Can You Guys Believe....fish Food?

[chgomom]

I have been dipping my hand in fish food every day.....

just my finger tips...sna never thought it was necessary to wash my hand in scalding hot water....

Lo and behold.....it has wheat gluten in it....

Its not possible....for this to affect a celiac is it???????????????

[Michi8]

I have been dipping my hand in fish food every day.....

just my finger tips...sna never thought it was necessary to wash my hand in scalding hot water....

Lo and behold.....it has wheat gluten in it....

Its not possible....for this to affect a celiac is it???????????????

Sure, if you didn't wash your hands after touching the fish food. It's good practice to wash your hands after handling anything aquarium related (celiac or not) because of the risks of disease (salmonella or fish TB for example...although TB is extremely rare!) Blood worms are also a high risk for allergic, possibly anaphylactic, reaction.

Michelle

[chgomom]

I mean I did wash...but not up to my elbows or anything like that....

but I did'nt do anything extra to be protective....because I had no idea!

I was shocked,,,,,

I am just being paranoid by wanting to go get a box of plastic gloves tomorrow...for that and a few other things around the house??

[tiredofdoctors]

I didn't even THINK about that . . . . I do the same thing -- just a quick wash/rinse after handling the fish food. My hands don't touch the aquarium, so I'm not as rigid as if I'm having to deal with the fish. Holy Cow! Maybe THAT's where I'm getting glutened . . . . . .

[ravenwoodglass]

Your not being paranoid and getting some gloves is a good idea. Bird seed is also a source of gluten contamination. I finally ended up giving away my fish and my bird because of repeated glutening linked to his seed and I have also gone to totally grain free cat and dog food. My mystery glutenings have greatly decreased since I got rid of both fish and bird. Wash carefully after feeding and in my house I kept the fish food container in a seprerate plastic bag after opening to decrease the risk.

[happygirl]

Our cat food has gluten in it...I feed them, wash hands thoroughly, and dry. Its up to you how comfortable you feel (gloves vs. no gloves).

[lindalee]

It's everywhere,,,

I have a beta and I just cut a little V in the foil covering so I can sprinkle it in his bowl.

The cat is gluten free.

[Guest nini]

my husband feeds the fish... on the days he's not home and I have to do it, I use a little scoop and I thoroughly wash my hands... OH YES I was well aware it had wheat gluten in it! The irony is we got the fish for my daughter and she can't even feed it, because if she even touches gluten she breaks out in hives.

The cats and the dog are gluten free...

[RiceGuy]

I had no idea fish in their natural environment would have to crawl out onto land, flop on over to the nearest wheat field, and figure out how to get at the grain Yeah, sure...it makes perfect sense to put wheat in fish food...

[Guest nini]

I had no idea fish in their natural environment would have to crawl out onto land, flop on over to the nearest wheat field, and figure out how to get at the grain Yeah, sure...it makes perfect sense to put wheat in fish food...

LOL!!! You are so right... which brings up the issue WHY IN THE WORLD is it in fish food? Because someone somewhere decided it needed to be in EVERYTHING??? I sense a conspiracy theory afoot

[RiceGuy]

LOL!!! You are so right... which brings up the issue WHY IN THE WORLD is it in fish food? Because someone somewhere decided it needed to be in EVERYTHING??? I sense a conspiracy theory afoot

Add to that the fact that the gluten content in wheat has been purposely multiplied enormously from what it was originally. Bread must have been so different not long ago.

[VydorScope]

Its the same reason that our dogs need wheat of course! (My dog is gluten-free, but our bird is not )

[Ursa Major]

The very simple reason is, that wheat is cheap, therefore, putting it into all pet food makes it cheaper for them to produce (and making the animals sick, but they don't care about that).

[chgomom]

There is this new cat food that Purina came out free of any of that...(I think, correct me if I am wrong)

Its called Naturals....I know it atleast does nto have fillers.

Alas, I had to give away my cat though 2 nights ago, because I found out I am alergic.

Someone said that that could have been contributing to my dizziness and lathargy.

Is that possible with that kind of allergy...I have no idea...haven't even researched it yet.

[Michi8]

I mean I did wash...but not up to my elbows or anything like that....

but I did'nt do anything extra to be protective....because I had no idea!

I was shocked,,,,,

I am just being paranoid by wanting to go get a box of plastic gloves tomorrow...for that and a few other things around the house??

I don't think using gloves is paranoid. I use them for my fish tank...especially for cleaning.

Michelle

[kbtoyssni]

My fish food is the only thing in my house that contains gluten, and I hate that I have to have it. I always wash my hands after feeding the fish. For a while I tried to tap the container to get food out without having to touch it, but I'd always end up dumping way too much in. Maybe a small tweezers would help. The part that worries me is that I always find bits of fish food around the tank and I worry they're migrating to the kitchen...

I've looked for gluten-free fish food before, but have never had any luck.

[chgomom]

Tweezers are a good idea too....

I don't want to get rid of the fish having had to give away the cat, my son (who is 5) has been so good with all the house hold dietary changes around the house.....he's the best lil trooper.

I have been showing him how to do it without feeding them too much...so I think he will be able to do it right in another week or so.

[skoki-mom]

I did know that and I just wash my hands after feeding my fish. I don't wear gloves for cleaning and stuff because they'd have to come up to my shoulder to make it worthwhile in my big 55gal aquarium. At any rate, I normally take a shower anyhow when I'm done working with my arm that deep into a fish tank!!!

[2kids4me]

well I had to add a comical note - it seems odd they'd add gluten to fish food when I have never seen a fish grazing on a field of wheat or barley.......

maybe it's for farmed fish

[lorka150]

i feed my fish blood worms.

they don't contain anything except: blood worms.

[spunky]

After seeing my own response to being gluten free for 8 months, I feel sorry for our pets and even farm-raised animals, because gluten is just everywhere. No wonder dogs have diabetes, joint problems, thyroid problems, etc.! I've finally found gluten free foods for our dogs and cats, at a price, but I think they deserve a chance at good health.

Whoever said they feed their fish some kinda worms you can buy sounded like that might be a good idea to me...I wouldn't think gluten would be the healthiest thing for fish.

But as far as birds go, I've read somewhere that birds ARE natural grain eaters of the world...so maybe gluten in their food might not hurt them; maybe birds have the enzymes necessary to digest the gluten and other proteins in the grains thoroughly.

My neighbor had a little goat for a while, and he was very sickly with some kind of disease he was born with. She kept him just as a pet. She finally found a vet who told her to get that goat off of grain/feed, and so she just made sure he had plenty of grass, leaves, twigs, hay and fruit/veggie scraps in the winter time (neighbors helped!) and just stopped buying feed for him. He got much better! I think it might be true that birds are the only real animals designed to completely digest grains!

Of course, I'll keep on eating my corn, rice and other stuff like that as long as it doesn't bother me, which it seems not to at this point. But it seems no surprise that these things cause so much trouble for not just humans, but other mammals and some other animals as well.