Cross Contamination In Other Grains

[thleensd]

I am REALLY careful about what I eat because I'm super sensitive. I'm not getting better as fast as I'd hoped (numbers are fine though), so of course, I'm reading up on a bunch of stuff. Side note: I don't have any allergies, though it seems that I'm not currently able to tolerate corn in any form (gives me an aching gut & constipation). So I'm off corn.

If you are tempted to say, "but I eat these all the time and I'm fine", I'm happy for ya, but I'm looking for some info on the other side.

There's an old study (2003) that said that other grains - and not just oats - were at times cross contaminated. Sometimes up to 200 ppm. In defense of grains, it also says "In most cases the level of contamination was low and probably not harmful". Which is sort of good....except I'm not loving the words "most" and "probably" these days.

read me: Open Original Shared Link

SO....what does one do? Brands like Lundberg seem pretty aware - do they test their rice? I also looked up Ancient Harvest quinoa, and they seem very safe...except I've yet to develop a taste for quinoa.

Do brands that mark their products "gluten free" have to test? I don't think they do... unless they're certified by GFCO or another certification system.

Have you heard of any more studies like this one? Know any good brands?

I'm ready to take my life back...still too weak for a full time job. Do I try grain free? Just go with trusted brands? I'm trying to gain weight, and a lot of that comes from rices or gluten-free flour mixtures (rice/tapioca/potato).

Thanks for your support

[celiac-mommy]

We buy all different kinds of grains and dried legumes and have never had a problem. The only "certified gluten-free" grains I buy are the Bob's Redmill gluten-free oats. We've never had a problem and my dd is obscenely sensitive-within 10-15 minutes of eating something and she's violently ill for 2 days. I've bought everything from Kroger and Safeway brands to lately, more organic, local grains. Bob's Redmill is about 15 minutes from my home, so that works well for me. I buy my organic quinoa from Costco and I often use it in place of rice in dishes from enchiladas to soups and stews. I don't like it by itself either, but it's easily transformable.

[Jestgar]

It's actually 200 mg/kg. They tested 22 products (excluding oat tests) and found 59% had less than 20 mg/kg (13/22), and 3/22 had > 200 mg/kg. 2 of these were corn products and one buckwheat. It does not tell you which products they tested, but they do say that contamination trended up with increased processing. Also, as you pointed out, this was done 7 years ago, in Sweden.

[dilettantesteph]

I am very sensitive to trace gluten. To eat grains, I buy then whole and then go through them grain by grain. I bought my millet from a millet only facility. They said that there wasn't any wheat grown within 100 miles and no chance for contamination. In the 25 lb bag, I found roughly 50 grains that looked like wheat. When questioned they said that they do use shared harvesting equipments. I get my sorghum from a place that cleans their harvesting equipment for two days before harvesting the sorghum. Then the first bit goes to non gluten free sources. My first 30 lb bucket had one piece of corn. My second had two pieces of what looks like wheat.

After sorting the grains and removing anything that doesn't belong, I triple wash it with soap, rinse well, dry and grind.

I don't think that the contamination that I found is enough to bother the majority of celiacs, but it is enough to bother me.

[thleensd]

ppm is mg/kg:

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[thleensd]

I am very sensitive to trace gluten. To eat grains, I buy then whole and then go through them grain by grain. I bought my millet from a millet only facility. They said that there wasn't any wheat grown within 100 miles and no chance for contamination. In the 25 lb bag, I found roughly 50 grains that looked like wheat. When questioned they said that they do use shared harvesting equipments. I get my sorghum from a place that cleans their harvesting equipment for two days before harvesting the sorghum. Then the first bit goes to non gluten free sources. My first 30 lb bucket had one piece of corn. My second had two pieces of what looks like wheat.

After sorting the grains and removing anything that doesn't belong, I triple wash it with soap, rinse well, dry and grind.

I don't think that the contamination that I found is enough to bother the majority of celiacs, but it is enough to bother me.

WOW! How long does that take??

[weluvgators]

WOW! How long does that take??

We do something similar, visual inspection with a three wash procedure - we just do not use soap. I think soap would make the wash procedure more effective, but I just cannot do it . . . yet. And I am trying to improve our visual inspection process. It is just part of our routine now, and my kids are loving the pancakes, cookies and cakes!! We had to drop all grains except our rice as we were figuring out our grain cross contamination issues. It was all so confusing. It still is confusing at times. But to quantify how long it takes . . . it will depend on each individual's circumstances. I process our grains like that for a family of five, including any special functions (like school events). And I bought some special equipment to help. It is just a different approach to food consumption, and it seems to take far less time than recovering from constant gluten exposures did! And we have been able to eat so many fun and exciting things without suffering - what a joy!! But our wash procedures are not effective on gross contamination of grains. I failed to be able to fully clean contaminated millet and buckwheat, so we are still limited by access to carefully sourced grains (including harvest, transport and packaging procedures). We also use this process for our nuts and beans. And I feel like I am *always* behind on production! But we are having fun with it all, so that part is good.

Here is a recent study addressing this issue, validating what a concern this is for some!

J Am Diet Assoc. 2010 Jun;110(6):937-940.

Gluten Contamination of Grains, Seeds, and Flours in the United States: A Pilot Study.

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Nine of 22 (41%) samples contained more than the limit of quantification, with mean gluten levels ranging from 8.5 to 2,925.0 ppm. Seven of 22 samples (32%) contained mean gluten levels >/=20 ppm and would not be considered gluten-free under the proposed FDA rule for gluten-free labeling. Gluten contamination of inherently gluten-free grains, seeds, and flours not labeled gluten-free is a legitimate concern.

I would love to find the whole article, but I don't know where to find it. I bet it has some excellent information. Does anyone have access to more specifics on this study?

[Jestgar]

You could try subscribing to Open Original Shared Linksite

[dilettantesteph]

WOW! How long does that take??

About 20 minutes a day. Like stated above, it is a lot less time than I spent being sick before. I do enjoy my bread, cookies and pancakes.

[thleensd]

We do something similar, visual inspection with a three wash procedure - we just do not use soap. I think soap would make the wash procedure more effective, but I just cannot do it . . . yet. And I am trying to improve our visual inspection process. It is just part of our routine now, and my kids are loving the pancakes, cookies and cakes!! We had to drop all grains except our rice as we were figuring out our grain cross contamination issues. It was all so confusing. It still is confusing at times. But to quantify how long it takes . . . it will depend on each individual's circumstances. I process our grains like that for a family of five, including any special functions (like school events). And I bought some special equipment to help. It is just a different approach to food consumption, and it seems to take far less time than recovering from constant gluten exposures did! And we have been able to eat so many fun and exciting things without suffering - what a joy!! But our wash procedures are not effective on gross contamination of grains. I failed to be able to fully clean contaminated millet and buckwheat, so we are still limited by access to carefully sourced grains (including harvest, transport and packaging procedures). We also use this process for our nuts and beans. And I feel like I am *always* behind on production! But we are having fun with it all, so that part is good.

Here is a recent study addressing this issue, validating what a concern this is for some!

J Am Diet Assoc. 2010 Jun;110(6):937-940.

Gluten Contamination of Grains, Seeds, and Flours in the United States: A Pilot Study.

Open Original Shared Link

Thanks for sending this other study. It's very helpful.

I would love to find the whole article, but I don't know where to find it. I bet it has some excellent information. Does anyone have access to more specifics on this study?

[weluvgators]

Yeah! I found a more elaborate summary of the article by one of the authors, Tricia Thompson, here:

Living Gluten-Free

by Tricia Thompson, MS, RD, The Gluten-Free Dietitian

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Contamination of Naturally Gluten-Free Grains

posted @5:00am ET on June 1, 2010

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There is some great information there! I think . . . that didn't come out quite right. It is actually quite distressing information.