Christmas Dinner

[dbuhl79]

I head back to Michigan in December to spend the week of Christmas with my family. (Yay!)

My mom has asked me to tell her what to watch for to be sure she has food items that I can eat. Normally our Christmas dinner contains, ham, turkey, mashed potatos, vegetables, and prepared properly can be gluten-free I realize.

But that morning we have a traditional Christmas breakfast. A variety of sausages, eggs, and bacon.

What type of food ingredients or additives should I tell her to be leary of when shopping for these items? Or does anyone have brands they recommend. I know that some things can have wheat filler in them (i.e., the sausage) etc. A brand reocmmendation would be great, since is VERY busy and has little time to shop and read labels on her way.

Any tips much appreciated!

Thanks!

P.S. I should mention I have the following items to ask her to steer clear of, can you add any to this list? I also use this as my basis for grocery shopping so all additions greatly appreciated!

List:

Wheat (durum, semolina)

Rye

Barley

Spelt

Triticale

Kamu

Farina

Brown Rice Syrup

Dextrin

Flour/Cereal Products

Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein/Plant Prtein

Malt or Malt Flavoring

Modified Food Starch

Natural or Artificial Flavors

Soy Sauce or Soy Sauce Solids

[lovegrov]

In my experience, ham is always pretty much OK as long as it has not been commercially glazed and isn't honey baked. Your basic smoked ham is OK. I have yet to find a raw turkey that has gluten. If gluten is added to raw poultry, it must be clearly labeled as such. It cannot be hidden in "flavors" or anything similar. This makes buying a turkey very easy.

I've heard of one bacon in California that has gluten and the bacon at McDonald's has wheat starch, but every other bbacon I've checked has been gluten-free. Hormel and Oscar Meyer definitely are.

Sausage in fact rarely has wheat filler. Johnsonville (except the beer brats), Hormel, Kroger and Jimmy Dean sausages are gluten-free.

You do have to check on modified food starch and natural flavors, but the fact is they rarely hide gluten. Don't avoid them entirely, just make sure you check on the individual product.

richard