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Can I Buy gluten-free Flour At The Asian Market ?

aseidman62

By aseidman62
in Coping with Celiac Disease

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aseidman62 Newbie
aseidman62
Posted

Can I buy gluten-free flour at the Asian markets ? Many Asian markets sell Rice Flour, Chickpea Flour and more at very good prices. It is mass produced and the ingredients are clear (Rice - Period, Chichpeas - period)). BUT.. the packeages do not explicitly say Gluten Free. They sometimes remain silent on the topic and sometime say "packaged in a facility that packages nuts and wheat products". Is this a real problem ? I look at the size of these bags of flour and can not imagine that the cross contamination is significant enough to cause me harm.. but....

Please advise.

Allen

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Skylark Collaborator
Skylark
Posted

Funny, I was just talking to a friend about this. I personally prefer to buy from a supplier like Bob's Red Mill who actively tests for gluten in all their products. I know it costs a lot more but I think it's worth it to keep gluten out of my diet as carefully as possible.

Asian food is particularly scary to me after all the issues in the food supply chain in China. If people are actively putting things that are dangerous in their food (melamine) how would they possibly be taking care for something as minor as wheat CC?

lilbit Apprentice
lilbit
Posted

I buy rice flour from the asian grocery store... I haven't had a problem yet. Funny enough I went into an Asian grocery store near Boston over the weekend and they had "gluten free" labels on some of the shelves. I totally cracked up. I got buckwheat soba noodles there for a fraction of the cost as well.

and the rice noodles... again fraction of the cost. My system is pretty sensitive, but so far so good.

aseidman62 Newbie
aseidman62
Posted
  • Author

Funny, I was just talking to a friend about this. I personally prefer to buy from a supplier like Bob's Red Mill who actively tests for gluten in all their products. I know it costs a lot more but I think it's worth it to keep gluten out of my diet as carefully as possible.

Asian food is particularly scary to me after all the issues in the food supply chain in China. If people are actively putting things that are dangerous in their food (melamine) how would they possibly be taking care for something as minor as wheat CC?

The price difference is enormous - like 4 to 1. So I am really tempted. I may stay with CGF for a while and then try these products and see if I get a reaction. The flours I am looking at are typically in Indian stores and produced in India, not China. Not sure if that makes a difference or not, but .. we will see :)

aseidman62 Newbie
aseidman62
Posted
  • Author

I buy rice flour from the asian grocery store... I haven't had a problem yet. Funny enough I went into an Asian grocery store near Boston over the weekend and they had "gluten free" labels on some of the shelves. I totally cracked up. I got buckwheat soba noodles there for a fraction of the cost as well.

and the rice noodles... again fraction of the cost. My system is pretty sensitive, but so far so good.

Thanks... I think I will wait until I clear up (DH no intestinal issues) and then try and see if I react. that way I have a reference point.

Thanks again,

Allen

GlutenFreeManna Rising Star
GlutenFreeManna
Posted

All of the products I have in my pantry from the Asian food store came from Thailand, none from China. I eat the rice paper wrappers and rice noodles and bean thread noodles frequently (several times a week). I have only used the rice flour a couple times. So far no reactions and I am very sensitive to CC. I HAVE reacted however to Bob's Red Mill products that are supposed to be certified gluten free. So I trust the Asian products more than Bob. My take is that it may be safe CC-wise than an American or European company that also makes wheat products. Asian companies are less likely to produce wheat flour on the same lines as rice flour. Also, those packages of gluten free flour are often stocked in my regular grocery stores right next to bags of regular flour. Even if the gluten-free flour is sealed in plastic, there could be a coating of flour on the outside of the bag. I picked up a box of King Arthurs gluten-free Flour that was sitting right in between sacks of regular flour. One of the regular flours tipped over on the shelf and flour dust went everywhere. I held my breath and ran, then I promptly put the gluten-free flour back on the shelf and went ot wash my hands. My point is, I never see bags of regular flour at the Asian market I go to. The rice flour is there by itself on the shelf. So less chance of CC on the shelves, IMO. This is just my opinion, however. I haven't done any research to back this up. I will trust the Asian stuff as long as I don't have a reaction. And besides, the Asian market has cheaper produce as well. ;)

Monklady123 Collaborator
Monklady123
Posted

I agree with Glutenfreemama.... I buy at the Asian store, and it's not Chinese. I buy from a Thai store, and from an Indian one. (I love living in this area....lots of ethnic stores and restaurants). The price is a HUGE deal for me. And the variety. I remember the first time I went into the Thai store looking for rice noodles for pad thai (this was before I was diagnosed). The guy asked if he could help me and I said "yes please, I need some rice noodles" -- thinking to myself "rice noodles" simply because in my regular grocery store there is only one kind of "rice noodle". He said "oh, we have many noodles, what are you cooking?" When I said pad thai he led me to the rice noodle section and said I wanted *that* one not *this* or *this*. lol.. same as how we have linguini vs. spaghetti noodles. Personally I don't care if I eat spaghetti sauce on linguini noodles, but in the world of Thai cooking apparently one must NOT use the wrong noodles. lol..

I love shopping in these markets.

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Skylark Collaborator
Skylark
Posted

I got some dduk at a local Korean market and it had an odd fishy flavor. The only ingredients were water and rice flour. Has anyone else run across this? I do buy bean thread there and they have an entire aisle of different rices. The veggies there are cheap and good too. I love baby bok choi.

missy'smom Collaborator
missy'smom
Posted

You have to watch with the buckwheat soba noodles-make sure they're 100% buckwheat and not dusted with wheat flour to prevent sticking. I order my as a specialty item online.

Each Asian country is very unique so we have to be careful not to assume that the problems with Chinese products carry over into products from other Asian countries.

I buy my rice flour and tapioca flours/starches that are Vietnamese and a potato starch that is Korean and sweet rice flours that are Japanese all at a Korean market.

mamaw Community Regular
mamaw
Posted

Asian flours are okay but flours from China may contain lead. After using rice flour from Asian sources , I found my lead levels were much higher than they ever were before using rice flour.... So now I stick with flour I know are tested . It hurts my pocket but health is what counts in the end. Without good health , cash does not do us any good because we are to ill to enjoy it!!!!!

Products from Thailand are said to be fine....but again I stopped using all .

blessings

mamaw

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