Beware Unsalted Butter

[babysteps]

FYI - didn't see this topic when I did a search - hopefully isn't a repeat.

Had a reaction Saturday to a "safe" cooked-at-home from raw ingredients meal. We'd run out of regular butter so on the rice I used some DH had from baking last month - was unsalted.

when I did my paranoid "I will now read all labels even though I know I've read them before" routine, the unsalted butter listed "natural flavors" which some sources will say are gluten-free as a category but others point out wheat can be used in processing without requirement to list as an ingredient. All I know is that I had a (mild, but noticable) reaction.

So at the regular grocery store all 3 unsalted butters had "natural flavors", at WholeFoods only 1 of the 5 unsalted butters had "natural flavors". Salted butters both stores were all simply cream & salt as ingredients. Silly me I didn't think butter of any kind was something I had to check

Caveat-I still haven't found a vitamin (whether gluten-free or not) that I don't react to, so there's an outside chance the 'natural flavor' reaction wasn't gluten. However I don't have any other sensitivities that I can tell, and am fine with dairy in general and regular butter in particular.

[Lisa]

FYI - didn't see this topic when I did a search - hopefully isn't a repeat.

Had a reaction Saturday to a "safe" cooked-at-home from raw ingredients meal. We'd run out of regular butter so on the rice I used some DH had from baking last month - was unsalted.

when I did my paranoid "I will now read all labels even though I know I've read them before" routine, the unsalted butter listed "natural flavors" which some sources will say are gluten-free as a category but others point out wheat can be used in processing without requirement to list as an ingredient. All I know is that I had a (mild, but noticable) reaction.

So at the regular grocery store all 3 unsalted butters had "natural flavors", at WholeFoods only 1 of the 5 unsalted butters had "natural flavors". Salted butters both stores were all simply cream & salt as ingredients. Silly me I didn't think butter of any kind was something I had to check

Caveat-I still haven't found a vitamin (whether gluten-free or not) that I don't react to, so there's an outside chance the 'natural flavor' reaction wasn't gluten. However I don't have any other sensitivities that I can tell, and am fine with dairy in general and regular butter in particular.

The "unsalted" butter that you mentioned would, by law, have to list wheat if it is an ingredient. Malt, rye or barley would unlike be an ingredient in butter.

Your suspect would most likely be from the cross contaminated butter from your husband. I presume that he uses that butter to spread on his bread, toast, pasta or other gluteny things.

You may also consider having a temporary dairy intolerance, which often goes hand in hand with newly diagnosed Celiacs.

Learning to contact companies is a required skill.

[VioletBlue]

If you're relatively new to gluten free you may still be healing from the malabsorption. In the case of vitamins, some of the minerals in particular can hit you hard because they're not being absorbed but passing straight through. I used to have a particularly bad reaction to iron or anything with iron in it until I began to heal. I would be nausous within minutes of taking vitamins and some supplements. It's hard to know what the problem with the butter was. I've never reacted to butter so I don't know. Could it have been some other food you ate? As you go on with the gluten-free diet you may find there are other foods that cause reactions similar to gluten. It's not uncommon for Celiacs to have other food intolerances and allergies, and they are not all immediately apparent. It can take months to become aware of them and weed them out of your diet.

Violet

FYI - didn't see this topic when I did a search - hopefully isn't a repeat.

Had a reaction Saturday to a "safe" cooked-at-home from raw ingredients meal. We'd run out of regular butter so on the rice I used some DH had from baking last month - was unsalted.

when I did my paranoid "I will now read all labels even though I know I've read them before" routine, the unsalted butter listed "natural flavors" which some sources will say are gluten-free as a category but others point out wheat can be used in processing without requirement to list as an ingredient. All I know is that I had a (mild, but noticable) reaction.

So at the regular grocery store all 3 unsalted butters had "natural flavors", at WholeFoods only 1 of the 5 unsalted butters had "natural flavors". Salted butters both stores were all simply cream & salt as ingredients. Silly me I didn't think butter of any kind was something I had to check

Caveat-I still haven't found a vitamin (whether gluten-free or not) that I don't react to, so there's an outside chance the 'natural flavor' reaction wasn't gluten. However I don't have any other sensitivities that I can tell, and am fine with dairy in general and regular butter in particular.

[larry mac]

I tried unsalted butter once, years ago. That was the last and only time. Couldn't taste a thing. Appearently, the salt is responsible for a large portion of the flavor. No wonder they have to add flavor to it.

I always use salted butter, even if the recipe calls for unsalted. There's a reason why "salty snacks" are so popular and are a huge multi-billion dollar industry. Salt + oil, ya can't beat it for taste.

best regards, lm

[babysteps]

Thanks for all the guidance!

unlikely to be cc, as it was a new stick of butter and we had no bread in the house at the time. But I am learning to get vigilant on how things leave their container & whether an implement 'double dips' or not. My mother used to get livid if you didn't use the butter knife (instead used your own knife) - foreshadowing, anyone?

May indeed be a vitamin issue. I don't tolerate multi-vit's and have started exploring single-item supplements from Kirkman Labs - so far I'm okay with calcium & vit D.

Other food sensitivities - good point. I actually did a mini-exclusion diet in Jan/Feb - down to brown rice, meat, non-starchy veggies, water, fruit and that's it (no salt, seasonings etc etc) - then add things back in carefully and slowly. Milk was an issue for first 2-3 wks gluten-free, then avoided for 2 wks, tried adding back in & am okay now (except some yogurt brands - anyone have a better approach than trial & error?). I know I don't have actual food allergies as was just blood tested for those. But we all know sensitivities can be pretty powerful.

[Gaye of PA]

On another note about vitamins and minerals--I seem to have trouble digesting supplements that are in gel caps (gas, in particular), but do much better with tablets that are crumbly/soft (such as Metagenics). Powders also go down easier.

Another option would be to crack open the gel caps and add the powders to food.