Tea Can It Contain Gluten?

[Newtoitall]

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I was looking at that, baught it on a whim, because it sounded sorta delicious.

It's Organic black tea chai

IngredientsOothu black tea leaves º *, cinnamon bark º *, cardamom seeds º *, ginger root º *, star anise º, organic cloves º *, black pepper º *.

ºOrganic ingredient

the ingrediants sorta scare my sensitive stomach but, it doesn't say anything about having or not having gluten, I am going to try to contact them but I was wondering if anyone knew about tea =)

**the site did in fact say the product is gluten free, but the question does stand, can tea be contaminated?

[Korwyn]

Yes. It can have gluten in it. Barley, Barley malt, germinated wheat, all sorts of fun stuff. A lot of the Celestial Seasonings teas are tested for gluten and labelled gluten free.

[kareng]

Tea will say if it has barley, malt, barley grass, wheat grass, etc in it. It's part of what makes the flavor so " special". But that tea sounds nice.

[Skylark]

If they package malt-containing teas on the same lines, it could be CC'd with traces of gluten. Personally, I'd order it and not worry since the manufacturer says the tea is gluten free.

Sadly, just about anything that comes out a facility that processes gluten can theoretically be CC'd. It depends on your personal sensitivity how much you need to worry about it.

[psawyer]

Sadly, just about anything that comes out a facility that processes gluten can theoretically be CC'd. It depends on your personal sensitivity how much you need to worry about it.

Even products made in a gluten-free facility are at risk for ingredients that arrive there already contaminated. Cross-contamination can occur at ANY point along the production process, starting in the farmer's field.

[GFinDC]

Even products made in a gluten-free facility are at risk for ingredients that arrive there already contaminated. Cross-contamination can occur at ANY point along the production process, starting in the farmer's field.

Already contaminated? I once saw a farmer's field that wuz full of poop! Seriously! U cud smell it a mile away. It is really good fertilizer and cheap, if you raise cows, horses, or chickens. Or know someone who does. That's y farmers buy manure spreaders to use for fertilizing.

Peter, just kidding here. but all true too. I totally agree with U, the farmers field and storage facillities (silos), harvesting equipment, transport (trucks) etc are all a potential cc risk.

Plus of course crop rotation in the same field to boost productivity is a standard recommended practice. Soy beans add nitrogen to the soil so they are often used as a rotation crop. Nitrogen fertilizer is expensive so it makes an ecological and green alternative for farming. And everybody luvs soy , so y not?

And who can afford to have dedicated harvesting equipment for each crop? That equipment is expensive and not easy to afford. Plus dangerous if U get your arm or hand in the wrong spot at the right time. Farming is hard work for the little guys anyway.

Crap, now I fergot whut this thread wuz about. Oh yeah, tea! Some Celestial Seasonings teas do have barley in them. And there wuz a thread about Irish teas on an airline recently having gluten/barley malt in them. So double yes, can have, check labels carefully.

Or, if you have hay fever like some people, avoid herbal teas made with lots of great sounding wild plants and weeds, pollen makers, and things that might make your hayfever react too. Gluten is not the only problem out there. Or in here.

[viviendoparajesus]

Tea can have gluten. Some are labeled gluten free. I have seen some that are labeled gluten free. However, with gluten containing ingredients as key components of some teas or used for flavoring there would definitely seem to be the risk for cross contamination. I think I have seen some that are gluten free but have wheat, which I would avoid because of my issues with gluten and wheat and not wanting to chance it. I wish we did not have to worry about cross contamination life would be so much easier that way.

[Gemini]

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I was looking at that, baught it on a whim, because it sounded sorta delicious.

It's Organic black tea chai

IngredientsOothu black tea leaves

[Takala]

Some of the Tazo flavored teas contain gluten. "Natural flavorings" can contain ANYTHING.

I just looked at their tazo.com website FAQ (today is June 1, 2011) and they claim their "natural flavoring" information is proprietary, "not something they can reveal," and that if people need to know the ingredients for allergies, they suggest that a flavor without that be selected.

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Tazo Faq

All of our teas are gluten free, except for the following: Green Ginger, Tazo Honeybush, Lemon Ginger and Tea Lemonade.

I had a clerk at a Starbucks one time give me the wrong teabag (fortunately I sniffed it in time before drinking it) and several times at restaurants I've had them try to give me flavored green tea when I asked for plain.

The people at Border's Books, on the other hand, are very cooperative and will actually let me look at the container the loose tea that they use comes in.

[Korwyn]

Some of the Tazo flavored teas contain gluten. "Natural flavorings" can contain ANYTHING.

I just looked at their tazo.com website FAQ (today is June 1, 2011) and they claim their "natural flavoring" information is proprietary, "not something they can reveal," and that if people need to know the ingredients for allergies, they suggest that a flavor without that be selected.

Yeah. I contacted Tazo about 12 months ago about one of their teas - 'Awake'. A unique set of reactions for me that I don't get from anything but soy. They didn't reply to my email or contact via their website, and when I called they were quite snotty and refused to tell me anything about it. I've thought about filing a complaint with the FDA regarding possibly unlabelled allergens but since I don't have a documented soy 'allergy' I don't think I'd have grounds to file a complaint.

Tea can have gluten. Some are labeled gluten free. I have seen some that are labeled gluten free. However, with gluten containing ingredients as key components of some teas or used for flavoring there would definitely seem to be the risk for cross contamination. I think I have seen some that are gluten free but have wheat, which I would avoid because of my issues with gluten and wheat and not wanting to chance it. I wish we did not have to worry about cross contamination life would be so much easier that way.

Celestial Seasonings labels all their teas that are tested gluten-free as 'Gluten-Free' and they also label those that contain gluten (I think there are three) as 'Contains Gluten'. Good Earth teas are also supposed to be gluten free, and I've never had a reaction to any of the ones we drink.