Which Turkey's Are Gluten Free?

[jerseyangel]

We got our free Albertson Turkey and was trying to find on line if it is gluten free.

thought maybe some of you would know.

Judy--

Yes it is gluten-free, per Customer Care #877-932-7948.

[Judyin Philly]

Judy--

Yes it is gluten-free, per Customer Care #877-932-7948.

Thanks Patti

no more wasted time or stress.

love ya buddy

you always come through

judy

[ravenwoodglass]

That is not the case for USDA meats, which states that any grains that are added to a meat product must be listed - so it does include other sources of gluten.

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/FactSheets/Additi...ducts/index.asp

While grain added as grain or hydrolized proteins need to be identified not all potential gluten sources need to be on the label. As with many food items it is barley malt that is our biggest risk.

Barley malt is considered a flavoring agent and would not have to be identified on the label as anything more than natural flavoring, modified food starch does not need to be identified as to source either. Here is what the USDA says.

It is always a good idea to check whenever 'natural flavors or modified food starch is on the label of any meat.

What are Labeling Requirements for Additives?

The statutes and regulations to enforce the statutes require certain information on labels of meat and poultry products so consumers will have complete information about a product. In all cases, ingredients must be listed on the product label, in the ingredients statement in order by weight, from the greatest amount to the least.

Substances such as spices and spice extractives may be declared as "natural flavors," "flavors," or "natural flavoring" on meat and poultry labels without naming each one. This is because they are used primarily for their flavor contribution and not their nutritional contribution.

Substances such as dried meat, poultry stock, meat extracts, or hydrolyzed protein must be listed on the label by their common or usual name because their primary purpose is not flavor. They may be used as flavor enhancers, binders, or emulsifiers. They must be labeled using the species of origin of the additive, for example, dried beef, chicken stock, pork extract, or hydrolyzed wheat protein.

Color additives must be declared by their common or usual names on labels, e.g., FD&C Yellow 5, or annatto extract, not collectively as colorings. These labeling requirements help consumers make choices about the foods they eat.

From father down the page:

MODIFIED FOOD STARCH - starch that has been chemically altered to improve its thickening properties. Before the starch is modified, it is separated from the protein through isolation techniques; therefore, the source of the starch used is not required on the label.

[laurakirby]

Does anyone know if House of Raeford Turkey's are gluten free, I tried to contact them but didn't receive a response (to date).

[lovegrov]

"Many turkeys have a broth added, that broth can contain barley hidden in natural flavors. It is true that if there is wheat in the broth that it will be listed but that is not the case for barley or malt which is the bigger risk.

If you go for a turkey that is not prebasted and does not have broth on the label you should be fine."

I've called the USDA in the past and have been told that ANY grain, included barley, absolutely must be listed. I have never in 7 years found a turkey with gluten unless it was pre-stuffed.

richard

[lovegrov]

"Richard not to be rude, but they did not used to be gluten-free. I know this for a fact. My mom called and confirmed after I spent Thanksgiving night in the ER due to the butterball turkey my grandma made for dinner. (back then we ate at 2 P.M. for holiday dinners, not sure why)."

You're not being rude.

I don't know about 20 years ago, but there are Butterball turkeys that have a gravy packet attached. Because of that, the ingredients list wheat. But it is clear that it's part of the gravy, not the turkey.

richard

[ravenwoodglass]

"Many turkeys have a broth added, that broth can contain barley hidden in natural flavors. It is true that if there is wheat in the broth that it will be listed but that is not the case for barley or malt which is the bigger risk.

If you go for a turkey that is not prebasted and does not have broth on the label you should be fine."

I've called the USDA in the past and have been told that ANY grain, included barley, absolutely must be listed. I have never in 7 years found a turkey with gluten unless it was pre-stuffed.

richard

I am glad you feel comfortable with your phone call, myself I prefer to get my answers from their actual regulations. As with anything the choice in how safe one wants to be is an individual choice. As with any food items the safest best is the least processed. A turkey that is just that turkey is the safest. If it has a broth or additive it should be checked.

[ravenwoodglass]

"Many turkeys have a broth added, that broth can contain barley hidden in natural flavors. It is true that if there is wheat in the broth that it will be listed but that is not the case for barley or malt which is the bigger risk.

If you go for a turkey that is not prebasted and does not have broth on the label you should be fine."

I've called the USDA in the past and have been told that ANY grain, included barley, absolutely must be listed. I have never in 7 years found a turkey with gluten unless it was pre-stuffed.

richard

I just noticed this on the home page here-

"A gluten-free holiday dinner starts with a gluten-free turkey. Believe it or not some brands of turkey do contain additives that are not gluten-free

[caek-is-a-lie]

"Many turkeys have a broth added, that broth can contain barley hidden in natural flavors.

Oh man that sucks! No wonder the last turkey I cooked gave me problems. I never even thought they'd ever inject a raw bird with gluten. Those cads! Argh. Here I thought I was being good and gluten-free with any old frozen turkey from Safeway. I had no idea what to look for. I had 2 turkeys that I thought would feed us for awhile, but I guess my boyfriend will get to dine alone tonight. Se la vie. I hope he's hungry!

[marjean]

"I know Butter Ball wasn't several years ago, they injected some gluteney juice stuff into them."

Not true. I've been gluten-free more than 7 years and BB has been gluten-free that whole time.

richard

I was told that Butterball turkey had modified food starch and celiacs should not eat it..Im having my first gluten free thanksgiving!! Any ideas??

[kareng]

This is a very old thread. Any info from 2008 should be checked as product ingredients change.

Here is the current thread about turkeys.

[OneBrian]

Go to GlutenFreeCooking.About.com

They have a whole list of about a dozen turkey brands on their first screen.

[roxweb]

Every year our local grocer, HyVee, has a special where you guy a full ham and get a free turkey. Of course the free ones had broth listed as the main ingredient, and so did the local HyVee brand. So I found a BUtterball, with no broth listed in the ingredients, and it said "natural" on the label (which I know can mean nothing, of course). Then after I got home I decided I'd better not risk anything since I've had a hell of a time trying to be symptom free. 

 

After calling Butterball, they indicated that all of their whole turkeys and turkey breasts are indeed gluten free. That, coupled with the label not including broth, I'm hoping will mean I'm safe.

 

You known preparing for large family/friend gatherings is hard enough, I do hope some day we don't have such a hard time just picking out food from the grocery store.

[Joyful joanna]

I just spent two days in bed with horrible joint, bone pain, muscle aches, feeling agitated, and severe headaches. I was a screaming Mimi with extreme anger and explosive diarrhea. All are my symptoms of an autoimmune reaction to gluten. Now that I can think a little straighter, I realize these symptoms started within 24 hours after eating my “gluten free” frozen turkey that I bought at Ingles. After reading the blog, I contacted the manufacturer and found out that the natural flavoring they injected contained not only barley but MSG as well, yet the turkey was labeled gluten free? I am highly reactive to MSG. I am feeling miserable that I missed this. This is the first turkey I have roasted since being Dx. Live and learn. I will only buy fresh turkey with no injections of anything in the future. My dogs will love eating turkey on their kibble for a few days! Thank God for this blog or I might never have figured this out.

[kareng]

13 minutes ago, Joyful joanna said:

I just spent two days in bed with horrible joint, bone pain, muscle aches, feeling agitated, and severe headaches. I was a screaming Mimi with extreme anger and explosive diarrhea. All are my symptoms of an autoimmune reaction to gluten. Now that I can think a little straighter, I realize these symptoms started within 24 hours after eating my “gluten free” frozen turkey that I bought at Ingles. After reading the blog, I contacted the manufacturer and found out that the natural flavoring they injected contained not only barley but MSG as well, yet the turkey was labeled gluten free? I am highly reactive to MSG. I am feeling miserable that I missed this. This is the first turkey I have roasted since being Dx. Live and learn. I will only buy fresh turkey with no injections of anything in the future. My dogs will love eating turkey on their kibble for a few days! Thank God for this blog or I might never have figured this out.

For those reading along - MSG is gluten free.  

[Ennis-TX]

On a side note from my big cooking event, riverside and butterball are gluten free. BUT we did have a issue where some people cooked their own turkey and brought it, I inquired into how, they used a turkey bag....and dusted the inside with flour as the instructions said to......great.

[Joyful joanna]

Yes, Kareng MSG is gluten free. I react to any product made with seaweed. I have an autoimmune reaction to the protein in seaweed, “ the wheat of the sea”, as serious as with gluten. This is true for many Celiacs. MSG, carrageenan, agar, alginate and sodium alginate are all made with seaweed. So it is double trouble for me to ingest MSG. That is the reason I mentioned it in my post. I hope this may help inform other Celiacs to be on the lookout for similar reactions from products made with seaweed.

The company that markets Honeysuckle gluten free turkeys, denied any gluten in their injectable broth or their natural flavorings in their reply to a very detailed email I sent them. They would not answer my questions about possible cross contamination in their processing factory. I do know this turkey made me sick. It was the only processed food I prepared for Thanksgiving dinner. I have a strict gluten free kitchen. All the sides that I served were prepared by me with fresh ingredients. I cooked for two days to accomplish this.

Say what they may, I will never purchase their turkeys again. I plan to buy a locally sourced fresh turkey from a certified farm, next time I roast a turkey. Not taking any more chances.

But, I am happy to clarify why I mentioned MSG in my post.

 

 

 

 

[kareng]

7 hours ago, Joyful joanna said:

Yes, Kareng MSG is gluten free. I react to any product made with seaweed. I have an autoimmune reaction to the protein in seaweed, “ the wheat of the sea”, as serious as with gluten. This is true for many Celiacs. MSG, carrageenan, agar, alginate and sodium alginate are all made with seaweed. So it is double trouble for me to ingest MSG. That is the reason I mentioned it in my post. I hope this may help inform other Celiacs to be on the lookout for similar reactions from products made with seaweed.

The company that markets Honeysuckle gluten free turkeys, denied any gluten in their injectable broth or their natural flavorings in their reply to a very detailed email I sent them. They would not answer my questions about possible cross contamination in their processing factory. I do know this turkey made me sick. It was the only processed food I prepared for Thanksgiving dinner. I have a strict gluten free kitchen. All the sides that I served were prepared by me with fresh ingredients. I cooked for two days to accomplish this.

Say what they may, I will never purchase their turkeys again. I plan to buy a locally sourced fresh turkey from a certified farm, next time I roast a turkey. Not taking any more chances.

But, I am happy to clarify why I mentioned MSG in my post.

 

 

 

 

And I want to clarify that seaweed is NOT wheat and doesn't not contain gluten.  Also, Honeysuckle turkey says are gluten free.  

 

You seem to have an additional issue with something else, seaweed.

[Joyful joanna]

Yes, Kareng, I stated in the first line of my post that I have serious autoimmune issues with seaweed. In celiac circles, it is referred to as the wheat of the sea because so many celiacs react to the protein in seaweed as they do the protein in wheat. No reference is too it actually being wheat, just that some celiacs react with auto immune response to seaweed products i.e.the use of the term "the wheat of the sea". Sorry you were so confused by this. There is in fact no wheat in seaweed, just the terminology used to express the autoimmune reaction. Hope I have helped you to understand the term.

Honeysuckle can label their turkeys gluten free, but they are injected with dubious ingredients that they chose not to fully explain. I will state this again, I know this turkey made me sick. Any company can mislabel something gluten free and it will not be. These turkeys are not certified gluten free.

I accept full responsibility for purchasing, roasting and eating this turkey. Lesson learned. I will not be buying their turkeys in the future, and I do not believe any sensitive celiac should either.

I hope my post prevents another celiac from suffering the same fate as I. Simply trying to be informative and caring.

[kareng]

1 hour ago, Joyful joanna said:

Yes, Kareng, I stated in the first line of my post that I have serious autoimmune issues with seaweed. In celiac circles, it is referred to as the wheat of the sea because so many celiacs react to the protein in seaweed as they do the protein in wheat. No reference is too it actually being wheat, just that some celiacs react with auto immune response to seaweed products i.e.the use of the term "the wheat of the sea". Sorry you were so confused by this. There is in fact no wheat in seaweed, just the terminology used to express the autoimmune reaction. Hope I have helped you to understand the term.

Honeysuckle can label their turkeys gluten free, but they are injected with dubious ingredients that they chose not to fully explain. I will state this again, I know this turkey made me sick. Any company can mislabel something gluten free and it will not be. These turkeys are not certified gluten free.

I accept full responsibility for purchasing, roasting and eating this turkey. Lesson learned. I will not be buying their turkeys in the future, and I do not believe any sensitive celiac should either.

I hope my post prevents another celiac from suffering the same fate as I. Simply trying to be informative and caring.

I am not confused. I just want it clarified for people who are new to Celiac and might really believe it is " wheat of the sea".  

[squirmingitch]

I am a very super sensitive celiac and my hubs is a "regular" celiac. We've been eating Honeysuckle White gluten free turkey for years. Haven't had a single problem with them.