Gluten Free Grains Not So Gluten Free

[T.H.]

I know some really sensitive celiacs here have mentioned finding wheat in some of their gluten-free grains. Now a study released in June is bearing out their worries, big time:

Open Original Shared Link

The pertinent information, I thought, was this, said re: gluten testing of a number of flours and grains:

"...The worst offenders included soy flour, which had 2,925 parts per million of gluten, sorghum flour, which was contaminated with 234 parts per million of gluten, and two different brands of millet flour, which contained up to 327 parts per million of gluten. Millet whole grain, buckwheat flour and white rice flour also contained detectable levels of gluten..."

No brand names were listed in the study itself, and only about 22 different flours/grains were tested, overall. But argh, how frustrating! Makes me worry all over again.

Time to finally buy those home gluten test kits.

[sb2178]

I think this was posted up a while ago, but I have been wondering if my problems with sorghum flour are not the sorghum but rather contamination. Hard to know, and frustrating as I bought rather a lot of it. It also explains why some people react to processed gluten-free foods...

I have started washing whole grains a lot more carefully (millet, quinoa, rice, beans) but you can't wash flour. Sigh. I think it's probably a sign that I should just give up pancakes and cookies for a while.

[TaniaR]

I am one of those people who are VERY sensitive to gluten. My sisters and I can only test to 5 parts per million or less of gluten in food and finding flour is very very hard. Depending on what you want to make, Kinnikinnick seems to make me the least sick- with flours I've only used their pancake and cake mix ones but they do make me the least sick so if your looking for something I would recommend that brand and they're also pretty tasty

[dilettantesteph]

You can wash, dry, and grind your own flour. It isn't that hard. I started with an inexpensive coffee grinder and then moved to a more expensive flour mill.

[RiceGuy]

I have found that making my own buckwheat flour in a coffee grinder works fairly well, compared to most grains. The only brand of buckwheat flour which hasn't glutened me is from Open Original Shared Link. They have a facility dedicated to milling buckwheat, which they grow themselves. So no CC from transporting the grain.

All other flours I buy from Open Original Shared Link, and so far so good. Last I tried, I can't use their gluten-free buckwheat though.

I've gotten glutened by every bag of flour I've tried from Arrowhead Mills. Took a while to track down what was getting me too. It's really disappointing when you cannot trust a gluten-free claim on a package.

[T.H.]

Oh, do you have a good company that you get whole grains from? I can't use flour mixtures usually because I have problems with some non-gluten grains as well, but if you have some whole grains that were very safe for you, I would love to hear. Thank you for the info!

[T.H.]

What brands for whole grains have you found that have been good for you, in the gluten free sense? Have you had any trouble with the whole grains?

You can wash, dry, and grind your own flour. It isn't that hard. I started with an inexpensive coffee grinder and then moved to a more expensive flour mill.

[T.H.]

Oh thank you so much for the detailed information! I have been wondering about Arrowhead Mills flours' safety with my kids a couple times. I will definitely be checking out these farms. Very much appreciated.

Do you grind all your own flours? If you do, would you have any advice on what types of mills/coffee grinders work for what grains? I could use any advice you could give.

I have found that making my own buckwheat flour in a coffee grinder works fairly well, compared to most grains. The only brand of buckwheat flour which hasn't glutened me is from Open Original Shared Link. They have a facility dedicated to milling buckwheat, which they grow themselves. So no CC from transporting the grain.

All other flours I buy from Open Original Shared Link, and so far so good. Last I tried, I can't use their gluten-free buckwheat though.

I've gotten glutened by every bag of flour I've tried from Arrowhead Mills. Took a while to track down what was getting me too. It's really disappointing when you cannot trust a gluten-free claim on a package.

[BethM55]

Oh thank you so much for the detailed information! I have been wondering about Arrowhead Mills flours' safety with my kids a couple times. I will definitely be checking out these farms. Very much appreciated.

Do you grind all your own flours? If you do, would you have any advice on what types of mills/coffee grinders work for what grains? I could use any advice you could give.

I use my VitaMix to grind grains into flour. Easy, quick, efficient, and easy to clean. vitamix.com

[dilettantesteph]

I'm afraid that even the best sources of whole grains that I have found sometimes have gluten containing grains in them. I look through them and remove anything suspicious before my washing and drying procedure.

That being said, I suggest Twin Valley Mills for sorghum. They clean their harvester for 2 days before using it to harvest sorghum. I would still sort, though.

[tgp2312]

I have found that making my own buckwheat flour in a coffee grinder works fairly well, compared to most grains. The only brand of buckwheat flour which hasn't glutened me is from Open Original Shared Link. They have a facility dedicated to milling buckwheat, which they grow themselves. So no CC from transporting the grain.

All other flours I buy from Open Original Shared Link, and so far so good. Last I tried, I can't use their gluten-free buckwheat though.

I've gotten glutened by every bag of flour I've tried from Arrowhead Mills. Took a while to track down what was getting me too. It's really disappointing when you cannot trust a gluten-free claim on a package.

I am glad to have this confirmed at last; Arrowhead Mills buckwheat, which they claim is gluten free, made me the sickest I have ever been and the product tested positive for gluten on an EZGluten home test. Complaints to the company have so far gone unanswered. I have even complained about this company to the FDA.