Jump to content

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Gluten In Restaurant Chicken?

stellagogo

Recommended Posts

stellagogo Rookie
stellagogo
Posted

call me paranoid, but (aside from obvious food service cross-contamination issues) is gluten ever used as a preservative or anything in chicken breasts from large food service distributors? i thought i read something about that once but i might be losing my mind.

i'm so scared to eat anything at this point. this is not easy for a recovering anorexic.

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


Kquad Apprentice
Kquad
Posted

some places do inject gluten into their chicken. As sensitive as I am, I just do not eat out anymore

ElseB Contributor
ElseB
Posted

Yeah, I think its injected as some kind of flavour inhancer. Same goes for turkey - I have to remind my mom every year at Thanksgiving and Christmas to be careful when she's buying the turkey!

stellagogo Rookie
stellagogo
Posted
  • Author

thank you. wow. so how do you eat out at all? i rarely go out, but when i do, i almost always order a salad w chicken breast and hope for the best in terms of cc. no wonder i felt terrible the whole time i was visiting my parents (they like to go out a lot). this sucks.

GlutenFreeManna Rising Star
GlutenFreeManna
Posted

thank you. wow. so how do you eat out at all? i rarely go out, but when i do, i almost always order a salad w chicken breast and hope for the best in terms of cc. no wonder i felt terrible the whole time i was visiting my parents (they like to go out a lot). this sucks.

You need to be asking the restaurant some specific questions if you are eating someplace without a gluten-free menu. There are dozens of ways it can be cc'd or contain gluten. What's in the seasoning on the chicken? Is it marinaded in anything that might have gltuen (soy sauce)? Is the chicken grilled on the same grill as other items that contain gluten seasonigns and marinades? Is the salad mixed in the same mixing bowl as other salads that had croutons? Are the veggies prepped in the same area/same cutting board as bread? What's in the salad dressing? Safest option for dressing if they can't tell you what's in it is to ask for a little container of olive oil and some lemon wedges.

You need to speak to a manager or a chef NOT just the server when you are seated. Best thing would be to call ahead and talk to the manager/owner/head chef. If they assure you they can safely feed you, when you go then ask for the manager again by name when you first get to the restaurant. Make sure he/she remembers your phone conversation and all your needs. Then make sure you explain to your server your gluten-free needs when you order. If this is a small town and you go to the same place all the time you may get lucky and find they will accomodate you well and remember you after a few times so that you can eat safely with less fuss and question asking. Or you may end up not being able to eat out safely at all at that place.

Your parents may have to find other ways to treat you than taking you out to dinner. My parents now know there are very few places I can eat out and that I just don't enjoy it much since I have to worry about getting sick. I only eat at places with gluten-free menus becuase at least they have a better chance of having trained their chefs on how to avoid cc and I don't have to ask as many questions. If my parents want to treat me or just spend time with me out somewhere they take me to a movie or shopping or something else that doesn't have to involve food. I carry Lara Bars or Enjoy Life bars with me everywhere so if the people I'm with NEED to eat somewhere and there are no safe options for me I can just drink a soda and eat my Lara Bar. It's not really fun watching other people eat, but at least I don't get sick.

lovegrov Collaborator
lovegrov
Posted

You should always check at a restaurant to make sure they haven't put anything in it and how they cook it but, folks, virtually ALL of the raw chicken and turkeys in grocery stores are safe. Almost every year at Thanksgiving I challenge people to name a commercial, raw, unstuffed turkey brand that has gluten -- and I'm still waiting for somebody to name one. Pretty much all or maybe even all of the "flavor enhancers" or solutions are in fact little more than salt water or sometimes a chicken or rosemary broth.

This thing about poultry being "injected" with gluten isn't quite at the level of a celiac urban legend, but it's mighty close.

richard

stellagogo Rookie
stellagogo
Posted
  • Author

thank you very much.

i guess there is a part of me that is still in denial, as i am self-diagnosed, and after 16 years of anorexia, hardcore restriction and miserable meals, this just seems like some kind of sick joke.

my parents don't take it seriously, either, especially the cross-contamination issue. my mom just thinks of celiac as some sick-unthriving-diarrhea-baby disease and sometimes i wonder if i really am "fine" and just making this all up in my head. the last thing i want is to frustrate people or continue to stick out like a sore thumb every mealtime. several times i've gotten fed up and tried adding gluten back and i seem to feel worse and worse.

anyway, thank you for taking the time to respond..you people make me feel less alone and nuts.

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


stellagogo Rookie
stellagogo
Posted
  • Author

thanks, richard.

in addition to dining out and ordering chicken, the restaurant where i was working shut down and i took the rest of the frozen chicken breasts home with me. now i'm scared that chicken like this from a big distributor may contain gluten. i dont worry so much about the chicken i buy from the grocery store as there is nothing other than chicken, water and sodium on the label.

cap6 Enthusiast
cap6
Posted

[quote name='GlutenFreeManna'

Your parents may have to find other ways to treat you than taking you out to dinner. My parents now know there are very few places I can eat out and that I just don't enjoy it much since I have to worry about getting sick. I only eat at places with gluten-free menus becuase at least they have a better chance of having trained their chefs on how to avoid cc and I don't have to ask as many questions. If my parents want to treat me or just spend time with me out somewhere they take me to a movie or shopping or something else that doesn't have to involve food. I carry Lara Bars or Enjoy Life bars with me everywhere so if the people I'm with NEED to eat somewhere and there are no safe options for me I can just drink a soda and eat my Lara Bar. It's not really fun watching other people eat, but at least I don't get sick.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      131,963
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    AlissaW
    Newest Member
    AlissaW
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.5k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • Scott Adams
      Does anyone here also have Afib

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      If black seed oil is working for his Afib, stick to it, but if not, I can say that ablation therapy is no big deal--my mother was out of the procedure in about 1 hour and went home that evening, and had zero negative effects from the treatment. PS - I would recommend that your husband get an Apple watch to monitor his Afib--there is an app and it will take readings 24/7 and give reports on how much of the time he's in it. Actual data like this should be what should guide his treatment.
    • Jacki Espo
      Covid caused reoccurrence of DH without eating gluten

      By Jacki Espo · Posted

      This happened to me as well. What’s weirder is that within a couple hours of taking paxlovid it subsided. I thought maybe I got glutened but after reading your post not so sure. 
    • Mari
      New Celiac Mama in My 30s

      By Mari · Posted

      Hi Tiffany. Thank you for writing your dituation and  circumstancesin such detail and so well writte, too. I particularly noticed what you wrote about brain for and feeling like your brain is swelling and I know from my own experiences that's how it feel and your brain really does swell and you get migraines.    Way back when I was in my 20s I read a book by 2 MD allergist and they described their patient who came in complaining that her brain, inside her cranium, was swelling  and it happened when she smelled a certain chemical she used in her home. She kept coming back and insisting her brain actually swelled in her head. The Drs couldn't explain this problem so they, with her permission, performed an operation where they made a small opening through her cranium, exposed her to the chemical then watched as she brain did swell into the opening. The DRs were amazed but then were able to advise her to avoid chemicals that made her brain swell. I remember that because I occasionally had brain fog then but it was not a serious problem. I also realized that I was becoming more sensitive to chemicals I used in my work in medical laboratories. By my mid forties the brain fog and chemicals forced me to leave my  profession and move to a rural area with little pollution. I did not have migraines. I was told a little later that I had a more porous blood brain barrier than other people. Chemicals in the air would go up into my sinused and leak through the blood brain barrier into my brain. We have 2 arteries  in our neck that carry blood with the nutrients and oxygen into the brain. To remove the fluids and used blood from the brain there are only capillaries and no large veins to carry it away so all those fluids ooze out much more slowly than they came in and since the small capillaries can't take care of extra fluid it results in swelling in the face, especially around the eyes. My blood flow into my brain is different from most other people as I have an arterial ischema, adefectiveartery on one side.   I have to go forward about 20 or more years when I learned that I had glaucoma, an eye problem that causes blindness and more years until I learned I had celiac disease.  The eye Dr described my glaucoma as a very slow loss of vision that I wouldn't  notice until had noticeable loss of sight.  I could have my eye pressure checked regularly or it would be best to have the cataracts removed from both eyes. I kept putting off the surgery then just overnight lost most of the vision in my left eye. I thought at the I had been exposed to some chemical and found out a little later the person who livedbehind me was using some chemicals to build kayaks in a shed behind my house. I did not realize the signifance  of this until I started having appointments with a Dr. in a new building. New buildings give me brain fog, loss of balance and other problems I know about this time I experienced visual disturbances very similar to those experienced by people with migraines. I looked further online and read that people with glaucoma can suffer rapid loss of sight if they have silent migraines (no headache). The remedy for migraines is to identify and avoid the triggers. I already know most of my triggers - aromatic chemicals, some cleaning materials, gasoline and exhaust and mold toxins. I am very careful about using cleaning agents using mostly borax and baking powder. Anything that has any fragrance or smell I avoid. There is one brand of dishwashing detergent that I can use and several brands of  scouring powder. I hope you find some of this helpful and useful. I have not seen any evidence that Celiac Disease is involved with migraines or glaucoma. Please come back if you have questions or if what I wrote doesn't make senseto you. We sometimes haveto learn by experience and finding out why we have some problems. Take care.       The report did not mention migraines. 
    • Mari
      My only proof

      By Mari · Posted

      Hi Jmartes71 That is so much like my story! You probably know where Laytonville is and that's where I was living just before my 60th birthday when the new Dr. suggested I could have Celiacs. I didn't go on a gluten challange diet before having the Celiac panel blood test drawn. The results came back as equivical as one antibody level was very high but another, tissue transaminasewas normal. Itdid show I was  allergic to cows milk and I think hot peppers. I immediately went gluten free but did not go in for an endoscopy. I found an online lab online that would do the test to show if I had a main celiac gene (enterolab.com). The report came back that I had inherited a main celiac gene, DQ8, from one parent and a D!6 from the other parent. That combination is knows to sym[tons of celiac worse than just inheriting one main celiac gene. With my version of celiac disease I was mostly constipated but after going gluten-free I would have diarrhea the few times I was glutened either by cross contamination or eating some food containing gluten. I have stayed gluten-free for almost 20 years now and knew within a few days that it was right for me although my recovery has been slow.   When I go to see a  medical provide and tell them I have celiacs they don't believe me. The same when I tell them that I carry a main celiac gene, the DQ8. It is only when I tell them that I get diarrhea after eating gluten that they realize that I might have celiac disease. Then they will order th Vitamin B12 and D3 that I need to monitor as my B12 levels can go down very fast if I'm not taking enough of it. Medical providers haven't been much help in my recovery. They are not well trained in this problem. I really hope this helps ypu. Take care.      
    • knitty kitty
      Does anyone here also have Afib

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      Fascinating.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.