stuff. I called them and they told me that all self-basting turkeys have gluten used in the self-basting stuff. I don't remember, but I think it was Barley-derived thickener - something like modified food starch.

So, I've stayed away from Butterball and all other self-basting turkeys/chickens.

However, they - like everyone else - change their ingredients and suppliers - so re-reading labels is a good thing!

I have also heard in the past that their self basting turkey's are not gluten free.

[Katie618]

i both dh and celiac too., and i get reactions to candiues that sy gluten-free as well. i was told that you are a relatively new celiac you have a much higher sensitivity to ingredients that may or may not contain gluten (like artifical colors and flavors, maltodextrin, etc) i have a hard time not eating starburst and skittles cause i know they are gluten-free...and just deal (and complain )with my rash or bloating for a night or 2. i know giardelli (sp) chocolates are gluten free. hope this helps a little.

[penguin]

Is there a lot of iodide in candy? DH requires iodide to react, right? Or it aggrivates it anyway.

[jerseyangel]

I have also heard in the past that their self basting turkey's are not gluten free.

Interesting. When I called last fall, I was told that there were no gluten ingredients in the basting solution.

I guess it depends who you talk to....at any rate, I'm glad that I ended up buying a fresh turkey with nothing added.

This is not good news, though.