Going Nuts Looking For Gluten Free Nuts

[naturalwoman]

Hello,

I am trying to find a good source for gluten free nuts. Does anyone know if there is a dedicated facility that makes nuts? I want to find raw cashews, almonds, pine nuts and sunflower seeds among others. I am trying and trying but companies keep telling me that they are processed in the same facility as wheat etc. Some claim that they clean the equiptment really well inbetween but this really isn't good enough for me, especially since I wonder what is in the cleaners they are using when they say that. I am feeling so good that I don't want to do anything to jepordize it by eating something that may or may not be safe. Does anyone know??!!! I don't really want roasted nuts that much, but does Planters make raw nuts that are gluten free?

Thanks for any help I can get!

Laura

[lorka150]

I use Kirkland and Loblaws, but because they change where they get them from, I re-call every time. They've never not been gluten-free though.

[RiceGuy]

I would like to think that a health foods store would carry bulk nuts, which should be gluten-free IMHO. It may also be safer yet to buy them in the shell. Not as convenient, but for occasional snacking and such, it might not be too much of a bother. The supermarket ones I've always seen have a disclaimer about being processed with other nuts, but not wheat. So now I'm wondering...

[oceangirl]

I would like to think that a health foods store would carry bulk nuts, which should be gluten-free IMHO. It may also be safer yet to buy them in the shell. Not as convenient, but for occasional snacking and such, it might not be too much of a bother. The supermarket ones I've always seen have a disclaimer about being processed with other nuts, but not wheat. So now I'm wondering...

Hi!

I,too, am searching for gluten-free sunflower seeds and nuts. Right now I buy them in the shell and use SunGold Foods sunbutter (gluten-free and yummy), but would really love some hulled sunflower seeds I can buy. Hoping someone else will post for us! Frito-Lay says on-line they have gluten-free sunflower seeds, but I can't find them anywhere.

Good luck,

lisa

[Juliebove]

I get mine at the health food store. They buy them in bulk, store them in the freezer and package them as needed. They are the freshest ever!

[Guest cassidy]

I had a problem finding the same thing. I am very sensitive and it was frustrating that most nuts were produced around gluten. I believe I found some NOW almonds. They are in a bag with a lot of purple writing and they met my requirements. I'm guessing it is the same NOW that makes the vitamins and I like those as well. Please check the label if you find them, but I haven't had any problems with them.

[April in KC]

Laura,

You might try contacting Blue Diamond (raw and seasoned almonds and a few other varieties available in cans at many stores, including Wal-Mart). Besides whole nuts, they also make Nut Thins crackers, which are advertised on their site as gluten-free (made from rice and almonds...according to my husband, yummy). Our family is very new to the gluten-free diet, but we have contacted Blue Diamond in the past about our son's peanut allergy and they were courteous and informative (they don't process peanuts at all, which is nice). In general, they seem surprisingly allergy aware, so I'm sure you could get accurate info.

GL!

April

[Coolclimates]

I'm also having trouble finding nuts. Besides Nuts Online (which is really expensive, not to mention shipping prices!) my grocery store only carries Blue Diamond (which have issues with CC) and Meijers brand (which I really question). There are a few no name brands, such as Great Lakes pine nuts, but no information about their manufacturing processes. It's very frustrating!

[lovegrov]

I have never worried much about nuts and never had an issue with them.

richard

[heatherjane]

Lately I've been eating "Planters Harvest 100% natural" almonds. The ingredients simply state "almonds, salt". Planters is a Kraft company, so gluten ingredients will be clearly listed.

[Gemini]

I have never worried much about nuts and never had an issue with them.

richard

Yeah...I am perplexed by this thread because I cannot eat from shared lines as I am a sensitive Celiac yet have had no problems finding nuts and sunflower seeds which are safe. Whole Foods sells them, Trader Joe's sells them....never become sick from nuts. I have never run into nuts, except for the highly processed commercial brands, which share a line with wheat.

[GlutenFreeManna]

Yeah...I am perplexed by this thread because I cannot eat from shared lines as I am a sensitive Celiac yet have had no problems finding nuts and sunflower seeds which are safe. Whole Foods sells them, Trader Joe's sells them....never become sick from nuts. I have never run into nuts, except for the highly processed commercial brands, which share a line with wheat.

I just wanted to mention that this thread was started in 2007. A lot could have changed since then in regards to labeling and availablity. Also not everyone has access to Whole Foods or Trader Joes. I am fortunate to live in a big enough city with Trader Joes and 4 or 5 different grocery store chains so I can find nuts that are safe without much trouble as well. My parents, however, live in a tiny Midwestern town where the only grocery store is Walmart (all the local ones went out of business when Walmart came in but that's a whole other discussion). People drive up to 30 minutes from other small towns without grocery stores just to get to the SuperWalmart in my parents hoemtown. Their Walmart does carry some gluten-free options like pasta and cereals and gluten-free bisquick, but it does not have much variety when it comes to things like nuts or other things you would only find in an Organic grocery store. So I can totally understand why finding nuts would be a problem for some people. The only thing I can think to suggest for people in tiny towns is to either order online or ask their stores to carry a specific brand. Also if you happen to go on vacation and find nuts for a decent price that are safe buy enough to last you for several months.

[jackay]

Blue Diamond almonds are not safe for everyone. They make a wasabi and soy sauce variety that has wheat in the soy sauce. There is a chance of cross contamination with their plain almonds and other flavored ones.

[Coolclimates]

Yeah, Blue Diamond is a bad company in regards to CC. I live in a mid-sized town (about 120,000 with the twin cities combined) yet the closest Trader Joes and Whole Foods are in Chicago and Indianapolis. We do have Meijers, Schnucks, County Market and a couple of health food stores, so it's not a terrible situation. But it could be better.

[T.H.]

... nuts and sunflower seeds which are safe. Whole Foods sells them, Trader Joe's sells them....never become sick from nuts. I have never run into nuts, except for the highly processed commercial brands, which share a line with wheat.

Perhaps the products are area specific, but the nuts at our Trader Joe's and Whole Foods (in Arizona) are not safe. I have yet to find any nuts at our Whole Foods that aren't processed in a facility with wheat, and I know quite a few of Trader Joe's nuts are processed in facilities with wheat as well. It doesn't always have to be labeled as such - that label is optional rather than mandtory - so you sometimes have to call up the company to check.

We didn't read the labels much on plain nuts at first, but then we had an extremely nasty case of gluten cc with completely plain nuts. It was one of those situations where it couldn't be much else. A newly opened bag of nuts, eaten in our gluten free home, when none of us had anything to eat for hours before. Two celiacs ate the same nuts. One reacted within 15 minutes, the other in 20 min, and we were both really, really sick.

I hadn't ever looked at plain nuts as a potential issue before then. Never even considered it! But that was so utterly miserable we've been very, very cautious with nuts since then.

shauna

[Roda]

I've not had any problems Blue Diamond plain natural almonds or their nut thins. I've gotten pretty sensitive to cc lately too.

[jackay]

I've not had any problems Blue Diamond plain natural almonds or their nut thins. I've gotten pretty sensitive to cc lately too.

That's good to hear. I was having problems digesting them but wasn't sure if it was cc. I have since started taking the Creon, a prescription digestive enzyme. I've started adding more foods to my diet and haven't had any problems. I still have a few cans of Blue Diamond natural almonds but I've been leary of trying them. One of these days I'll give them a try. I've never tried the nut thins.

[Coolclimates]

Ugh, sorry to hear about the awful reactions that you had, Shauna. Although I have quite severe celiac disease, I do not get any reaction that I know of if I get "glutened." Or it's too subtle or delayed to really notice. Which sounds good on the outside. But in the long run it's a real problem because I could be continuing to ingest gluten and that is probably what is preventing me from healing (after 1 year of very strict gluten-free diet, my antibodies are still very high and my celiac disease is still very active). I'm going nuts (literally!) trying to figure out what it is that I'm eating or doing that is preventing me from healing.

[Gemini]

Perhaps the products are area specific, but the nuts at our Trader Joe's and Whole Foods (in Arizona) are not safe. I have yet to find any nuts at our Whole Foods that aren't processed in a facility with wheat, and I know quite a few of Trader Joe's nuts are processed in facilities with wheat as well. It doesn't always have to be labeled as such - that label is optional rather than mandtory - so you sometimes have to call up the company to check.

We didn't read the labels much on plain nuts at first, but then we had an extremely nasty case of gluten cc with completely plain nuts. It was one of those situations where it couldn't be much else. A newly opened bag of nuts, eaten in our gluten free home, when none of us had anything to eat for hours before. Two celiacs ate the same nuts. One reacted within 15 minutes, the other in 20 min, and we were both really, really sick.

I hadn't ever looked at plain nuts as a potential issue before then. Never even considered it! But that was so utterly miserable we've been very, very cautious with nuts since then.

shauna

The Whole Foods 365 brand of sunflower seeds are gluten-free....they are not processed in a facility with wheat. Whole Foods will list whether they are or not, clearly on the package. I have a package in my pantry and I double checked it. I always check for this as I cannot eat shared facility foods or I get sick. I eat these every day so it would not be possible for them to be contaminated. They are processed on lines with dairy and soy so that may be a potential problem for many. They claim they use "good manufacturing processes to segregate ingredients from those 2 allergens" plus peanuts and tree nuts but wheat is not listed at all.

Trader Joe's also carries some safe nuts but maybe that is area specific. I have only shopped at them in my area.

I think for those who live in small towns where availability is poor will have to resort to the internet to purchase safe nuts. I order foods over the internet and it's easy. I can't imagine how we survived without it!

[etm567]

Well, now it's 2016 and I've just had the first gluten attack I've had in quite a while. It's summer, and all I've been eating is zucchini  (from our garden) with cheese and onions and homemade pesto on rice and gluten-free pasta, made with walnuts from Costco. The walnut bag says they are processed on equipment shared with wheat. 

In the past I have gotten a terrible reaction from trail mix bought at the supermarket, and maybe even from Whole Foods. Even their trail mix (at least the last time I checked) says its nuts are processed on equipment shared with wheat. 

I'm going to look for almonds and/or walnuts that are not, and pray that I will find some. I have just made over two quarts of fabulous pesto that apparently I cannot touch. I'm going to eat it one more time and see what happens. 

I've asked at Whole Foods about safe nuts for trail mixes, and they said that they could not vouch for their bulk products. And while they do have some bags of prepared trail mix that are "gluten free," they are unbelievably expensive and I cannot afford them. 

I'm terribly upset about this. If anybody knows about almonds or walnuts, or even pine nuts, that are not processed on shared equipment, please say so? 

Many thanks, 

Ellen

[etm567]

On 6/10/2011 at 11:24 PM, Coolclimates said:

Ugh, sorry to hear about the awful reactions that you had, Shauna. Although I have quite severe celiac disease, I do not get any reaction that I know of if I get "glutened." Or it's too subtle or delayed to really notice. Which sounds good on the outside. But in the long run it's a real problem because I could be continuing to ingest gluten and that is probably what is preventing me from healing (after 1 year of very strict gluten-free diet, my antibodies are still very high and my celiac disease is still very active). I'm going nuts (literally!) trying to figure out what it is that I'm eating or doing that is preventing me from healing.

I did not heal for years after I gave up gluten, and finally found out it was SIBO, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. My symptoms that I consider a gluten attack -- a long, drawn-out agonizing event in the bathroom where I feel like my guts are filled with double-edged razor blades -- did stop immediately, but I kept losing weight uncontrollably, until I wad down to about 85 pounds, which is way beyond skinny for me. I haven't been that size since puberty. I cured myself the first time without knowing by taking lots of really good oil of oregano, but then I got sick again and stayed that way for years. I spent five or six years basically in bed, until I found out about SIBO and took the antibiotics and then began drinking kefir, homemade kefir. Finally had a normal bowel movement for the first time since I was a child, and I am 63 years old now. 

Check it out. 

Ellen

[RMJ]

Nuts.com has some certified gluten free nuts.

Open Original Shared Link

[kareng]

I don't know where you live, but you might go to a farmers market and get a local grower.  I get pecans and walnuts locally.  

[Panama]

I don't have this problem as I can't eat nuts- I developed a sensitivity to them as an adult.

Some people earlier mentioned buying nuts in bulk at health food stores. Wouldn't it be possible for cross contamination to occur in this situation? Would the nuts be protected if they were in their shells?

[cyclinglady]

12 hours ago, Panama said:

I don't have this problem as I can't eat nuts- I developed a sensitivity to them as an adult.

Some people earlier mentioned buying nuts in bulk at health food stores. Wouldn't it be possible for cross contamination to occur in this situation? Would the nuts be protected if they were in their shells?

I buy nuts in bulk with their shells on!  I wash them before cracking them open.  Most of the time , I am lazy, and prefer to purchase nuts that are unshelled.  Those I tend to buy from reliable sources.