Vinegar? Cooking Wine?

[Guest Aziah]

I thought vinegar was cleared by the Celiac Society as being "gluten free"??? is this true or not? Because I gave red wine vinegar to my kids and they had a reaction...and I am not sure if it was the vinegar or something else...

...also, what about cooking wine?

[Lisa]

I thought vinegar was cleared by the Celiac Society as being "gluten free"??? is this true or not? Because I gave red wine vinegar to my kids and they had a reaction...and I am not sure if it was the vinegar or something else...

...also, what about cooking wine?

Vinegar was previously a stated concern, but no longer. (distilling process is said to remove the gluten). MALT Vinegar is not gluten free.

[tarnalberry]

beyond what was already noted, red wine vinegar has nothing in it from a grain - it's made from wine (unless it was a very cheap brand that added flavorings afterwards).

[Rosewynde]

I was reading up on this the other day due to it being a point of contention between many people. Some react to vinegar's some don't. Supposedly distilled vinegars are safe because they are distilled (even if made of wheat which most aren't) but malt vinegar (in fact all malt) is not safe as it's not distilled and it's made from barley. Someone said they thought it might be a reaction to the yeast, but as I don't know much about how wine or vinegar is made I couldn't say for sure if that's true. Some suppose that the vinegar has added flavors after the fact that cause problems. Make sure that it was the vinegar and not something else. If you've eliminated everything but the vinegar then i'd assume that vinegar isn't safe and switch to something else. Might be worth calling or writing to the company and asking them too.

[Guest Aziah]

I was reading up on this the other day due to it being a point of contention between many people. Some react to vinegar's some don't. Supposedly distilled vinegars are safe because they are distilled (even if made of wheat which most aren't) but malt vinegar (in fact all malt) is not safe as it's not distilled and it's made from barley. Someone said they thought it might be a reaction to the yeast, but as I don't know much about how wine or vinegar is made I couldn't say for sure if that's true. Some suppose that the vinegar has added flavors after the fact that cause problems. Make sure that it was the vinegar and not something else. If you've eliminated everything but the vinegar then i'd assume that vinegar isn't safe and switch to something else. Might be worth calling or writing to the company and asking them too.

Hummm...well if it isn't the vinegar then it has to be the corn on the cob. I made homemade salsa with all fresh ingredients....the only thing she could react to would be either vinegar or corn. She had weird reactions to corn before...but not all the time..it wasn't consistant. I don't know...

[celiacwife]

Hummm...well if it isn't the vinegar then it has to be the corn on the cob. I made homemade salsa with all fresh ingredients....the only thing she could react to would be either vinegar or corn. She had weird reactions to corn before...but not all the time..it wasn't consistant. I don't know...

Hi Aziah,

I know that everyone says that vinegar is safe for celiacs, but my husband keeps having reactions every time I make something with vinegar. I make almost everything from scratch, even mayonnaise, and the only thing that could possibly be causing the reaction is vinegar. We have come to the conclusion that I am not going to use vinegar in cooking any more. Even though it is technically and scientifically supposed to be safe, if it makes him sick every time, why keep eating it? I have read articles saying that removing things that are "safe" for celiacs unnecessarily complicates life (see Open Original Shared Link, but our lives are much more complicated when my husband constantly feels sick. Those that don't deal with the daily frustrations don't understand, so I say trust your experience and your instincts. At least your kids will feel better. If it's truly not the vinegar, I hope you are able to figure it out soon. =)

Best of luck!

[Guest Aziah]

Hi Aziah,

I know that everyone says that vinegar is safe for celiacs, but my husband keeps having reactions every time I make something with vinegar. I make almost everything from scratch, even mayonnaise, and the only thing that could possibly be causing the reaction is vinegar. We have come to the conclusion that I am not going to use vinegar in cooking any more. Even though it is technically and scientifically supposed to be safe, if it makes him sick every time, why keep eating it? I have read articles saying that removing things that are "safe" for celiacs unnecessarily complicates life (see Open Original Shared Link, but our lives are much more complicated when my husband constantly feels sick. Those that don't deal with the daily frustrations don't understand, so I say trust your experience and your instincts. At least your kids will feel better. If it's truly not the vinegar, I hope you are able to figure it out soon. =)

Best of luck!

What do you use as a substitute for vinegar??? I use it all the time in my cooking from homemade marinades to salsas... But I do suspect that maybe it might be a "problem" with my littlest one and the only way to know for sure is to eliminate it...but I don't know how to cook without it! any suggestions?

[celiacwife]

What do you use as a substitute for vinegar??? I use it all the time in my cooking from homemade marinades to salsas... But I do suspect that maybe it might be a "problem" with my littlest one and the only way to know for sure is to eliminate it...but I don't know how to cook without it! any suggestions?

Hi Aziah,

My husband and I only recently decided not to use vinegar, so I haven't thought the issue through yet. I do know, though, that often what is needed in recipes is the acidity, and in those cases you can use lemon juice or lime juice (or even orange juice). I have a few salad dressings that use citrus juice instead of vinegar, and I have a mango salsa recipe that uses lime juice. Many marinades need the acidity simply to tenderize the meat, so I'm sure you could use lemon juice. When the vinegar is used as a preservative (such as in pickles), I'm not sure what you would do. I have a salsa recipe that uses vinegar, but I am going to try it without the vinegar-- I think it will be okay since there are so many chili peppers in it. I did a quick search on vinegar substitutes, and something came up called "verjus" (or "verjuice"). I don't know anything about it, but it might be worth looking into. Another thing I am going to think about is the possibility that maybe some vinegars affect people more than others. For example, I've noticed that my husband is much more affected when I use cider vinegar or rice vinegar than when I use regular vinegar. So, we're considering leaving vinegar out for quite awhile and then possibly re-introducing just regular vinegar to see if it's okay. Sorry I can't be of more help-- I'll try to let you know if I find anything else. If you want any of the recipes I mentioned, I'd be happy to share.

[Guest Aziah]

Hi Aziah,

My husband and I only recently decided not to use vinegar, so I haven't thought the issue through yet. I do know, though, that often what is needed in recipes is the acidity, and in those cases you can use lemon juice or lime juice (or even orange juice). I have a few salad dressings that use citrus juice instead of vinegar, and I have a mango salsa recipe that uses lime juice. Many marinades need the acidity simply to tenderize the meat, so I'm sure you could use lemon juice. When the vinegar is used as a preservative (such as in pickles), I'm not sure what you would do. I have a salsa recipe that uses vinegar, but I am going to try it without the vinegar-- I think it will be okay since there are so many chili peppers in it. I did a quick search on vinegar substitutes, and something came up called "verjus" (or "verjuice"). I don't know anything about it, but it might be worth looking into. Another thing I am going to think about is the possibility that maybe some vinegars affect people more than others. For example, I've noticed that my husband is much more affected when I use cider vinegar or rice vinegar than when I use regular vinegar. So, we're considering leaving vinegar out for quite awhile and then possibly re-introducing just regular vinegar to see if it's okay. Sorry I can't be of more help-- I'll try to let you know if I find anything else. If you want any of the recipes I mentioned, I'd be happy to share.

that makes sense sub-ing citrus juices...i will try it. thank you!!!

[Karen B.]

Hummm...well if it isn't the vinegar then it has to be the corn on the cob. I made homemade salsa with all fresh ingredients....the only thing she could react to would be either vinegar or corn. She had weird reactions to corn before...but not all the time..it wasn't consistant. I don't know...

If you used fresh cilantro in the salsa, I do know one person that has a rection to that (hives and such) and I know someone that reacts to fresh tomatos. For both of these people, cooked cilantro and cooked tomatos aren't a problem.

Red wine vinegar is gluten-free from the beginning. It never had gluten in it that was removed like plain white vinegar. IIRC, some people that have a problem with molds and fungi can have a problem with all vinegars because vinegar is fermented.

But yes, it could be corn too. You may have to track this a bit to find the culprit.