Glutened

[CMCM]

We ate out last night. After being assured it was gluten-free, I ordered chicken piccata, which came with some veggies and a small salad. An hour later I was all bloated and had horrible heartburn, felt horrible. I don't trust any restaurant any more. They'll tell you anything.

Then today I had an allergic reaction with hives. I don't think this has ever happened to this degree before. I had breakfast...eggs, bacon, green tea, a small cherry tomato. Previous to breakfast I had 4 Newman's organic prunes (nothing added to them, just prunes, and they're lovely). Anyhow, after the eggs etc. I felt my face burning, ears too, then arms and legs and chest. I was red as a beet and had hives! I can't imagine what caused this: I eat eggs every day. I've never had a tomato reaction before, although I don't eat a lot of tomatoes. I did read that you can react to fresh tomatoes, particularly the seeds and juice can be allergenic. But this has never happened before. Could it be the prunes? I've had them before, too, but I don't eat them often. Very weird...

[Patricia27]

WOW!!! Don't they realize they could kill someone by lying about their food? And, if they aren't sure, then they should have said that!!! It was probably in the sauce... maybe the thickening agent? I love chicken picatta but no longer eat it. I might have to splurge & make it from scratch again.

Don't give up all hope. I have found 2 restaurants in my town that were very attentive to my food allergies & went out of their way to prepare food for me. I was there as part of a group of people that were having a meeting. I was so grateful for their true compassion & genuine concern to make something for me that would not adversely affect me.

So, just write off that restaurant, (I would call them too to let them know what happened) & try somewhere else. Just be sure to stress to them how serious it is for you to not have any exposure to certain foods.

[lovegrov]

Ummm, every chicken piccata recipe I know of uses flour for dredging. This is not something I would have even considered eating at ANY restaurant. The restaurant employee who told you it was gluten-free might not have been lying but might have been one of those folks who doesn't think white flour has wheat.

richard

[GFinDC]

You need to be a bit cautious about what restaraunt servers tell you is gluten-free. I was at an IHOP pancakes house a while back and asked the waiter if they have any gluten-free pancakes. I figured not likely but maybe they would have the Van's Waffles or something. It took a little while for the young feller to get an answer from the kitchen but it was good news. "ALL" of their pancakes are gluten free! Yeah, right! They obviously had no clue what I was even asking them.

There is a program called GFRAP that certifies restarants for gluten-free food prep. It is a good place to look for restaraunts that are interested in doing gluten-free right.

[basslady]

Also just a warnig IHOP's eggs have flour in them. They use it to make them more fluffy.

[lovegrov]

Also just a warnig IHOP's eggs have flour in them. They use it to make them more fluffy.

IHOP's pre-packaged egg mix does have some pancake batter in it. You can, however, ask for fresh eggs.

richard