If Turkeys Can Have Gluten, Can Chicken?

[sahm-i-am]

With all the Turkey Talk lately, I've learned that some/most turkey manufacturers inject natural flavorings and seasonings and broth to enhance the flavor. Some contain gluten. It made me start thinking about our other meats we buy every day. Do they inject flavors and such into our chicken, beef, etc? Has anyone looked into this, before I google?

Just wondering....

[GlutenFreeManna]

Yes, but it is rare. Some frozen chicken is injected with broth and the broth could have barley in the "natural flavors". They have to declare if the broth has wheat in the US and I have not yet seen one with wheat. I try to buy fresh chicken only for this reason. I buy it fresh and freeze it. I'm not sure about beef. I've never seen beef with flavor injected in it unless its a pre-marinaded roast or something. Just buy plain, raw beef and you shouldn't have a problem. I avoid preformed frozen burger patties too. Although they have to declare the ingredients, some of those patties could be flavored with soy sauce with wheat in it. So in my mind it's just easier to buy fresh ground beef and make my own patties to freeze.

[lovegrov]

This talk about turkey comes up every year. I'll make my usual declaration that I've yet to see a turkey -- I'm talking about your basic raw fresh or frozen turkey -- that has gluten, even the ones that are "injected" or have broth. Same with chicken. I keep hearing that some of these with broth have gluten but I can't name one that does.

Instead of a long list of turkeys that don't have gluten, if you know of one that definitely does have gluten, please name it here so that we can avoid it.

richard

[GFinDC]

I saw a turkey in a wheat field once, does that count?

Just kidding. I can't name one either. But I do the same thing, buy the ones that don't list any broth etc. The plainer the better I think. I can always add seasonings I like when I cook it. I have seen meat with wheat listed but it was in a separate seasoning packet that was easily thrown away. I think that was a ham though. Been A while so I don't remember. Hormel Cure 81 hams are gluten-free, and labeled so on the package.

The burger patties I have bought sometimes. But tend not to because they are usually more expensive than plain burger. But if they say 100% beef on the package and there are no other ingredients they should be ok. There shouldn't be other ingredients with 100% of one ingredients anyway.

[lovegrov]

Ham is also pretty much OK except a couple that have a glaze that lists wheat. Read the ingredients. I agree that the less stuff added to the turkey the better, but most people do buy turkeys with broth, flavoring etc.

For several years now I've asked people to list the raw fresh or frozen turkeys they've found that definitely contain gluten. That list is still blank. The reality is that turkey is safe unless the person cooking it stuffs it or adds gluten.

richard

[Bella001]

With all the Turkey Talk lately, I've learned that some/most turkey manufacturers inject natural flavorings and seasonings and broth to enhance the flavor. Some contain gluten. It made me start thinking about our other meats we buy every day. Do they inject flavors and such into our chicken, beef, etc? Has anyone looked into this, before I google?

Just wondering....

Just went to Btterball's website and it reads:

Butterball product labels let consumers know whether any of the top eight allergens may be present in the product. For example, a label may read

[Lori2]

The turkeys we have available here are Jennie-O brand. Their web-site says both their fresh and frozen turkeys are gluten free.

[sahm-i-am]

Thanks everyone. I have my turkey in the freezer and it says Gluten Free on the side. (honeysuckle white). Probably overkill, buy my celiac numbers aren't going down and my doctor and nutritionist said be extra vigilant. NO natural flavorings unless I can verify they are gluten free. And I was just wondering about other meats - it is all a learning process. Thank you to all who responded - you guys are great!

[cap6]

Hormel marks its meat gluten-free. I was so excited to see their deli meats. It'sd the small things in life