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Does Anyone Know Why Tamales Would Make Me Sick?


crampy girl

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crampy girl Apprentice

Ok, I have been really careful and good about being gluten and caisin free, but at 1pm I ate 5 corn tamales ( home made by my maid) and at 3 I started having nausea followed by cramps and diarrhea. She said she did use butter after I called to ask her ingredients, but it's hard to believe I would get such an extreme reaction. I also have gotten sick from corn dogs before. What is going on!? I thought I was done with these episodes!


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kareng Grand Master

Ok, I have been really careful and good about being gluten and caisin free, but at 1pm I ate 5 corn tamales ( home made by my maid) and at 3 I started having nausea followed by cramps and diarrhea. She said she did use butter after I called to ask her ingredients, but it's hard to believe I would get such an extreme reaction. I also have gotten sick from corn dogs before. What is going on!? I thought I was done with these episodes!

First, most corn dog coating is part wheat flour part corn meal.

What did she put in the tamales? You need to see the ingredients. Is she making them in a pan or cutting board or colander, etc that had had wheat things before? If she made them at her house, there might be cc from her kitchen. Could be something else isn't agreeing with you. Don't know what the reaction is, but could it be food poisoning?

Soooo frustrating! They were probably really tasty, too. :)

crampy girl Apprentice

First, most corn dog coating is part wheat flour part corn meal.

What did she put in the tamales? You need to see the ingredients. Is she making them in a pan or cutting board or colander, etc that had had wheat things before? If she made them at her house, there might be cc from her kitchen. Could be something else isn't agreeing with you. Don't know what the reaction is, but could it be food poisoning?

Soooo frustrating! They were probably really tasty, too. :)

Thanks for your quick reply, I am in the potty right now w cramps. I feel kinda shaky too. I have tolerated sm amounts of accidental glutenning. I'm wondering if it's corn?I can't believe it would be the butter. This feels familiar so I'm not convinced food poisoning, maybe I'll test it out on my hubby when he gets home. So frustrated. I'm trying to work too!

Crampy girl

kareng Grand Master

Thanks for your quick reply, I am in the potty right now w cramps. I feel kinda shaky too. I have tolerated sm amounts of accidental glutenning. I'm wondering if it's corn?I can't believe it would be the butter. This feels familiar so I'm not convinced food poisoning, maybe I'll test it out on my hubby when he gets home. So frustrated. I'm trying to work too!

Crampy girl

I'm picturing you in the bathroom with a computer. :ph34r:

Food poisoning can be cramps and diarrhea. Its also possible with food poisoning that you got lucky and got the part with the bad bacteria.

I think you should find out what exactly she put in them and possible cc issues. Feel better, soon!

jststric Contributor

besides the cc issue and the obvious need to know the ingredients, I have discovered that as time has gone by, accidental ingestion of foods that bother me tends to bother me more and more each time. Just another thought. I think when you feel better, having a serious one-on-one with the maid about your cooking needs is in order!

Marilyn R Community Regular

I'm pretty sure that gastro responses to actual food poisoning (botulism, etc.) occur about 8 hours after you consume the offensive food. Have you been ok with regular corn and other derivatives? (Like cornstarch?)

crampy girl Apprentice

besides the cc issue and the obvious need to know the ingredients, I have discovered that as time has gone by, accidental ingestion of foods that bother me tends to bother me more and more each time. Just another thought. I think when you feel better, having a serious one-on-one with the maid about your cooking needs is in order!

Ingrdients were chicken,Mesa corn flour,lots of butter,potatoes,carrots. I have eaten corn before w/ o a severe reaction like this one. I'm feeling better now, about to eat some thai kitchen noodle soup. I'm thinking it can't be food poisoning, even brucilosis and staph aureus take four hours to set in, and it was one hour,lasted 3 hours and is gone now. Maybe your right, when you eliminate a food and later accidentally consume it ( many the butter since I have a caisen Iga level of 30 on enterolab test) maybe the reaction is more severe?? I haven't had dairy in 3 weeks now. All my tummy symptoms completely gone with both gluten and dairy elimination. I thought it seemed crazy when I first read that reactions get more severe with time. My hubby won't try them,so I won't have a "control" subject.


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crampy girl Apprentice

I'm pretty sure that gastro responses to actual food poisoning (botulism, etc.) occur about 8 hours after you consume the offensive food. Have you been ok with regular corn and other derivatives? (Like cornstarch?)

You may be right. Prob not food poisoning. She delivered several hundred tamales and no one reported getting sick to her. Think I'm ok with corn starch, and corn.

crampy girl Apprentice

I'm picturing you in the bathroom with a computer. :ph34r:

Food poisoning can be cramps and diarrhea. Its also possible with food poisoning that you got lucky and got the part with the bad bacteria.

I think you should find out what exactly she put in them and possible cc issues. Feel better, soon!

I take my iPad everywhere I go......:-) :). Except the shower. But I can't bring my work computer in there, maybe I should get a potty put in my office so I can keep working when I get the poops!

kareng Grand Master

I take my iPad everywhere I go......:-) :). Except the shower. But I can't bring my work computer in there, maybe I should get a potty put in my office so I can keep working when I get the poops!

I have made a decision not to take Maxi, the iPad, into the bathroom. :ph34r:

Seriuosly, I wonder about cc on those tamales.

crampy girl Apprentice

I have made a decision not to take Maxi, the iPad, into the bathroom. :ph34r:

Seriuosly, I wonder about cc on those tamales.

What is c?

kareng Grand Master

What is c?

Cc cross contaimination. If she fried or cooked something with flour in the cast iron skillet then, cooked something gluten-free. The little particles left, even in a clean skillet, can get you. Or if she drained the chiles in the colander she had used before for regular pasta. Little bits of pasta can get stuck in the holes.

GlutenFreeManna Rising Star

Ingrdients were chicken,Mesa corn flour,lots of butter,potatoes,carrots. I have eaten corn before w/ o a severe reaction like this one. I'm feeling better now, about to eat some thai kitchen noodle soup. I'm thinking it can't be food poisoning, even brucilosis and staph aureus take four hours to set in, and it was one hour,lasted 3 hours and is gone now. Maybe your right, when you eliminate a food and later accidentally consume it ( many the butter since I have a caisen Iga level of 30 on enterolab test) maybe the reaction is more severe?? I haven't had dairy in 3 weeks now. All my tummy symptoms completely gone with both gluten and dairy elimination. I thought it seemed crazy when I first read that reactions get more severe with time. My hubby won't try them,so I won't have a "control" subject.

Not all Masa corn flour is 100% corn flour. Some brands are mixes of corn and wheat. And even if the only ingredients listed are corn, then it could have been processed on the same equipment as wheat flour. I had a bad reaction to a bag of masa flour that was just corn. When I contacted the company I found out it was processed on the same lines as wheat flour.

crampy girl Apprentice

Not all Masa corn flour is 100% corn flour. Some brands are mixes of corn and wheat. And even if the only ingredients listed are corn, then it could have been processed on the same equipment as wheat flour. I had a bad reaction to a bag of masa flour that was just corn. When I contacted the company I found out it was processed on the same lines as wheat flour.

Pretty sure it's not wheat, I have tolerated test of piece of bread a mo ago. Maybe it was food poisoning?? I got nauseated 30 min after I ate them.

kareng Grand Master

Pretty sure it's not wheat, I have tolerated test of piece of bread a mo ago. Maybe it was food poisoning?? I got nauseated 30 min after I ate them.

I think we all thought you had Celiac or gluten intolerance. Not sure what to tell you. Could be any of the ingredients or none (virus, food poisoning, other food or medication).

GlutenFreeManna Rising Star

Pretty sure it's not wheat, I have tolerated test of piece of bread a mo ago. Maybe it was food poisoning?? I got nauseated 30 min after I ate them.

Sorry, I'm not sure I understand. In your first post you said you have been really careful to be gluten free. Did you eat the bread before you started trying to be gluten free? I didn't have bad stomach-related reactions to regular bread before I went gluten free either. I became much more sensitive to gluten (AKA wheat, rye, barley) after I was 100% gluten free for a while. Now if I have even a little bit I get symptoms similar to food poisioning. Maybe that is what's going on with you?

crampy girl Apprentice

I think we all thought you had Celiac or gluten intolerance. Not sure what to tell you. Could be any of the ingredients or none (virus, food poisoning, other food or medication).

I do have gluten intol, proven by daily cramps and diarrhea remission after I stopped consuming gluten. And even better w/o dairy. I did the enterolab and it came back pos for gluten and dairy IgA elev and I have the celiac and the gluten gene. Along w some mild fat malabsorption. But perhaps it was the butter or corn flour or food poisoning? Just wondered if anyone out there had heard of a crazy reaction like that. Well my Nanny will eat the tamales and if she doesn't get sick....will have me perplexed, unless I happened to get the bacteria batch. Just everything I read on food poisoning says it starts 2-4 hrs later and lasts much longer than the 3 hr ordeal I had. <_<

crampy girl Apprentice

Sorry, I'm not sure I understand. In your first post you said you have been really careful to be gluten free. Did you eat the bread before you started trying to be gluten free? I didn't have bad stomach-related reactions to regular bread before I went gluten free either. I became much more sensitive to gluten (AKA wheat, rye, barley) after I was 100% gluten free for a while. Now if I have even a little bit I get symptoms similar to food poisioning. Maybe that is what's going on with you?

I was sort of gluten free when I ate the bread, only for about a mo. Because I got tired of the diet. Maybe I should test that out and eat some bagels....mmmmm I do miss em much!

Since then I have been gluten free for about 2 mo.....

  • 2 years later...
Herreralovv Rookie

Maseca corn flour is said to be gluten free on their website. Its a lil more expensive than other brands. But its the only one i trust.

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