Does Anyone Eat Honeycom Cereal?

[krisb]

The cereal looks gluten free but I see it has oats and is made on the same lines as gluten. Does anyone else react to this?

[Lisa]

The cereal looks gluten free but I see it has oats and is made on the same lines as gluten. Does anyone else react to this?

My bet it that it's not gluten free. Can you post the ingredients?

[krisb]

The only questionable ingredients are the oat flour and the warning that it is made on the same lines as wheat. Otherwise it looked fine. i threw the box away but I still have a box of the chocolate honeycomb. My kids seem fine with it, I'm the only one that broke out with the rash and belly problems.

[elonwy]

Oats grown in the US are subject to massive amounts of cross-contamination. They are grown in crop-rotation fields with gluten grains, shipped on the same trucks, milled in the same mills. Not to mention the shared lines issue. Honeycomb is not considered gluten free.

I don't eat any oats that aren't certified gluten free.

[Lisa]

I have not heard of Honeycombs discussed as gluten free in the many years I've been here. Nor have I heard of any support organizations declaring them gluten free. There is a hopeful chance that they have had a change in formulation and they are now gluten free. (we're talking the cereal, right?)

Let's hope.

[elonwy]

They don't have Barley anymore, but they have "whole grain oats" and are made on shared lines with wheat.

That, to me, is not gluten free.

[Mom23boys]

According the the Kraft website, these are the ingredients (bold is mine)...

Ingredients: WHOLE GRAIN CORN FLOUR, SUGAR, CORN FLOUR, WHOLE GRAIN OAT FLOUR, HONEY, SALT, YELLOW 5. BHT ADDED TO PACKAGING MATERIAL TO PRESERVE PRODUCT FRESHNESS. VITAMINS AND MINERALS: NIACINAMIDE, REDUCED IRON, ZINC OXIDE (SOURCE OF ZINC), VITAMIN B6, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2) THIAMIN MONONITRATE (VITAMIN B1), FOLIC ACID, VITAMIN B12, VITAMIN D. MANUFACTURED ON EQUIPMENT THAT PROCESSES WHEAT.

[darlindeb25]

Also, there are many celiac's who can not tolerate oats. I can't eat oats, never could.

[Fiddle-Faddle]

They don't have Barley anymore, but they have "whole grain oats" and are made on shared lines with wheat.

That, to me, is not gluten free.

There are a couple of articles on celiac.com quoting studies that say that for many celiacs, oats do NOT produce any measurable reaction. (My immediate question would be to find out if those studies were funded by the oat industry or by the pharm industry, but if they are truly independent studies, then I could believe the results.)

As for the shared lines, that to me would depend on the manufacturer, and on what their policy is for cleaning the lines, etc. It could be a CYA thing, or it could be a real problem.

I've eaten oatmeal occasionally since reading the articles here on celiac.com, but am not a good one to ask, as my reactions are not obvious.

[home-based-mom]

I have a little packet of Great Value instant oatmeal more mornings than not, and am OK with it.

I think eating anything with oats is one of those things that has to be determined on an individual basis. Some people can eat oats without problems, and some cannot. It may even come down to some oat products will work for you, and some won't.

[krisb]

Is it possible that some people can tolerate oats because they can tolerate a different level of gluten? If the oats are slightly contaminated mabey some people don't feel it but others do. I seemed to react to the honeycomb but my kids are fine with it.

[babysteps]

In my case, I do react to oats *unless* they are certified gluten-free, those I am fine with.

If the label doesn't say "gluten-free oats" then I'm not eating the oats.

[elonwy]

Exactly. I eat gluten-free oats and don't react at all, but mainstream oats and oat products send me running to the bathroom, and I react to the slightest bit of CC. If you're willing to deal with CC, thats fine, but for those who want to be 100% gluten-free, I don't think this cereal falls into that category.

[jparsick84]

I'm ok with oats - the problem here is the fact that they share lines with wheat. Anything that is said up-front to share lines with wheat I ALWAYS have a bad reaction.

One way you can test if it's the oats is to get the Rob's Red Mill Gluten-Free oats. They have been harvested and made in a dedicated factory, and I ate an entire bowl the other day and was totally fine. Rob's Red Mill is really good about making gluten-free stuff truly gluten-free, and the labels are clear on what is gluten-free and what isn't.

Fruity Pebbles has been ok with me, as well as Cocoa Pebbles, so if you're looking for a good sweet cereal, you could try those too.

Good luck!