Reaction To Amy's Gluten-free Pizza

[Laurad-]

I'm fairly new to eating gluten-free so I'm still in the brand-testing phase. One of my friends was trying to be supportive, so she bought me a gluten-free Amy's brand cheese pizza, which was REALLY nice of her, but when I ate it my throat swelled up and I had to go to the emergency room, where I threw up repeatedly. I had never had a reaction like that to any food before and I've tried other brands of gluten-free pizza without experiencing any trouble. Any suggestions as to why that happened? Is there something in Amy's pizza that isn't in the other brands?

[Ursa Major]

I hope you feel better now. Could you post a list of ingredients? That would give everybody a better idea of which culprits to suggest.

[Laurad-]

I hope you feel better now. Could you post a list of ingredients? That would give everybody a better idea of which culprits to suggest.

Here are the ingredients:

Rice Crust Cheese Pizza

INGREDIENTS : PART SKIM MOZZARELLA CHEESE (WITHOUT ANIMAL ENZYMES OR RENNET), ORGANIC RICE FLOUR, ORGANIC TOMATO PUREE, FILTERED WATER, ORGANIC SUNFLOWER SEED MEAL, TAPIOCA FLOUR, ORGANIC POTATOES, ORGANIC EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL, EXPELLER PRESSEDHIGH OLEIC SAFFLOWER OIL, ORGANIC HONEY, SEA SALT, ORGANIC RED ONIONS, YEAST, SOY LECITHIN, SPICES, ORGANIC GARLIC. CONTAINS MILK, SUNFLOWER SEEDS AND SOY.

(Thanks Ursa Major!)

[bklynceliac]

pardon me if i'm getting a few of the details wrong, but i've heard the allergy discussion many times from my doctor sister - i'll pass on what i remember. Feel free to disregard if not helpful or it turns out I'm mis-translating/understanding. Sounds like you had what doctors consider a "true" allergic reaction, meaning that without medical intervention you'd have been in serious trouble. Maybe the ER docs already told you this. Basically a "truly" allergic reaction involves anaphylaxsis (sp?), or so says my sister. The best example that people are most familiar with is a peanut allergy. If you eat them and you're allergic, you need to go to hospital. Not to say that other, less severe reactions aren't genuine, it's just doctorly distinction. That probably didn't come from the gluten - if so it would be highly a-typical. The milk protein is a possible culprit, but the most glaring thing to my untrained eye is the sunflower seeds. Rare enough that you may not have come in contact with them often, and very possible to cause a reaction if you're body is so inclined. But actually, it could be any of the ingredients. Either way, I would see an allergist ASAP, with the ingredient list in hand, because it's important that you figure out what the culprit is.

Other than that, I suppose it could have been food poisoning, but it doesn't sound like a standard gluten reaction to me.

[PennyG]

pardon me if i'm getting a few of the details wrong, but i've heard the allergy discussion many times from my doctor sister - i'll pass on what i remember. Feel free to disregard if not helpful or it turns out I'm mis-translating/understanding. Sounds like you had what doctors consider a "true" allergic reaction, meaning that without medical intervention you'd have been in serious trouble. Maybe the ER docs already told you this. Basically a "truly" allergic reaction involves anaphylaxsis (sp?), or so says my sister. The best example that people are most familiar with is a peanut allergy. If you eat them and you're allergic, you need to go to hospital. Not to say that other, less severe reactions aren't genuine, it's just doctorly distinction. That probably didn't come from the gluten - if so it would be highly a-typical. The milk protein is a possible culprit, but the most glaring thing to my untrained eye is the sunflower seeds. Rare enough that you may not have come in contact with them often, and very possible to cause a reaction if you're body is so inclined. But actually, it could be any of the ingredients. Either way, I would see an allergist ASAP, with the ingredient list in hand, because it's important that you figure out what the culprit is.

Other than that, I suppose it could have been food poisoning, but it doesn't sound like a standard gluten reaction to me.

Just as there are varying symptoms of celiacs, there are varying degrees of allergic reactions to things in the environment and to food. To say a "true allergic reaction" needs to lead to anaphylaxis, is terribly naive and narrow minded and as soon as doctors realize this, we will all be able to get better healthcare.

[PennyG]

I'm fairly new to eating gluten-free so I'm still in the brand-testing phase. One of my friends was trying to be supportive, so she bought me a gluten-free Amy's brand cheese pizza, which was REALLY nice of her, but when I ate it my throat swelled up and I had to go to the emergency room, where I threw up repeatedly. I had never had a reaction like that to any food before and I've tried other brands of gluten-free pizza without experiencing any trouble. Any suggestions as to why that happened? Is there something in Amy's pizza that isn't in the other brands?

I'm sorry you had a horrible reaction! I pray you are feeling better and are able to pinpoint what the cause of your reaction was. I haven't been able to eat Amy's pizza since I discovered my allergy to soy, so I'm not much help in assisting you in finding the trigger for this episode.

[zansu]

Just as there are varying symptoms of celiacs, there are varying degrees of allergic reactions to things in the environment and to food. To say a "true allergic reaction" needs to lead to anaphylaxis, is terribly naive and narrow minded and as soon as doctors realize this, we will all be able to get better healthcare.

calm, don't seek insult where it was not intended....

I believe that what bklnceliac meant was that it was not a gluten intolerence reaction, but an allergic reaction. In this case truly looking like anaphalaxis (swollen throat) which would NOT occur with an intolerence. so bkln was recommending that things other than gluten be considered. Thus "true allergy" to contrast with intolerence (which we sometimes discus as LIKE allergy).

I don't believe "allergy must be anaphalaxis" was meant, but rather that "anaphalaxis must be allergy". Planty of us know allergies that result in rash, asthma, and other symptoms.

[Jestgar]

Hi Laura,

when I went gluten-free, I suddenly had much more severe allergic reactions to things that had been barely noticeable before. Fortunately I didn't end up in the emergency room, but after I discovered this I was much more cautious about eating something I hadn't eaten in a while. It may be that you are allergic to something in the mix. The only way to find out would be to try each thing separately. (a tiny, tiny bit, and wait for ANY reaction. My throat burns with even a raisin sized bit of something with peach as one of the ingredients.)

[Rusla]

I do not know what the Amy's packages say in the US but in Canada they all say "manufactured in a facility that produces gluten products." I don't care how gluten-free the item says it is those words or a reasonable facsimilie of those words would NOT get me to buy those items. I am highly sensitive to wheat and gluten and I would end up with the say affect that you did. Read all labels very carefully is my advice.

Another thing is the cheese. They did not say the cheese was without caseine (sp). That, in itself acts much the same as gluten and most people who are celiac have dairy problems. I use goat cheese with no caseine.

[Guest cassidy]

All of Amy's stuff is produced in facilities that contain gluten. I love their food and contacted them several times because I kept getting sick when eating their food. They changed their labels from gluten free to no gluten ingredients. If you contact them they will tell you that they can't guarantee that the item didn't come into contact with gluten in the manufacturing process.

They recently built a new plant where they make the pizzas in an area that in enclosed. I was excited and hoped that meant they would be ok. I contacted them and they said they don't consider their new facility gluten free.

Unfortunately, it sounds like you may be as sensitive as I am to the point where I don't eat anything that is produced in the same facility as gluten. It is frustrating since things tha claim to be gluten-free can still have cc issues and I can't eat them.

My mom's throat swells up when she eats gluten, if she doesn't have that much benadryl helps with that. Obviously that is a serious symptom and you did the right thing going to the er. She also has intestinal symptoms and dh.

[PennyG]

calm, don't seek insult where it was not intended....

I believe that what bklnceliac meant was that it was not a gluten intolerence reaction, but an allergic reaction. In this case truly looking like anaphalaxis (swollen throat) which would NOT occur with an intolerence. so bkln was recommending that things other than gluten be considered. Thus "true allergy" to contrast with intolerence (which we sometimes discus as LIKE allergy).

I don't believe "allergy must be anaphalaxis" was meant, but rather that "anaphalaxis must be allergy". Planty of us know allergies that result in rash, asthma, and other symptoms.

I apologize, bklynceliac, I wasn't attacking you for your definition of "true allergy reaction" or saying that you are naive and narrowminded. I meant to say that doctors who feel that the only true allergic reaction leads to anaphalaxis need to investigate things further. I know of someone who had an allergic reaction to an OTC medication and the medical personnel denied she was having an allergic reaction because she wasn't anaphalaxis ("you don't pass out with anaphalaxis"), yet the only things that helped were antihistamines & epinephrine. Look at how many people aren't correctly diagnosed with celiacs, because they don't fit within the "norm" of celiac disease.

Again, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause any problems.

[bklynceliac]

no offense taken. Your reading was apt - they aren't my definitions at all, just a very strict medical reading i got from my sister, who is a very strict, by the book physician. But it should be understood that they don't take "untrue" allergic reactions lightly, or necessarily with any less care than you or I would like, it's just terminology they use to make a distinction. One that in a very literal translation makes sense. I say I am allergic to casein, meaning i can't have it in my body - but really I can, it will just cause me tremendous discomfort constantly. So in an extremely strict translation, it's not a "true" allergy. My body can stand it, just very badly. Whereas if someone with a "true" peanut "allergy" ingests some, they will die without intervention. Again, these aren't my terms, and I'm not sure I'm totally getting it right, and frankly it's just semantics, but the point is that Laura's experience was a very strong reaction and needs to be figured out. It's not one that I have commonly heard associated with gluten, but cassidy's experiences may suggest otherwise.

[Laurad-]

Thanks for all of the advice, guys! I'll definately try to pinpoint whatever it is that I might be allergic to on top of the whole gluten thing. I was really interested in what Jestgar said about being more sensitive to allergies since going gluten-free because I've noticed that too and I was starting to think that maybe I'm just becoming a bit of a hypocondriac. Also, I had no idea that Amy's stuff is processed in glutened facilities. So much to learn...

[pixiegirl]

First of all, as we all know, putting "tone" or inflection in an internet posting is impossible! But when I read PennyGs' note I didn't think she was saying the original poster was narrow minded but that the doctor defination was. I'm sure she didn't mean the poster who clearly stated that it was a/her doctor that gave her that info. So no harm on foul on either of them in my mind, we were all just discussing!

A lot of us have food allergies (me included, to just about everything) and we all KNOW that there are so many different sorts of reactions.

Now as to the topic, no matter what I eat of Amy's I get a reaction so I've stopped eating Amy's products, I believe there is gluten cross contamination because I get gluten symptoms each time.

Susan