Cheeseless For A Reason?

[mandy-c]

so im kind of new to celiac disease, i was diagnosed with it about 4-5 months ago.

but im not new to not being able to eat cheese. i found out that i had to stay away from it because i would have severe issues afterwards and havent eaten it for about 4 years.

we could never figure out what my problem was, because im definetely NOT lactose intolerant.

and everytime i would tell someone i couldnt eat cheese theyd jump to that conclusion, and have to tell them "nope, its just cheese".

this past weekend, though, i was talking to some guy who happened to be a dairy farmer.

he told me that when the cheese is being made, they ADD GLUTEN/WHEAT into the milk to produce the cheese.

so hopefully im not the only freak whos been having problems like this, because they dont label it in the ingredients or as a fine print at the bottom saying that its processed with wheat.

anyone even a little sensitive to gluten should be really, really careful about cheese and cheese-like products, just in case.

i hope this can help anyone who has been having these problems as well.

[psawyer]

Welcome to the board, Mandy.

I think that your farmer was misinformed. Gluten (wheat or otherwise) is not added to the milk to make cheese.

In the US, under the FALCPA legislation, wheat would, by law, have to be clearly disclosed as just that: "Wheat." You don't see it on the label because it is not in the food.

If you are casein-intolerant, then you must avoid cheese. Some celiacs are also casein intolerant. That is different from lactose intolerance. Lactose is milk sugar, and most cheeses, especially hard cheeses, are lactose free because the fermentation process of making the cheese consumes the lactose. All of the casein (milk protein) remains.

Cheese is generally gluten-free. Cheeses with added flavoring may have gluten because it was in the flavor--not in the original cheese. Bleu cheese, and similar mold-ripened cheeses such as Roquefort are the subject of much debate. The mold culture could be started on wheat bread, but in most cases that is not so. Most such cheeses are gluten-free.

If you are casein intolerant, you will need to avoid all dairy products, including cheese. But that is a distinct, different condition from celiac disease (even though they often occur together).

[mandy-c]

thank you for the information, thats really helpful.

i dont have any problems with any other dairy products, just cheese.

could there be another reason for that?

im 15, but ive been having this problem since i was 7 and no doctors have been able to figure it out.

[psawyer]

Perhaps you are sensitive to Open Original Shared Link

Rennet is used in most cheeses to start the fermentation process. It is not typically found in foods other than cheese.

I'm just guessing here, but if it isn't casein, that is the other thing that is common to cheese.

[Salax]

Peter, your so wise! Everytime I read one of your posts, I learn something new.

Mandy, I would guess Peter might be on to something here.

Best of luck.

[lovegrov]

Your farmer is completely wrong.

richard

[lpellegr]

Since cheese generally has bacterial or fungal cultures added to the milk curds to create the unique flavor of whatever kind of cheese it is (cheddar, parmesan, bleu) you might be reacting to the microbes or one of their products. That would explain why you are sensitive to cheese, which is a fermentation product, and not to plain milk. Even though the microbes are probably long dead, their fermentation products would remain. Does anything else fermented bother you - yogurt, beer, wine? Some of the soft cheese are curdled with vinegar, which is another thing some people are sensitive to even though it has been distilled to remove gluten if it was made from wheat.

[lizard00]

Since cheese generally has bacterial or fungal cultures added to the milk curds to create the unique flavor of whatever kind of cheese it is (cheddar, parmesan, bleu) you might be reacting to the microbes or one of their products. That would explain why you are sensitive to cheese, which is a fermentation product, and not to plain milk. Even though the microbes are probably long dead, their fermentation products would remain. Does anything else fermented bother you - yogurt, beer, wine? Some of the soft cheese are curdled with vinegar, which is another thing some people are sensitive to even though it has been distilled to remove gluten if it was made from wheat.

I've started wondering this about myself recently. I can't eat most cheeses, either, but ice cream doesn't seem to bother me. I haven't had straight cow's milk in a loooong time, the last time I had it was close to a year ago and I remember it tasting funky. (Which I think was only because I hadn't had it in so long) Sour cream and yogurt also bother me, but I can eat bleu goat cheese, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I keep thinking I need to learn more about dairy products so I can figure out what exactly bothers me vs what doesn't.

This topic is pretty interesting, thanks to the OP!

[Suprmom]

You could be reaction to gluten. Gluten is not added to most cheeses, it would be on the ingredients, however call the company and ask about x-cont. DS is gluten allergic so we call on everything. We have only found 2 brands of cheese that have no x-cont. and more importantly that DS does not hive out too: Tillamook (from Oregon) and Keil select (from Wisconsin). If you still react to these at least you know it's something more than gluten. Stay away from Schulsberg (sp?), Crystal Lake, and Sargento. There are at least a half dozen more I've called on and got the negative for x-cont.

[psawyer]

x-cont

What is this?

[Suprmom]

Sorry, it's shorthand for cross-contamination.

[Mike12345]

Have you looked into Annatto food coloring which is added to many cheeses? You didn't mention if the problem was with all or some cheeses, how about mozzarella, ricotta, cottage cheese? You can search this web site or Google, plenty of info out there. Open Original Shared Link for starters. Also on the rennet allergy issue Open Original Shared Link There's much more. We seem to be heading toward a world where everyone now has at least a few allergies to foods.

so im kind of new to celiac disease, i was diagnosed with it about 4-5 months ago.

but im not new to not being able to eat cheese. i found out that i had to stay away from it because i would have severe issues afterwards and havent eaten it for about 4 years.

we could never figure out what my problem was, because im definetely NOT lactose intolerant.

and everytime i would tell someone i couldnt eat cheese theyd jump to that conclusion, and have to tell them "nope, its just cheese".

this past weekend, though, i was talking to some guy who happened to be a dairy farmer.

he told me that when the cheese is being made, they ADD GLUTEN/WHEAT into the milk to produce the cheese.

so hopefully im not the only freak whos been having problems like this, because they dont label it in the ingredients or as a fine print at the bottom saying that its processed with wheat.

anyone even a little sensitive to gluten should be really, really careful about cheese and cheese-like products, just in case.

i hope this can help anyone who has been having these problems as well.

[tom]

.. . . .. but I can eat bleu goat cheese, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Ahhhh but it CAN make sense if the issue is casein.

The casein molecule in goat's milk is considerably smaller than cow's milk casein, so for some of us w/ casein reactions (cow's milk), it's different enough to not cause problems.

[lizard00]

Ahhhh but it CAN make sense if the issue is casein.

The casein molecule in goat's milk is considerably smaller than cow's milk casein, so for some of us w/ casein reactions (cow's milk), it's different enough to not cause problems.

tom,

That was why I initially switched to goat products. I'm a little confused though because of being able to eat butter, ice cream, etc. (I'm willing to go with the idea that I'm ignoring anything caused by butter or ice cream, but they seriously don't seem to bother me ) But some cheeses just seem to do me in. Any thoughts on that?