Food Testing For Gluten

[pgrovetom]

Has anyone ever found a way to test foods for the Gluten content. Lets say one has a set of foods that say they are gluten free but still having symptoms. It would be nice to be able to actually verify there is no gluten in a product I'm trusting. I can't help but wonder if cross contamination occurs sporadically when a wheat product just happened to be processed previously. It would be good to take some of that food and test it at home. Is there any such thing as a low cost gluten home food test to track down contamination. Elimination only will work for a the batch eliminated but not if the next time you buy it, its contaminated after you already feel its ok. Its tricky.

[mushroom]

A couple of the posters on the board have used a home gluten testing kit. I believe it is not inexpensive, but they were pleased with the results. Try a google search and you may find their threads.

[thleensd]

I've used home test kits, but they only test down to a certain level (10 or 20 ppm?). If you are highly sensitive, that won't help, sorry to say.

[shadowicewolf]

This will drive you mad, no offense (i'm not one to be talking about this lol).

However keeping thinking the food you are going to eat will get you down a path that you do not want to go on. The more you think, the more you will not want to eat... then your 'range' of foods decreases, than... well lets put it this way... you become even unsure as to why you question stuff you've had before.

I should know, i'm currently stuck in this... pardicament.

Basically, from what i read, its best to have an additude of "well if i get sick, i get sick, than that gives me the reason i need to stay away from said food" or something to that effect.

Bah, who am i kidding -jumps off of soap box-

(kind of played the devils advocit here, but oh well, sometimes its best to have another perspective on things)

[weluvgators]

We made tremendous strides in our health and wellness by utilizing home testing kits, and I have made past posts on my experiences. I think about what/when/how/where I will eat more often than most, and I am good with that. Yes, it is difficult and a struggle sometimes, but I am so grateful to have gained such an understanding into our diet, health and wellness. I feel that gluten food testing helped us to better diversify our diet, as we reacted to far more "foods" before we understood how to better source and handle our food. And the struggles to feed ourselves now with a better understanding of food sourcing and cross contamination pale in comparison to the struggles we had without it. It continues to be a learning process for us, but our situation has required that we take a critical look at our food sourcing and handling. And we really appreciate other gluten super sensitives that take the time to share their experiences.

[GFinDC]

There is a test called EZ-Gluten that you can get. I think there may be another, possibly from Spain but I don't remember the name. I haven't used any of them myself. I find it simpler to stop eating foods that make me sick. There is a process called an elimination diet that might help you with this. The thing is, additional food intolerances are not uncommon in people with celiac disease. So even if there is no gluten in a food, you could still have a bad reaction to it if you intolerant to some other ingredient in it. And some people have very bad reactions to other foods besides gluten. I have very bad reactions to soy and several other things.

[T.H.]

1. There are no tests that will tell you if a food has no gluten in it. We don't have tests that are this sensitive yet, sadly (not even the industry folks). And to the best of my knowledge, some of us are reacting to less than the detection levels of the tests, so that kind of...well, it bites.

2. The EZ gluten test mentioned will test, I think it was already said, down to 10ppm. However, it's about $12 for just one test, so it's expensive if you're wanting to look at lots of food. I don't know of any that are reliable and cheaper. It also has a few limitations with certain foods. It needs to maintain a low viscosity of the solution to wick properly up the testing strip, so things that change the viscosity, like sugar, for example, can sometimes not test properly.

3. However, it can be good if you suspect contamination of a particular brand, if you keep a sample of what you tried, just in case you get ill. Another thing we've done a lot is to call the companies and start inquiring. Do they test their product for gluten? Is it a shared line? Is it a shared facility? Do they test every batch or periodically? What is the gluten ppm detection level of their test? If it's a shared line and a company doesn't test every batch, then there is definitely a higher risk for us than a company that tests every batch, or that doesn't share lines with gluten.

4. Also, some companies will test for you. Amy's, for example, keeps a sample of each batch. If you eat one of their foods and think you have reacted, call them up, and they will usually send that sample off to be tested to make sure it wasn't contaminated. They'll send the results to you, too. Some companies might do the same, or maybe even test a sample of the food for you, if you send it to them. I've heard rumors, but never really looked into that myself. :-)

I understand about the concern over whether you are getting a contaminated batch of something, because the next batch may be fine, so how does one tell?

I tend to try and keep track of foods I'm eating, especially when I've reacted, and make sure to go back and check so I can find anything that is popping up consistently, even if I don't react every time. Even if a food is safe sometimes, who wants to eat food from a company that I can't trust to be safe ALL the time, you know?