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Glutened By A "gluten Free" Product!

GlutenFreeManna

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GlutenFreeManna Rising Star
GlutenFreeManna
Posted

As often as I read things here I should have known that FFL was not safe. I was so excited to find these in my store. They say "gluten free" and wheat free all over them. The ingredients are not much more than brown rice and filtered water. Well I'm having the worst gluten reaction I have had in 6 months after eating these twice this week. Everything else I ate this week was stuff I eat safely all the time--My fillings were cooked organic chicken, lettuce, refried beans (homemade), rice and chili powder (also homemade). SO I came here and did a search only to find these brown rice tortillas were recalled in Canada for having wheat in them and the "filtered water" they use in their other products contains barley! I'm so mad right now. These tasted great and worked the best out of everything I have tried for a wrap. I haven't found brown rice tortillas by any other company or anywhere else, only corn tortillas. Argh! Hopefully this will be a warning to others. Avoid Food For Life brown rice tortillas! You can't trust the label on this product. :ph34r::blink::angry: ***I need a pulling out my hair smiley**

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zus888 Contributor
zus888
Posted

Can't you call the FDA or something to have the product recalled? I didn't think they could mis-label a product legally.

gleegan Rookie
gleegan
Posted

Thanks so much for posting this. I too had read other warnings from people, but was hoping that it was simply a problem in Canada. I have a couple in my fridge and was even going to eat one today. Now I will toss them out - not worth taking the risk. I hope you feel better soon; sorry for your horrible reaction - thanks for helping me avoid having one...

GlutenFreeManna Rising Star
GlutenFreeManna
Posted
  • Author

Can't you call the FDA or something to have the product recalled? I didn't think they could mis-label a product legally.

Actually, there are currently no laws in the US regulating the words "gluten free". From what I have read laws have been proposed but they have not passed legislation. So a company can label something "gluten free" and it may not be. They ARE required to label wheat, however they are NOT required to label barley. I suspect these tortillas have barley water in them. Additionally, if they use something with gluten but the amount of gluten is very small the product may test "gluten free" with less than 20 ppm of gluten. The tests are not sensitive enough to detect to zero gluten. The most sensitive test is for 5 ppm I believe. Every country is different in what the regulations are for what amount can be declared "gluten free". I happen to be a very sensitive celiac and I react to things with less than 5 ppm gluten. I WILL be writing to FFL to give them a piece of my mind though. Maybe if they receive enough complaints they will stop claiming their products are gluten free. They may be wheat free, but they are not gluten free.

GlutenFreeManna Rising Star
GlutenFreeManna
Posted
  • Author

Thanks so much for posting this. I too had read other warnings from people, but was hoping that it was simply a problem in Canada. I have a couple in my fridge and was even going to eat one today. Now I will toss them out - not worth taking the risk. I hope you feel better soon; sorry for your horrible reaction - thanks for helping me avoid having one...

Oh I'm sorry you have to toss them, but I'm glad I could help you avoid getting sick. They are so not worth it. :(

In case anyone else is interested the UPC on the bag I bought is 0 73472 00369 5 Lot# K0769DV

The UPC matches the ones recalled in Canada, but the Lot# is different. I bought mine at Bloom in Virginia Beach, VA. I plan to contact the store I bought these from as well to let them know about FFL's faulty labeling practices. I don't know if it will make them remove it from the store, but if I can save anyone else the trouble of getting sick it's worth a try.

glutenfreesavvy Rookie
glutenfreesavvy
Posted

GlutenFreeManna,

I'm soo sorry to hear about this...I, too, have been glutened by food labeled gluten free. These experiences have led to me to avoid most foods that are pre-made or packaged....it's just not worth it anymore...extremely frustrating, though...

I hope Food for Life will handle this appropriately...have you tweeted or posted on Facebook about it? That might make a bigger impact...

Warmly,

Faydra

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      Contact them.
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