A Reaction From Cheetos?

[Trish in Canada]

O.K. so I ate a bowlful of cheetos yesterday and got a fairly minor skin reaction within 1-2hours later. Previously I had a full body DH rash for about 7 months. The rash went away when I went gluten-free. Every once and awhile I accidently eat something that triggers a skin reaction. This time it was cheetos. I thought the ingredients were safe. I'm not sure anymore. About 2 1/2 months ago I had cheetos and had the same reaction but, at that time, I thought it was caused by something else (something that definately had gluten in it). I was dairy-free up until a week ago when I decided to start consuming lactose free milk products. I was fine all week. So I decided to try the cheetos to test about lactose. I didn't have any bowel or stomach reactions. I'm not sure if you can have a skin reaction to lactose? I know it's not a reaction to casien because I've been consuming lactose free milk all week with no skin or bowel problems. I've been eating corn tortillas all week, so I know it's not corn either.

I'm confused, so I need your help. Is there anything that would trigger a reoccurence of DH in this list of ingredients? Too much salt? (iodine?) Can anyone find a possible hidden gluten source in this list of ingredients? I've only been gluten free since May, so I'm still learning.

Cheetos Ingredients:

Enriched cornmeal (cornmeal, iron, niacin, thiamine, riboflavin, folic acid) Vegetable oil. Seasoning (Whey, cheddar cheese, sour cream, artificial flavour, MSG, Lactic acid, colour, citric acid) salt.

Thank you,

Trish

[AndreaB]

Cheetos Ingredients:

Enriched cornmeal (cornmeal, iron, niacin, thiamine, riboflavin, folic acid) Vegetable oil. Seasoning (Whey, cheddar cheese, sour cream, artificial flavour, MSG, Lactic acid, colour, citric acid) salt.

Thank you,

Trish

Those ingredients look ok for gluten. Do you have any other allergies? Is there a reason you went off dairy? Aside from dairy (cheddar cheese, sour cream and whey) you have a lot of msg sources (msg, artificial flavor and citric acid, possibly color). The vegetable oil could be causing problems depending on what was used (possibly soy).

[Guhlia]

Cheetohs, at least in the US, are gluten free. They are made on the same lines that the glutenous stuff is made on though. They scrub the lines, but there's a possibility of CC. They're also made in the same facility as wheat products, so CC is possible there too. Perhaps though you are having a reaction to something else in the Cheetohs OR was someone (who had eaten gluten) sharing the bowl with you or had their hands in the bag previously?

[Trish in Canada]

Thanks AndreaB and Guhlia. I fugured it out, I think...

Right after I posted I ate some rice and drank some lactose free milk. It's the first thing I've eaten all day. Now I know it's definately the dairy that's causing the problems. I have a stomach ache and I'm coughing and congested. I'll probably get hives soon. NO MORE DAIRY FOR ME!!! I was off of dairy because I thought I might be allergic to it. I started drinking milk again to test if I had a problem. I guess I was in denial about the milk. No bowel problems all week but I did have terrible gas, lol.

Grrrr... I like dairy too!!! I miss cheese. Most soy cheese has casien in the ingredient list. Oh well back to soy milk, bleck

[AndreaB]

I have a recipe thread I've started that has gluten, dairy and mostly soy free recipes.

https://www.celiac.com/index.php?showtopic=23795

[Lymetoo]

Maybe the MSG?

[DingoGirl]

I had pretty significant D from the two times I ate cheetos....I am pretty sure it's the MSG - evil stuff and I completely avoid it now.

[jayhawkmom]

I've become really anal about reading ALL ingredients prior to letting my daughter have ANYTHING... and as proof positive that we need to read ingredients EVERY SINGLE TIME.... the last package of cheetos we purchased had a "contains wheat" statement on it.

I was very surprised, honestly. But, I didn't let her eat them. I currently have about 20 snack sized bags in a box in my kitchen, and not one of them has that on them. But, because of that ONE time.... I will not let her eat them.

Of course, I'm *trying* to keep her away from all dairy too, so they'd be off limits right now anyhow. I've noticed that SOME packages of Doritos have a wheat containing message, while others don't.... same kind even!

[floridanative]

As I've said on other such post - after getting all the gluten out of my system, I now react to Cheetos. The man. told me that they are process on their wheat based lines so cc could occur. But Fritos do not cause me to react so I now am pretty sure it's the monosodiumglutamate in the Cheetos that is the culprit. As fas as I know, MSG is gluten free. Now that my system is so clean, I can't tolerate junk anymore. I even figured I must have a problem with corn but after many many times trying to get a reaction from corn, I find I don't have issues with corn. That's why I know there is something else in Cheetos that makes me bloat like a beach ball and the MSG is the most obvious issus. I now try and keep clear of MSG in addition to gluten. It is not found in the organic items I usually buy now. Even if it's really gluten on the Cheetos, MSG isn't good for anyone (from what I've read) so it won't hurt me to go without it.

[Lymetoo]

I think I got sick from Cheetos last night. Couldn't figure out what got me. Dang!!

[Trish in Canada]

jayhawkmom:

I've become really anal about reading ALL ingredients prior to letting my daughter have ANYTHING... and as proof positive that we need to read ingredients EVERY SINGLE TIME.... the last package of cheetos we purchased had a "contains wheat" statement on it.

I was very surprised, honestly. But, I didn't let her eat them. I currently have about 20 snack sized bags in a box in my kitchen, and not one of them has that on them. But, because of that ONE time.... I will not let her eat them.

Of course, I'm *trying* to keep her away from all dairy too, so they'd be off limits right now anyhow. I've noticed that SOME packages of Doritos have a wheat containing message, while others don't.... same kind even!

floridanative:

As I've said on other such post - after getting all the gluten out of my system, I now react to Cheetos. The man. told me that they are process on their wheat based lines so cc could occur

O.K. so cheetos could have gluten in them. I think I did react to gluten. Not to milk. The coughing and congestion I had on Saturday, from eating the rice and milk, turned out to be the start of a cough/cold. I think the stomach ache I had was because i ate too quickly.

I still have a slight rash from eating the cheetos on Friday. I've been pretty good at resisting the urge to scratch too. Hopefully it will go away soon. When it goes away I think I'll try the milk again and see what happens. If I react to the milk i'll stop drinking it again.

Since this is the second time something like this happened after eating cheetos, I am definately going to stay away from them. I've been good at spotting gluten in most packaged goods. I guess I have to think about whether or not a product could have been processed on the same product line. Most of the time i just eat food I prepare, I think i should stick to that for awhile.... its safe...

[KaitiUSA]

I have not had a problem with Cheetos but that brand some people have had a problem with.

[shayesmom]

jayhawkmom:

floridanative:

O.K. so cheetos could have gluten in them. I think I did react to gluten. Not to milk. The coughing and congestion I had on Saturday, from eating the rice and milk, turned out to be the start of a cough/cold. I think the stomach ache I had was because i ate too quickly.

I still have a slight rash from eating the cheetos on Friday. I've been pretty good at resisting the urge to scratch too. Hopefully it will go away soon. When it goes away I think I'll try the milk again and see what happens. If I react to the milk i'll stop drinking it again.

Since this is the second time something like this happened after eating cheetos, I am definately going to stay away from them. I've been good at spotting gluten in most packaged goods. I guess I have to think about whether or not a product could have been processed on the same product line. Most of the time i just eat food I prepare, I think i should stick to that for awhile.... its safe...

We've recently discovered that Tings are both gluten and dairy-free and taste a lot like Cheetos (and are similarly priced). The manufacturer only makes naturally gluten-free products so it would not have CC issues. You may want to give them a try. We bought our first bag yesterday and everyone in the house likes it. The bag was only $2.79! The ingredients are: corn meal, rice and/or sunflower oil, nutritional yeast and salt.

The best part of them....no orange fingers! lol!! (I think I found out about them on www.foodfightgrocery.com which was mentioned on another gluten-intolerant board).

[Trish in Canada]

We've recently discovered that Tings are both gluten and dairy-free and taste a lot like Cheetos (and are similarly priced). The manufacturer only makes naturally gluten-free products so it would not have CC issues. You may want to give them a try. We bought our first bag yesterday and everyone in the house likes it. The bag was only $2.79! The ingredients are: corn meal, rice and/or sunflower oil, nutritional yeast and salt.

The best part of them....no orange fingers! lol!! (I think I found out about them on www.foodfightgrocery.com which was mentioned on another gluten-intolerant board).

YAY!!! Thank-you!!!

Some good news: I had milk in my tea today with no reaction. I also had some butter on my baked potato.

Small steps....

Can't wait to order those gluten-free snacks. I definately have to be more careful with the CC thing, especially now that I know just a teeny-tiny bit of Gluten can set off DH for me.

-Trish

[Levi]

O.K. so I ate a bowlful of cheetos yesterday and got a fairly minor skin reaction within 1-2hours later. Previously I had a full body DH rash for about 7 months. The rash went away when I went gluten-free. Every once and awhile I accidently eat something that triggers a skin reaction. This time it was cheetos. I thought the ingredients were safe. I'm not sure anymore. About 2 1/2 months ago I had cheetos and had the same reaction but, at that time, I thought it was caused by something else (something that definately had gluten in it). I was dairy-free up until a week ago when I decided to start consuming lactose free milk products. I was fine all week. So I decided to try the cheetos to test about lactose. I didn't have any bowel or stomach reactions. I'm not sure if you can have a skin reaction to lactose? I know it's not a reaction to casien because I've been consuming lactose free milk all week with no skin or bowel problems. I've been eating corn tortillas all week, so I know it's not corn either.

I'm confused, so I need your help. Is there anything that would trigger a reoccurence of DH in this list of ingredients? Too much salt? (iodine?) Can anyone find a possible hidden gluten source in this list of ingredients? I've only been gluten free since May, so I'm still learning.

Cheetos Ingredients:

Enriched cornmeal (cornmeal, iron, niacin, thiamine, riboflavin, folic acid) Vegetable oil. Seasoning (Whey, cheddar cheese, sour cream, artificial flavour, MSG, Lactic acid, colour, citric acid) salt.

Thank you,

Trish

[Canadian Karen]

I also had a reaction to Cheetos a few weeks ago.... At the time, I couldn't figure out what it was, as I knew that Cheetos were listed as gluten-free, but now I know they must have CC issues.....

[Granny Garbonzo]

" I think the stomach ache I had was because i ate too quickly. "

I've found with me and my family that our gluten reaction is not always immediate. Remember, this is not just an allergy, and the glutenating of our insides sometimes takes days, weeks even to show up. When we have sections of our intestine that are irritated, we may not really note it until we eat something that sets us off at the right moment....so it may not be what you are eating at that moment, it may be that what you are eating at that moment when you get crampy bowls or a pain in the abdomen was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and set your insides to rejecting to poison that has been brewing in there for some time.

Before I know I was celiac disease I thought I was allergic to brussel sprouts, and my daughter was allergic to milk and eggs....but after we were gluten free for a year or more, we could eat whatever we wanted except gluten and be ok.

[JohnnieHamill]

Cheetos Ingredients:

Enriched cornmeal (cornmeal, iron, niacin, thiamine, riboflavin, folic acid) Vegetable oil. Seasoning (Whey, cheddar cheese, sour cream, artificial flavour, MSG, Lactic acid, colour, citric acid) salt.

It might be the MSG. I don't recall seeing that before.

[morningstargirl]

OMG... I'm so glad I found these posts. I thought I was going nuts. Today, I had one of those individual size bag of Cheetos at lunch and within an hour I was bloated. I'm POSITIVE it was the Cheetos as everything else I had today was a whole food. I even picked the bag out of the trash and re-checked the ingredients; there was no indication of gluten of any kind. I'm glad I'm not the only one and going crazy! No more Cheetos for me!

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences.

Connie

[solange]

O.K. so I ate a bowlful of cheetos yesterday and got a fairly minor skin reaction within 1-2hours later. Previously I had a full body DH rash for about 7 months. The rash went away when I went gluten-free. Every once and awhile I accidently eat something that triggers a skin reaction. This time it was cheetos. I thought the ingredients were safe. I'm not sure anymore. About 2 1/2 months ago I had cheetos and had the same reaction but, at that time, I thought it was caused by something else (something that definately had gluten in it). I was dairy-free up until a week ago when I decided to start consuming lactose free milk products. I was fine all week. So I decided to try the cheetos to test about lactose. I didn't have any bowel or stomach reactions. I'm not sure if you can have a skin reaction to lactose? I know it's not a reaction to casien because I've been consuming lactose free milk all week with no skin or bowel problems. I've been eating corn tortillas all week, so I know it's not corn either.

I'm confused, so I need your help. Is there anything that would trigger a reoccurence of DH in this list of ingredients? Too much salt? (iodine?) Can anyone find a possible hidden gluten source in this list of ingredients? I've only been gluten free since May, so I'm still learning.

Cheetos Ingredients:

Enriched cornmeal (cornmeal, iron, niacin, thiamine, riboflavin, folic acid) Vegetable oil. Seasoning (Whey, cheddar cheese, sour cream, artificial flavour, MSG, Lactic acid, colour, citric acid) salt.

Thank you,

Trish

[solange]

now, why the hell would you even want to eat those???If celiac has taught me anything at all, it is the importance of nutrition on your life. Did you see the color of those things??? Do you see ANYTHING in there that is of ANY nutritoinal value, raw, unprocessed, full of vitamins and enzymes, wholesome? Is Msg what you look for in a good snack? I was allergic to msg long before I was aware of being a celiac. Have you noticed how you feel after you eat those? pasty mouth, thirsty, loaded, unsatisfied, wanting more of something, you just don't know what, something to get rid of that overwhelming salty taste...

I wouldn't touch those with a ten foot pole regardless of what they do for my skin. Try cutting up an apple and savor it instead of cheetos. Take note of your body's response after. Energy, clean palate, sweet but lean taste... yam>>>>>

[solange]

now, why the hell would you even want to eat those???If celiac has taught me anything at all, it is the importance of nutrition on your life. Did you see the color of those things??? Do you see ANYTHING in there that is of ANY nutritoinal value, raw, unprocessed, full of vitamins and enzymes, wholesome? Is Msg what you look for in a good snack? I was allergic to msg long before I was aware of being a celiac. Have you noticed how you feel after you eat those? pasty mouth, thirsty, loaded, unsatisfied, wanting more of something, you just don't know what, something to get rid of that overwhelming salty taste...

I wouldn't touch those with a ten foot pole regardless of what they do for my skin. Try cutting up an apple and savor it instead of cheetos. Take note of your body's response after. Energy, clean palate, sweet but lean taste... yam>>>>>

[solange]

oh, incidently, if you read the newsletters on this site, you will also notice that a lot of people cannot digest ANY complex carbs for sometimes a few years after diagnosis, while their villi recovers. That is because that part of the intestine is where starches are broken down. Corn is on of those. So what happens, is thse mollecules, unbroken down, keep travelling down yur gut, where they are unusable because of their unboken down shape, and they ferment and feed bacteria further down, which riles up your immune system and gives you these, or other, side effects. I have been there, and done that , included lactose in my case. But if you can give your system a rest from the constant aggression it is under when poor digestion occurs, you do get better. Noone said it is easy, but it is worth it.Good luck.

[Mango04]

now, why the hell would you even want to eat those???If celiac has taught me anything at all, it is the importance of nutrition on your life. Did you see the color of those things??? Do you see ANYTHING in there that is of ANY nutritoinal value, raw, unprocessed, full of vitamins and enzymes, wholesome? Is Msg what you look for in a good snack? I was allergic to msg long before I was aware of being a celiac. Have you noticed how you feel after you eat those? pasty mouth, thirsty, loaded, unsatisfied, wanting more of something, you just don't know what, something to get rid of that overwhelming salty taste...

I wouldn't touch those with a ten foot pole regardless of what they do for my skin. Try cutting up an apple and savor it instead of cheetos. Take note of your body's response after. Energy, clean palate, sweet but lean taste... yam>>>>>

I was kind of thinking the same thing. Highly processed milk proteins combined with artificial colors, flavors and msg cannot be good for anyone's digestive system, regardless of milk or gluten intolerances. Most people probably feel horrible after eating Cheetos, but would never think of attributing their symptoms to food. As celiacs we become more aware of how we feel after we eat something, and I think that's the true cause of many cc speculations. There are some artificial foods that are harmful, especially to an already weak digestive system, even if a crumb of gluten is not involved.

[larry mac]

now, why the hell would you even want to eat those???If celiac has taught me anything at all, it is the importance of nutrition on your life. Did you see the color of those things??? Do you see ANYTHING in there that is of ANY nutritoinal value, raw, unprocessed, full of vitamins and enzymes, wholesome? Is Msg what you look for in a good snack? I was allergic to msg long before I was aware of being a celiac. Have you noticed how you feel after you eat those? pasty mouth, thirsty, loaded, unsatisfied, wanting more of something, you just don't know what, something to get rid of that overwhelming salty taste...

I wouldn't touch those with a ten foot pole regardless of what they do for my skin. Try cutting up an apple and savor it instead of cheetos. Take note of your body's response after. Energy, clean palate, sweet but lean taste... yam>>>>>

sol,

I think about 200 million people disagree with you (and that's just in the US). The Salty Snack Industry is one of the largest there is. Why? Salty snacks taste good. And there's calories, fat, sodium, and protein. That's nutrition (maybe not the best but it does have nutritional value, otherwise all the values on the label would be zeros). Hate to burst your bubble, but an apple has zero protein!

Now don't get me wrong, fruit is very good. And of course it's better for us than salty snacks. But that doesn't mean you can't have both. Who would want to just eat fruit all the time?

When I worked at Frito Lay Research Laboratories, I had access to the production plant where they made the Cheetos and other chips. Whenever I got the opportunity, I would go by the drum where the just fried Cheetos would tumble around and get squirted with nuclear orange hot melted cheese. OMG, you never tasted anything better in your whole life! No resemblance to the packaged Cheetos. But that's the way all the chips are. They're infinitely better hot & fresh. If ya ever get the chance to tour one of their plants, do it.

best regards, lm

p.s., Hey sol, I'm just messin with ya a little, if we can't kid each other, who can we kid? (But every word I said is true, lol!).