Gluten In Beef?

[piglips82]

This may be a silly question, but I was wondering if we need to watch out for gluten in meat. If the animal eats gluten will it get in the meat?

[psawyer]

No, meat is gluten-free regardless of what was fed to the animal.

[conniebky]

No, meat if gluten-free regardless of what was fed to the animal.

I was wondering this myself, cuz a friend of my mom's was recently told that she's allergic to beef. I'd never heard of that before. I had wondered if it was gluten from the cows eating grains, but I guess not!

[jerseyangel]

I was wondering this myself, cuz a friend of my mom's was recently told that she's allergic to beef. I'd never heard of that before. I had wondered if it was gluten from the cows eating grains, but I guess not!

It's most likely the protein in the beef she's allergic to.

[Ahorsesoul]

I have found I get gluten symptoms when I eat pork. Remember each individual can react differently.

Do check your meat to see if there are additives. Some meat is injected with water, broth or marinated. I am allergic to papaya. It is in meat tenderizer so I have to watch all meat carefully. I never realized how many additives are in regular plain ole meat. I do not buy meat from Wal-Mart because of this issue.

[Skylark]

I'm always trying not to make people paranoid, but there have been a few recent FDA recalls of frozen beef and turkey patties for undeclared wheat. It seems that sometimes manufacturers will deceptively add grain fillers to ground meats. If you're buying ground meats at a butcher section it should be fine. Whole meats are perfectly fine.

The one thing to watch out for are glazing on hams and gravy packets that come with turkeys. Honey Baked Ham has reformulated to be gluten-free now. Yay!

[jerseyangel]

You could definitely react to what is added to meats, or even from cross contamination in a butcher case that also features things like crab cakes or breaded cutlets.

I was speaking about the person (Connie) who's friend was allergic to beef--I assumed that she had a true allergy and wasn't a Celiac/GI. Could have been wrong about that though.

[kayo]

I can't tolerate beef now and then and wondered if it was related to my lactose intolerance or casseine. I'm borderline for casseine intolerance. It seems that it takes me a really long time to digest it so I only have it once in a while. When I was younger I could not eat it at all. I had such an aversion to it. I was always forced to eat it because the iron was supposed to be good for the RA but recent studies show that beef has qualities than can actually exacerbate RA symptoms. Here's one article. Open Original Shared Link

Since making my diet changes, keeping a diary and really paying attention to what I eat and how my body responds I'm finding that foods that I have an inexplicable aversion to actually give me some subtle reactions, whether they be gi or sinus distress.

[jackay]

I had food intolerance tests done and it showed that I was severely intolerant to beef and moderately intolerant to venison. I gave up beef about four months ago and normally don't eat venison. My husband had venison polish sausage made which smelled so good. I finally broke down and ate one. Not only was I disappointed in how it tasted but I got a severe headache. I figured there was either gluten or MSG in it. I called the meat market that processed it and talked to a very informative employee. They add no ingredients that contain gluten nor do they add MSG to any of their products.

The employee said their is sodium nitrate in the cure, so I could have reacted to that. Otherwise, he said I could have reacted to what the deer had eaten. I never gave it a thought that the deer could have eaten wheat, oats, rye or barley from the fields it was roaming. Since my husband's hunting party butchered the deer themselves, it could easily be they contaminated the meat in the process.

So now I don't know if I am intolerant to venison, if the sausage was gluten contaminated or if I react to sodium nitrate. All I know is that the sausage I ate smelled so much better than it tasted so I'm not missing out on anything.

[jackay]

I forgot to mention in my post about venison, that I can't eat the organic chicken grown and butchered at my brother and sister-in-laws. I don't know if it is the feed that contaminates the birds as they are butchering them or if it is that all the utensils, cutting boards, bowls, etc. are gluten contaminated or if there are just so many wheat particles floating around in their house when we go there. My SIL bakes three kinds of pies, bread, coffee cakes, caramel rolls, cookies and bars before we get there to feed the crew that comes to help. Don't know if I'll be going this year. I never helped with the butchering but watched their little girls while the others worked with the chickens.

My husband enjoys butchering the chickens so will continue to help and eat their chicken, while I cook my own that I purchase in the grocery store. So far I haven't gotten sick from store bought chicken. I think the butchering and cleaning done in a processing plant does a better job so cc isn't an issue.

[lovegrov]

I agree with what others have already said. People with celiac do not need to worry about what animals have eaten. This is the consensus of every single celiac and livestock expert I've heard speak on the matter. In addition, I've NEVER seen a "don't eat" list that warns celiacs to avoid the meat of animals that have been fed wheat. If this were truly a danger, it would be on the lists.

richard

[piglips82]

Thanks so much!! This is why I love this site!

[Ahorsesoul]

At one time if someone told people not to eat gluten they were laughed at too.

[jackay]

I agree with what others have already said. People with celiac do not need to worry about what animals have eaten. This is the consensus of every single celiac and livestock expert I've heard speak on the matter. In addition, I've NEVER seen a "don't eat" list that warns celiacs to avoid the meat of animals that have been fed wheat. If this were truly a danger, it would be on the lists.

richard

I react to home butchered meat because of cc issues. The stomach contacts can get on the meat itself or the knives, cutting boards, etc. are possibly gluten contaminated. I've gotten sick from home butchered chicken and haven't from store bought chicken.

Someone commented a while back that she found a piece of wheat in a container of chicken livers that were purchased in a grocery store. I am leary of buying any meat that is packaged in the meat department of a grocery store. I just shudder looking in the display cases and seeing items that have been rolled in bread crumbs. I told myself I would never buy anything there but gave in last week and bought some fresh scallops. I rinsed them real well before cooking just to be safe.

[MagpieWrites]

This may be a silly question, but I was wondering if we need to watch out for gluten in meat. If the animal eats gluten will it get in the meat?

If it is at all possible for you, can I recommend seeking out a good local butcher? Since being diagnosed a year ago with celiac, I have found that eating prepackaged meat from the grocery store can be a risking thing for me. I'm really blessed in that I found an amazing local farmer/butcher who not only raises all their meats (grass-fed too!) but takes really great care that their products are safe for celiacs. Nothing treated without declaring it right on the label (and the marinated and seasoned meats are VERY well labeled.) I never have to worry about cross contamination, wonder what I'm really eating, or even what the critter in question was eating! For most celiacs and folks with gluten intolerance, I don't think it's the actual meat that is the problem (or what the meat ate before it was... well, meat) but instead sloppy handling by factories and weird solutions and marinades the meat might be exposed to.

It's a little bit more $$ for some things (but not all, and not always. If you are able to just shop the sales and make use of the bulk discounts it can actually work out to cheaper) but the quality and care are really worth it, at least for me.

Heck... I've even thinking about buying one of the t-shirts they sell "Friends don't let friends eat grocery store meat!"

[Skylark]

Grocery store meat is risky, but may have nothing to do with gluten! There are nasty bacteria floating around the big slaughterhouses these days. I don't know about everyone else, but I get the same stomach trouble from mild food poisoning as from gluten exposure. I handle grocery store meats carefully, wash everything that touches them with soap and the hottest water I can stand, and then use an alcohol gel on my hands. Then I cook them thoroughly. I won't eat rare steaks or lamb unless it's from a good butcher.

[mushroom]

Put me firmly in the organic, grass-fed beef camp. Eating regular beef gives me the same symptoms as eating the lectin-containing foods like nightshades, corn, soy, legumes, so I can only make the assumption that the cows are not properly digesting the grains, have leaky guts, and that the lectins are getting into the beef. Now I know this assumption will send Richard through the ceiling, but nobody is doing any research on this issue to prove it isn't happening.

[Ahorsesoul]

So true!!!!!

[Skylark]

Put me firmly in the organic, grass-fed beef camp. Eating regular beef gives me the same symptoms as eating the lectin-containing foods like nightshades, corn, soy, legumes, so I can only make the assumption that the cows are not properly digesting the grains, have leaky guts, and that the lectins are getting into the beef. Now I know this assumption will send Richard through the ceiling, but nobody is doing any research on this issue to prove it isn't happening.

You know, antibiotics are not lectins but they're nasty things. I wonder how much makes it into the meat.

[mushroom]

You know, antibiotics are not lectins but they're nasty things. I wonder how much makes it into the meat.

Well, I considered that too, plus the hormones, but they put those in chickens too and I don't have problems with them. But I'm sure those other things make it into the meat too.