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Crawfish, Crawdads, Crawfish

CNV2855

By CNV2855
in Coping with Celiac Disease

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CNV2855 Contributor
CNV2855
Posted

My family has owned a seafood restaurant for over 25 years and I've had plenty of experience with these little guys. They're perhaps one of the most delicious delicacies spawned by the Cajun/Creole culture.

That said, I would not eat these as a celiac... especially if you're sensitive. They're usually raised in rice fields (rice requires water), in between the rice seasons, or other small dedicated ponds. They're fed a feed that I believe to be a grain mixture of some kind of which I don't doubt wheat would be a common ingredient. I've come across the feed pellets when culling and it's definitely a grain byproduct.

Anyway, these little guys have very simple digestive tracts and when you peel them that black stuff you see (similar to the black vein you see on shrimp) is actually crawfish poop. I do not think that crawfish have the digestive mechanisms to break down gluten to the extent that it would be rendered safe. It's almost impossible to eat crawfish without ingesting some of this "poop". If wheat was fed to them, I think it'd definitely be possible to have a reaction to these. Basically, you end up eating what they ate.

I haven't had crawfish in years so I've never tested it, but it's just a warning for those of you not accustomed to this particular food and who might travel through the Gulf Coast.

The same could be said about shrimp, except that they are usually caught in waterways and oceans and hardly ever farm raised. If I believed shrimp to be farm raised on a gluten byproduct, I would avoid them as well. However, I don't think that shrimp are ever farmed though - and if they are - wild caught shrimp are going to be more popular and prevalent. Around here they're "shrimped" by massive trawlers and almost always wild. But like I said, that black stuff on shrimp is the same as what you would find on crawfish and would probably be possible to get glutened by eating that if the shrimp were fed wheat. I personally would think shrimp would be safe.

Food for thought.

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pricklypear1971 Community Regular
pricklypear1971
Posted

You know what, I said earlier today that I wouldn't purposely gluten myself...but if it comes down to passing up boiled crawfish (or LA tails if I can get my hands on them here), I will.

So there it is - my limit, my temptation.

Funny, always thought it would be chocolate.....

Btw I haven't had a problem with shrimp so far. When I buy them they are wild, but in a restaurant they are certainly farmed.

CNV2855 Contributor
CNV2855
Posted
  • Author

I personally wouldn't eat farm-raised shrimp unless I was certain they weren't fed a product with gluten.

And yeah, crawfish are soooooo delicious. All the northerners who don't touch them because they look like "bugs" just have no idea what they're missing. If you decide to eat some, let us know if you have a reaction to them or not. The seasoning should be safe as it's usually just salt and cayenne.

Probably haven't seen farm raised shrimp just because of my location. Shrimping is a part of our culture down here... lol.

mushroom Proficient
mushroom
Posted

I am very cautious of any farm-raised seafood, because of what they feed them. But when your're talkin' crayfish, crawdads, you'll never find these farmed down here.

The most perfect meal I ever had was when I was camping, and we raided field mushrooms from a farmers sheep farm (yes I knew how to identify them), and caught a trout and harvested some crawdads from a nearby stream to the campground we were camping in that night -- mmm, what heaven :D:)

pricklypear1971 Community Regular
pricklypear1971
Posted

I personally wouldn't eat farm-raised shrimp unless I was certain they weren't fed a product with gluten.

And yeah, crawfish are soooooo delicious. All the northerners who don't touch them because they look like "bugs" just have no idea what they're missing. If you decide to eat some, let us know if you have a reaction to

them or not. The seasoning should be safe as it's usually just salt and cayenne.

Probably haven't seen farm raised shrimp just because of my location. Shrimping is a part of our culture down here... lol.

Where do you live (general area)?

CNV2855 Contributor
CNV2855
Posted
  • Author

Where do you live (general area)?

Southwest Louisiana.

eatmeat4good Enthusiast
eatmeat4good
Posted

That is very interesting...because in the beginning of this ordeal with trying to eat gluten free, I chose to eat crawfish reasoning that maybe they were expensive, but I deserved "better" food because I was gluten free and wouldn't be eating out anymore much. I ate them for 3 days straight...(frozen cleaned tails) Yumola!!! However, they made my sores and rash go absolutely crazy and that was when I read about iodine in shellfish. I always assumed it was the iodine...haven't eaten a crawfish since...and sadly...I probably never will. Even shrimp break me out in the DH rash. :(

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pricklypear1971 Community Regular
pricklypear1971
Posted

Southwest Louisiana.

That's where my family is from, too!

pricklypear1971 Community Regular
pricklypear1971
Posted

That is very interesting...because in the beginning of this ordeal with trying to eat gluten free, I chose to eat crawfish reasoning that maybe they were expensive, but I deserved "better" food because I was gluten free and wouldn't be eating out anymore much. I ate them for 3 days straight...(frozen cleaned tails) Yumola!!! However, they made my sores and rash go absolutely crazy and that was

when I read about iodine in shellfish. I always assumed it was the iodine...haven't eaten a crawfish since...and sadly...I probably never will. Even shrimp break me out in the DH rash. :(

I was under the impression the iodine came from the ocean (implying fresh water fish would be low in iodine).

Crawfish are a fresh water crustacean; however, I wouldn't be surprised if they are in semi-salty water, especially in South LA.

Do NOT eat Chinese crawfish. They are notoriously contaminated (and taste horrible).

Crawfish are cooked in a mix of spices that can have a lot of salt - could have been iodized. I don't know if they salt them when they cook them and package them for tails.

CNV2855 Contributor
CNV2855
Posted
  • Author

I was under the impression the iodine came from the ocean (implying fresh water fish would be low in iodine).

Crawfish are a fresh water crustacean; however, I wouldn't be surprised if they are in semi-salty water, especially in South LA.

Do NOT eat Chinese crawfish. They are notoriously contaminated (and taste horrible).

Crawfish are cooked in a mix of spices that can have a lot of salt - could have been iodized. I don't know if they salt them when they cook them and package them for tails.

They're seasoned when they're boiled but I've never seen them re-seasoned after being peeled. There's a good amount of salt put into the boil but not enough soaks into the meat to make the DH flare.

They're also fresh/brackish, pretty sure salt water kills them.

If you reacted to them, it was probably gluten.

pricklypear1971 Community Regular
pricklypear1971
Posted

Do farms purge crawfish? Do they feed them during that phase?

I know my grandparents would do it for 24 hours if they had the time or if the crawdads/crabs were particularly muddy.

Wonder if that would help.

If iodized salt was used it would be plenty to make DH flare, especially in the beginning. Would have for me, anyway.

pricklypear1971 Community Regular
pricklypear1971
Posted

Aha!

The BAIT!!!

Looks like the ponds are primarily fed by plant decomposition. However, The BAIT can be either fish parts (winter) or pelleted bait (contains cereal grains - warm weather).

So eat them in the winter for best chance at gluten-free?

I wonder if they could ship tails based on when they are harvested? Or call around for a farm that doesn't use pellets.

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