How Do I Know From All The Different Labeling On Packages What Really Is Gluten Free

[learningmom]

This morning I thought I'd give my son Barbara's Puffin Honey Rice cereal because it says it's made with gluten free ingredients but then on the nutrition panel it mentions that it's also made on equipment with wheat, nuts, soy, etc. Some companies that I have called (Quaker and Popchips) have told me that they don't consider their foods gluten free because they are manufactured on equipment with foods that contain gluten even though the actual product doesn't contain gluten. So, can I safely give my son the Puffin Honey Rice cereal according to the way they worded the ingredients. There are so many foods that seem to be gluten free by the ingredient list but have the disclaimer that it was made on equipment or in a facility that manufactures wheat,nuts, etc. Do they not clean their equipment between making the gluten free stuff and the foods with gluten? I obviously wouldn't feed my son something that was put directly on equipment that just had wheat on it. Help me PLEASE.

THANK YOU to anyone that can help.

[RiceGuy]

Sometimes such foods can be safe, other times not. As they say; when in doubt, throw it out.

I've read posts stating reactions to gluten-free products made on shared equipment, and others report no reactions. It seems to depend on the person, the individual factory, and even from batch to batch.

I hope others whom have tried the cereal in question will be able to give you some idea what to expect. But if it doesn't state gluten-free, personally I'd probably not take the chance.

[lizard00]

The last time I bought puffins, they said wheat free. I got sick.

If it's processed and doesn't say gluten free, definitely check the label. Even if it says gluten free, but ESPECIALLY if it doesn't. Personally, I swore off Puffins. The ones I ate had oats/oat flour in them. I'm sure they were contaminated.

Sorry to rain on your day...

[tom]

Whoa . ..slow down . ..there are varieties of Puffins that are wheat-free but not gluten-free. (I believe 'malt flavoring' is in those)

The Honey Rice version IS gluten-free.

Almost everyone has to put that "in a facility" warning on the package.

As I've seen someone else explain, no matter how gluten-free my OWN kitchen is, if a kid walked through it w/ a Twix bar, I'd technically not be able to call my kitchen completely gluten-free.

So .. .

1) I've had Honey Rice Puffins w/ no problem

2) There are products which ppl have had trouble w/ tho the specific ingred are gluten-free - notably some Frito-Lay products and some of Amy's frozen entrees - or so I've heard.

P.S. I believe the equipment would always be cleaned to the best of their ability, but I suppose there's always a chance of human error or some stoned or hungover line worker not doing his/her job.

[tom]

Oops double post

[Juliet]

Also, talk to the manufacturer and find out how things actually are processed. For example, we don't use any of the corn flour, corn starch, or corn meal products from Bob's Red Mill (although we use lots of other products by them) since they grind them in the same mill and use the same equipment as the rest of their wheat products. It is for this reason also why unless it states "gluten free oats" that oats are not safe because they're grown and processed around so much wheat stuff - you just can't guarantee at all that it's clean enough when the particles get that small. But in other, particularly smaller factories, maybe they share ovens but have completely separate pans/mixers, etc. We've found that to be safe enough for our family. Trader Joe's is particularly careful with cleaning between runs and we've yet to have a problem. So, write or call the manufacturer's when you have a chance, and you may get a few coupons in the process of finding out that more things are actually OK.

[Christine E]

My son has eaten the Honey Rice version with no problems. Wheat free does not mean gluten free, and sometimes gluten free doesn't even mean gluten free. I've noticed a few products that state they are gluten free, but when you read the ingredients, they have malt, or oats, or another gluten-containing product. Not all companies fully understand the definition of gluten. Companies do have standards for cleaning their equipment between processing, but again, human error or negligence may CC.

[Rondar2001]

Our dietician recommended that we specifically look for the words gluten free on any products that are typically made with wheat, rye, or barley. So if we are buying cookies, cereals, crackers etc. I only buy them if they are marked as gluten free, this makes it a lot simpler in trying to figure out if an item is okay.