Beware The Turkey!

[anglepoise]

I bought a large Butterball turkey breast to cook for me & my boyfriend tomorrow. On closer inspection, I noticed 2 things. (1) Enclosed is a packet for gravy, containing wheat, & (2) the turkey itself comes soaked in a concoction including modified food starch (something we all should be very wary of). So, I'm off to Whole Foods for an organic turkey!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone,

Angel

[tarnalberry]

As has been discussed many times, while the gravy packet is not gluten-free, the turkey itself must list any nutrition-carrying ingredient such as wheat. Additionally, I have called Butterball when on a business trip, and they confirmed that their poultry (plain, of course) is gluten-free. Not all modified food starch contains gluten.

[lovegrov]

As Tiffany said, the Butterball turkey is perfectly gluten-free. The gravy pouch is double sealed and the modified food starch is from corn. Butterball also just confirmed to me that their turkeys are gluten-free.

Natural turkeys might taste better, but don't waste the Butterball.

richard

[Melanie]

Great, I just returned our butterball turkey. At least I will know in the future. This modified food starch thing is annoying me. If it's from corn, why not say modified corn starch? Sorry, I'm annoyed.

[AlaskaDebbie]

Geesh. I called Butterball last Friday and spoke with a lady who treated me with such disrespect. Said she had no idea if their turkeys had gluten or not so don't buy one. So I didn't. How nice to know this forum is here. I'll look earlier next year.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Blessings,

Alaska Debbie

[lovegrov]

I'll keep posting this because I know that not everybody can read all the posts. And people will be getting turkeys for Christmas.

The USDA REQUIRES that manufacturers plainly and clearly list anything that adds nutritional value to raw meat. This includes wheat, rye and barley (I didn't ask about oats but oats would not be added to meat anyway). This means that all you have to do is read the ingredients. No guessing and no calling the company. In three years I have yet to see raw poultry with gluten added, and nobody has ever

sent me the name of a company that does add gluten. I still ALWAYS read the label, but raw poultry simply is not going to have gluten.

As for why a company just lists modified food starch, it's usually because that source could change at some point. I said the Butterball source was corn, but I have to admit I'm not real certain about that now. But it's not wheat.

richard

[Seosamh]

Hi!

Thanksgiving was great, but the day after is not! I've been sick all day--from something I ate last night, I'm fairly certain. Its the same sort of symptoms I had before going gluten-free on Jan. 28th this year (I'll never forget the day).

I went out last night for Thanksgiving with my in-laws to their fav. French restaurant and had turkey w/o stuffing and w/o gravy. All the same, I got sick. I'm wondering if the dark meat of the turkey might have absorbed gluten from the stuffing. Any thoughts on this???? I can't think of what else might have caused this reaction.

thanks (this is my first post)

[MySuicidalTurtle]

They could of had put something on the turkey or crosscontaminated it with somehting else ot like you said with the stuffing. Plus, it was from a restaurant and that's always iffy.

[Seosamh]

Thanks--I live in NYC, where eating out is the number 1 social activity. I'm really careful and avoid most of the menu--but I thought meat would be safe. Ah well.

I'm still raging from years of misdiagnosis, many secondary illnesses, plus years of disbelief in an illness that I could have been diagnosed with 30 years ago.

But, thanks. It is good to read over this list and find folks with similar struggles.

cheers.

[lovegrov]

If the turkey was stuffed when it was cooked all bets are off. It's contaminated and will make you sick.

richard

[Seosamh]

Thanks--

[MySuicidalTurtle]

Manhattan is like the best place to live and eat out with Celiacs! Soooo many gluten-free places! I LOVE visiting!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Seosamh]

Thanks ST--drop a line when you come to NYC.

I've been trying to meet other celiacs in NYC, but haven't had a lot of luck. I've emailed some coordinators of support groups, but haven't heard back from them. If anyone out there is actually in a NYC support group, could you let me know when a meeting will take place?

Thanks,

Seosamh