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Utz Honey Bbq - Newly Labeled gluten-free - Not gluten-free

LLatham

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LLatham Apprentice
LLatham
Posted

Hi All

I'm a big fan of UTZ's Sour Cream and Onion and plain BBQ flavors and never have a problem with them.

I spotted a newly redesigned bag of UTZ's Honey BBQ chips that are no longer wavy and have the 'this is a gluten-free' statement on the back and was so happy. They were my pre-diagnosis favorite.

I ate one bag over 2 days and have now lost almost a whole week. I have not been this sick in at least 2 years. My diet is insanely strict and sadly bland, so there is no question these chips are not gluten-free.

I just called the company and they weren't helpful at all and were trying to tell me the honey BBQ flavor has been gluten-free since 2006...completely untrue, and it's scary to know more than the company does. The marketing director had no answers for why the website still calls them 'wavy' and lists them NOT gluten-free. Seriously get it together. Very sad :(

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Fiddle-Faddle Community Regular
Fiddle-Faddle
Posted

I'm sorry you're not feeling well. :(

I just checked the ingredients for the chips, and they do contain torula yeast and maltodextrin, neither of which are necessarily gluten, but both of which have caused reactions to several people on this board.

In the absence of any obvious sources of gluten in the product (though I would want to know whether the "natural flavors" contain barley, which they are NOT legally required to list :(), my conclusion would be that you might very well be sensitive to one or both of those ingredients in addition to gluten.

And unfortunately, your being sick does NOT make the presence of gluten in those chips an unquestionable fact. There are stomach viruses going around that last nearly a week; in addition, salmonella seems to plague various fresh (and obviously gluten-free) greens and and tomatoes.

There are all sorts of other possible causes for your gastro distress. For example, if you are drinking Rice Dream, that is NOT gluten-free.

But before you insist that this product has to contain gluten, first find out what those natural flavors are derived from. If they are not derived from a gluten-containing source, double-check your diet to see what other possibilities exist. And remember, bland does not equal gluten-free!

I hope you feel better soon.

ShayFL Enthusiast
ShayFL
Posted

Oh.....potato chips....I have forgotten what they even taste like.....I have not eaten potatoes in over 12 years....they gave me seizures......

But I found plantain chips!!! The garlic flavor are super yummy!!

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They are gluten free. I called to make sure even tho the package says so. I quizzed them. I do not react to them.

  • 3 weeks later...
LLatham Apprentice
LLatham
Posted
  • Author
I'm sorry you're not feeling well. :(

I just checked the ingredients for the chips, and they do contain torula yeast and maltodextrin, neither of which are necessarily gluten, but both of which have caused reactions to several people on this board.

In the absence of any obvious sources of gluten in the product (though I would want to know whether the "natural flavors" contain barley, which they are NOT legally required to list :(), my conclusion would be that you might very well be sensitive to one or both of those ingredients in addition to gluten.

And unfortunately, your being sick does NOT make the presence of gluten in those chips an unquestionable fact. There are stomach viruses going around that last nearly a week; in addition, salmonella seems to plague various fresh (and obviously gluten-free) greens and and tomatoes.

There are all sorts of other possible causes for your gastro distress. For example, if you are drinking Rice Dream, that is NOT gluten-free.

But before you insist that this product has to contain gluten, first find out what those natural flavors are derived from. If they are not derived from a gluten-containing source, double-check your diet to see what other possibilities exist. And remember, bland does not equal gluten-free!

I hope you feel better soon.

This was only posted here as a warning out of courtesy to anyone who sees those new bags to eat them with caution. And that Utz themselves have no information nor are they at all helpful. I did not have a stomach virus nor am I allergic to yeast. Nor do I drink rice dream, whatever that has to do with anything.

The fact is the bag is mislabeled.

I've been gluten-free for almost 3 years, know far too well how to be gluten-free, thank you.

jerseyangel Proficient
jerseyangel
Posted

I appreciate you posting the warning--I have no doubt it was the chips--I was glutened by a bag of their chips marked gluten-free a while back. The website said that they were made along the same lines as wheat, and when I emailed the company, I never received a response.

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