Tomato Paste--is It Ok?

[cgd]

When shopping for food today with my MIL, who often shops for my FIL who is also gluten-intolerant, she told me that tomato paste is unsafe on a gluten-free diet. What are your experiences with it? Is it thickened with wheat or wheat products? Thanks!

[Guest nini]

The tomato paste I usually use Del Monte brand I think... is just tomatoes, nothing else... I would think it depends on the brand.

[cgd]

  nini said:

The tomato paste I usually use Del Monte brand I think... is just tomatoes, nothing else... I would think it depends on the brand.

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Wow, what a quick reply--I appreciate that! I thought paste was only tomatoes too, so maybe MIL is mistaken . . . I hope so anyhow. I went and bought some corn spaghetti at the store today, so we'll see how that goes.

[Guest nini]

you probably won't be too excited with the corn spagetti, most people aren't. But if you can find Tinkyada Rice pasta, it is BY FAR the best gluten-free pasta on the market!

I just double checked Del Monte's website and ALL of their tomato products are Gluten Free as well as all of their canned fruits and vegetables, fruit cups and 100% Juices.

[cgd]

  nini said:

you probably won't be too excited with the corn spagetti, most people aren't. But if you can find Tinkyada Rice pasta, it is BY FAR the best gluten-free pasta on the market!

I just double checked Del Monte's website and ALL of their tomato products are Gluten Free as well as all of their canned fruits and vegetables, fruit cups and 100% Juices.

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Hmm, may have to mail-order the Tinkyada Rice pasta, as I didn't see it at Kroger; maybe the health food store has it, will check there . . .

I of course checked the list on the main website here of the safe and forbidden foods. I didn't see tomato paste on it, or any other ingredients in the Ragu sauce I love so much, so maybe it's OK. . .

Good deal--I love their canned fruits!

[tarnalberry]

Always check the ingredients, but tomato paste should be nothing but tomatoes. You can make your own by blanching/peeling tomatoes, seeding them, and then cooking them down to a paste, but that's way more work than it's worth most of the time. ;-)

[cgd]

  tarnalberry said:

Always check the ingredients, but tomato paste should be nothing but tomatoes.  You can make your own by blanching/peeling tomatoes, seeding them, and then cooking them down to a paste, but that's way more work than it's worth most of the time. ;-)

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I thought that was the case. Thanks!

[Merika]

Corn pasta in elbow shape makes the BEST macaroni, though, mmmmmm...my non-celiac dh even prefers it over the wheat pasta, lol

Merika

[Jnkmnky]

Warning warning......Some tomato pastes DO have GLUTEN in them. I bought one awhile back. Always check. I use Ragu. Prego is great too. Tinkyada can is the best. Can't tell the difference between Tink and regular pastas. Nothing compares.

[lovegrov]

Could you tell us which tomato paste it was so we knowm which one to avoid? This would be the first tomato paste with gluten I've ever heard of.

richard

[tarnalberry]

huh... I've seen pasta sauces with gluten in them, but never a tomato paste. (Then again, I've never seen Ragu or Prego make tomato paste, so maybe I just haven't seen them...)

[Jnkmnky]

Tarnalberry, sorry, I was confusing there. I didn't mean Ragu and Prego made tomato paste. Just meant we use those spaghetti sauces.

I don't recall the brand of paste with gluten. I only remember opening a tiny can of paste about a year ago for chili and thought to myself I should read the ingredients *JUST TO BE SURE*....and was shocked that there was WHEAT in it. I remember because it was so unexpected. That's all I got!

[LKelly8]

Contadina tomato paste with Italian Seasonings is NOT gluten free.

[Jnkmnky]

That was probably what I was using. It sounds just like me to put an Italian paste in Chili. I once put a big roast in a crockpot with Ketchup and A-1 sauce and Worstester sauce. I thought all of those things tasted good on meat. My sister said serving that to children bordered on child abuse. My gluten free child doesn't know how lucky he's been eating gluten free all these years! Ener-G bread ain't nothin compared to my cooking!

[Guest kmmolina]

  cgd said:

Hmm, may have to mail-order the Tinkyada Rice pasta, as I didn't see it at Kroger; maybe the health food store has it, will check there  . . .

I of course checked the list on the main website here of the safe and forbidden foods.  I didn't see tomato paste on it, or any other ingredients in the Ragu sauce I love so much, so maybe it's OK.  . .

Good deal--I love their canned fruits!

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cgd...Tinkyada is very good. They have penne, macaroni, spegetti and several others. When my sister was diagnosed about 5 years ago and I remembered that most everything she tried was horrible..kind of mushy, etc. So when my mom bought the Tinkyada...I was a little bit on the negative side ....but to my surprise , it tasted just like regular wheat pasta. The only difference I noticed was the texture was a bit more chewy, but perhaps I needed to cook it longer.

[JohnnyOh]

  On 7/25/2005 at 2:07 AM, lovegrov said:

Could you tell us which tomato paste it was so we knowm which one to avoid? This would be the first tomato paste with gluten I've ever heard of.

The Whole Foods brand tomato paste says it's manufactured in a facility that also processes things with milk and wheat in them. So in that case it's possible to have cross-contamination.

[Dixiebell]

  On 7/24/2005 at 9:49 PM, cgd said:

When shopping for food today with my MIL, who often shops for my FIL who is also gluten-intolerant, she told me that tomato paste is unsafe on a gluten-free diet. What are your experiences with it? Is it thickened with wheat or wheat products? Thanks!

I was at walmart shopping for tomato paste and many of the name brands had wheat in them. The walmart brand was the only one that had just tomato in it. Go figure.

[psawyer]

This topic is from almost five years ago, so much of the information in it may be out of date.

  On 1/23/2010 at 1:38 AM, Dixiebell said:

I was at walmart shopping for tomato paste and many of the name brands had wheat in them. The walmart brand was the only one that had just tomato in it. Go figure.

Would you please list for us the names of the brands that have wheat as an ingredient. I have never seen one in over nine years of reading labels as a celiac.

  On 1/22/2010 at 11:46 PM, JohnnyOh said:

The Whole Foods brand tomato paste says it's manufactured in a facility that also processes things with milk and wheat in them. So in that case it's possible to have cross-contamination.

Products from shared facilities are common, and the risk of contamination is low. If you ever eat at a restaurant, that is a shared facility, and the dishes and utensils are shared equipment.

[Dixiebell]

  On 1/23/2010 at 2:25 AM, psawyer said:

This topic is from almost five years ago, so much of the information in it may be out of date.

Would you please list for us the names of the brands that have wheat as an ingredient. I have never seen one in over nine years of reading labels as a celiac.

I only found one online- contadina italian w/herbs. I will check next time I go. Maybe it's just the ones with herbs.

Products from shared facilities are common, and the risk of contamination is low. If you ever eat at a restaurant, that is a shared facility, and the dishes and utensils are shared equipment.

[JohnnyOh]

  On 1/23/2010 at 2:25 AM, psawyer said:

Products from shared facilities are common, and the risk of contamination is low. If you ever eat at a restaurant, that is a shared facility, and the dishes and utensils are shared equipment.

That depends on the facility and their manufacturing practices. I've eaten some products that have given me terrible reactions, most recently frozen spinach, and I later contacted the company and found out that their spinach is manufactured in a facility that also processes wheat. (They're probably packaged on shared equipment.)

So I don't think one can make the general statement that the risk of contamination is low. It really depends on the company, the manufactures, and even employees, to know how to avoid cross contamination issues.

If there are possibilities for cross-contamination, the most thorough companies do regular testing of their gluten free products to make sure they really are gluten free. Many companies don't do that however.

[Zebra007]

Does anyone happen to know if the little tins of "Maggi" Pasta de tomate are gluten free?  and while I am here asking, are the jars of Pesto, namely Cirio Pestp Gluten free too..thanks.

[notme]

  On 9/3/2014 at 6:29 PM, Zebra007 said:

Does anyone happen to know if the little tins of "Maggi" Pasta de tomate are gluten free?  and while I am here asking, are the jars of Pesto, namely Cirio Pestp Gluten free too..thanks.

idk - what are the ingredients?  (this is a very old thread)  i use hunt's tomato paste with no problem BUT still read the label every time.  if you are outside north america, you might want to ask in the international section of the forum.

[gilligan]

I used a couple of cans of Fire Roasted Diced tomatoes last week, and after I poured them in the pot, I read the label - and, yes, they contained gluten.  I can't remember the brand, but it was in a yellow can.  Ronzoni gluten-free pasts is also very good.

[Zebra007]

  On 9/3/2014 at 7:10 PM, notme! said:

idk - what are the ingredients?  (this is a very old thread)  i use hunt's tomato paste with no problem BUT still read the label every time.  if you are outside north america, you might want to ask in the international section of the forum.

Thanks everyone...I found some Hunts tomato paste in the supermarket so I think I will be okay with that..I'm in Costa Rica, some labelling is in Spanish, so its a bit tricky...another question if I may,I  looked online for info but not sure as two different opinions...can I use Achiote Paste or not...

[GF Lover]

Usually Achiote Paste is made from Spices.  Most Single Spices are gluten-free.  You would have to look at the actual ingredients to see if anything is added.  I do know that you can make your own blend.  There are recipes on the net.

 

Colleen