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Nature Valley Granola Bars..gf?


Guest DanceswithWolves

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Guest DanceswithWolves

Hey all,

My mom, the sweet heart she is bought me some Nature Valley Granola bars in a variety pack. As I read the box ingredients, each one is primarily made with Whole grain Oats...this is a bad thing, correct? The peanut on some of the bars are OK, but the soy,rice flour, malt,high fructose, and the whole grain is not, right?

She was just trying to look for something I can grab in the morning and go...I'm probably better off with sticking with my bananas, huh?


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Jnkmnky Collaborator

Your mom is nice, but you're right... You can't eat those. Most oats in the U.S. are considered UNsafe as bits of gluten are usually in them through cross contamination. Most celiacs will NOT eat them. Plus, the MALT is GLUTEN. :o and WHOLE GRAIN is GLUTEN :o:o

Have you ordered breads from Kinnikinnick? Having bread makes your life EASIER. Sandwiches, toast, bagels, the donuts are awesome!!! The kinnikinnick muffins are too small for a guy trying to put on weight.

Post Cocoa and Fruitty Pebbles are gluten free!!!!!!!!! How about those?

KaitiUSA Enthusiast

A definite no to eat for us

Guest DanceswithWolves
Your mom is nice, but you're right... You can't eat those.  Most oats in the U.S. are considered UNsafe as bits of gluten are usually in them through cross contamination.  Most celiacs will NOT eat them.  Plus, the MALT is GLUTEN.  :o  and WHOLE GRAIN is GLUTEN :o  :o 

Have you ordered breads from Kinnikinnick?  Having bread makes your life EASIER.  Sandwiches, toast, bagels, the donuts are awesome!!!  The kinnikinnick muffins are too small for a guy trying to put on weight.

Post Cocoa and Fruitty Pebbles are gluten free!!!!!!!!!  How about those?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

YES! I did find that Kinniki-bread! A new health store just opened about 15 minutes from my house!!!!! I have the cereal you mentioned too. I've been scouring thru many of the posts on this site and jotting down a "shop list" of just the safe stuff. Everything from Mayo, mustard, soups ranch dressing and lunch meats to look for.

I just posted another topic 5 minutes ago. Not really relating to a gluten-free diet, but more to my "condition" and symptoms I've had in the past.

But anyway.......tonight I had hamburgers that were made for my father and I, but unfortuantely my mother used bread crumbs..another no-no...right?

I do ache a bit...but I guess I'll just go to bed early tonight.

But again, I always tend tothink that maybe it's my allergies. Maybe I'm allergic to mold and pollen, plus the whole celiac disease thing.

I am going to a doctor this week. I'm going to the hospital and explain that I have no medical benefits and need to have a check up. It will be a little scary, but I have to do this.

Jnkmnky Collaborator

You ate bread crumbs tonight?? Yeah, you really won't be feeling the benefits of the gluten free diet until you are 100% gluten free. You need to be on guard all the time. No mistakes. It's difficult, but it's essential if you want to heal damage and feel better.

tarnalberry Community Regular
Hey all,

My mom, the sweet heart she is bought me some Nature Valley Granola bars in a variety pack. As I read the box ingredients, each one is primarily made with Whole grain Oats...this is a bad thing, correct? The peanut on some of the bars are OK, but the soy,rice flour, malt,high fructose,  and the whole grain is not, right?

She was just trying to look for something I can grab in the morning and go...I'm probably better off with sticking with my bananas, huh?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yep, those are right out. The basic ingredients that will make anything a NO-GO are wheat, barley, rye, and oats. If you see ANY of those in the ingredient list, don't eat it. (For reference, neither soy nor rice are made from wheat, barley, rye, or oats, and are safe grains for celiacs.)

There are a couple of bar-food type products you can have, with different people liking them a different amount. The ones I know about are Glutino breakfast bars (like a nutrigrain bar) and Boomi bars which I've only found at one of our local health food stores, Lara Bars and Organic Food Bars which are dried fruit and nuts which I've found at Trader Joe's and a few other places, and Oskiri bars. There are a couple other more local ones - it will just take some time at the health food stores to look through and do the initial hunt to find what you can have.

But anyway.......tonight I had hamburgers that were made for my father and I, but unfortuantely my mother used bread crumbs..another no-no...right?

I do ache a bit...but I guess I'll just go to bed early tonight.

But again, I always tend tothink that maybe it's my allergies. Maybe I'm allergic to mold and pollen, plus the whole celiac disease thing.

I am going to a doctor this week. I'm going to the hospital and explain that I have no medical benefits and need to have a check up. It will be a little scary, but I have to do this.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Please encourage your mom to join us and get help finding out what is safe for you and what isn't - particularly if she'll be cooking for you. She's got no need to worry, we've got plenty of members who aren't celiac themselves but who have a loved one who is. She needs to know that bread crumbs are made from bread which is made from wheat which is unsafe. (Ok, ok, I'm sure she knows the first part! ;-) ) Unfortunately, you may only get worse until you cut the gluten out of your life entirely, so you do need to be vigilent!

grantschoep Contributor

Quote...

"There are a couple of bar-food type products you can have, "

hehe, I was reading these posts fast today, and read that and though. Oooo bar food. Yes, I love that, I didn't think I could eat most of it. Then realized you were talking about bar as in " rectangluar prism shaped food". And not bar as in" long counter top surface that you order alcoholic beverages over."

Darn, though nacho's and sometimes wings do end up being something we can eat.


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Guest DanceswithWolves
Quote...

"There are a couple of bar-food type products you can have, "

hehe, I was reading these posts fast today, and read that and though. Oooo bar food. Yes, I love that, I didn't think I could eat most of it. Then realized you were talking about bar as in " rectangluar prism shaped food". And not bar as in" long counter top surface that you order alcoholic beverages over."

Darn, though nacho's and sometimes wings do end up being something we can eat.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Chicken wings in bars are OK to eat? I would think they would be totally off limits due to any cross-contamination or the actual glazed sauce they smother them with.

What about Wraps?

Arby's has awesome wraps...is that off limits?

tarnalberry Community Regular
What about Wraps?

Arby's has awesome wraps...is that off limits?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What does Arby's wrap the fillings in?

KaitiUSA Enthusiast
Chicken wings in bars are OK to eat? I would think they would be totally off limits due to any cross-contamination or the actual glazed sauce they smother them with.

What about Wraps?

Arby's has awesome wraps...is that off limits?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No most chicken wings will not be ok to eat. The actual sauce on it is usually not gluten free.

Jnkmnky Collaborator

Open Original Shared Link

Low carb WHEAT tortillas.

grantschoep Contributor
No most chicken wings will not be ok to eat. The actual sauce on it is usually not gluten free.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

In complete disagreement. The acutual sauce is often gluten free. Franks, Crystal, and a number of other cayenne pepper sauces are gluten-free. The problem here is that they deep fry em. Deep frying in the same as other breaded things.

Now, keep in mind, some places also have something really really nasty, breaded wings. These of course are not gluten-free, but they are completly disgusting and shouldn't be allowed to be grouped in the same class as something as delicious as hot wings.

Most bars and stuff just use Frank's on their wings. Frank's is gluten-free.

Open Original Shared Link

I buy Franks RH by the gallon jug from the grocery store. I make lots of wings...

KaitiUSA Enthusiast
In complete disagreement. The acutual sauce is often gluten free. Franks, Crystal, and a number of other cayenne pepper sauces are gluten-free. The problem here is that they deep fry em. Deep frying in the same as other breaded things.

Now, keep in mind, some places also have something really really nasty, breaded wings. These of course are not gluten-free, but they are completly disgusting and shouldn't be allowed to be grouped in the same class as something as delicious as hot wings.

Most bars and stuff just use Frank's on their wings. Frank's is gluten-free.

Open Original Shared Link

I buy Franks RH by the gallon jug from the grocery store. I make lots of wings...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Either way..they aren't gluten free though. I have checked the sauce at places I have been and they have been questionabe. They could very well use that brand that is safe.

As for bars, I have no clue what they use..I'm only 18 so I haven't been there. It really wouldn't matter if their sauce is gluten free or not though because of deep frying.

Or say most of them use that but they add something different or something in addition to it to enhance the taste..I just would even trust the stuff they put on it either

grantschoep Contributor

Understood. Though, some bars grill the wings. That how I cook them at home. I've always felt grilling tastes better than deep frying. The bars I use to hit alot in California bay area grilled the wings, and never added any non gluten-free stuff to them, so they were known to be good. Just need to know how each place makes them. Just like anywhere else. Also, I can't imaging someone at one of these places adding to much that is not gluten-free for sauces, as most all the sauces are gluten-free, and most things you could ever put in a hot sauce mix is gluten-free. I don't know I guess I can't talk for other places.

I have about 20 different hot wing recipes, and not one was ever non gluten-free, those are all ones I had years before I knew about my gluten intolerence. I just looked through my cupboard, I have 19 difference sauces for wings right now. All of them are gluten-free.

mytummyhurts Contributor

Chevy's says that their hot wings are gluten-free. A note on nachos though, some places fry their chips in oil that is used for other things. Chevy's is another example of that. They state that their nachos would be gluten-free, except they fry them in contaminated oil. :( Bummer, I love nachos.

  • 1 month later...
Rose519 Newbie

A lot of different places that prepare the chicken wings do use flour coatings of some type. As for soy being okay, it is my understanding that is not always the case and it absolutely is not in my case - oh, I get so sick. Soy was the first thing that was discovered I could not have, 30 years before everything else. It is my understanding that some of the processes used for making soy is what causes the problem, and somehow it is related to gluten. I had read that and I checked with my GI and he agreed.

I first pulled this post up to read because I noticed that the Nature Valley Bar topic. I had a NV Peanut Bar and one of them didn't make me sick, but if I was eating two of them, because I had skipped breakfast and was combining for two meals (I know... :rolleyes: ), I got very very sick. It was then I realized that there was a big problem with them.

Merika Contributor

Yeah, the way we used to make the hot sauce STICK to the chicken wings was by coating them in flour before dipping them in hotsauce and then frying them. I assumed that's how all wings were made. The flour wasn't really a visible part of the wing once it was cooked either - not like a KFC chicken or anything...

Merika

  • 4 years later...
dunphy118 Newbie

Hey all,

My mom, the sweet heart she is bought me some Nature Valley Granola bars in a variety pack. As I read the box ingredients, each one is primarily made with Whole grain Oats...this is a bad thing, correct? The peanut on some of the bars are OK, but the soy,rice flour, malt,high fructose, and the whole grain is not, right?

She was just trying to look for something I can grab in the morning and go...I'm probably better off with sticking with my bananas, huh?

Nature Valley Granola Bars ARE actually gluten free! Whole Grain does not mean gluten! whole grain can range from brown rice to other grains. Nature Valley is a great gluten free snack since they report all possible allergens on the wrapper. They do NOT say "May Contain: Gluten"

sa1937 Community Regular

Nature Valley Granola Bars ARE actually gluten free! Whole Grain does not mean gluten! whole grain can range from brown rice to other grains. Nature Valley is a great gluten free snack since they report all possible allergens on the wrapper. They do NOT say "May Contain: Gluten"

This is a really old thread dating back to 2005. I think a lot of Nature Valley Granola Bars contain oats if you can handle them.

The only ones General Mills has marked gluten free are the Almond Crunch and they are really delish! Open Original Shared Link

  • 1 month later...
BellaBoo Newbie

I am so glad I looked this up. I recently got diagnosed after many years of questioning. I was munching on a bar and had been having symptoms again after being gluten free for about 2 months. I thought I was eating safe foods but the new addition was the nature valley bars. Glad I found this forum and all its great information. I actually thought oats were okay. So what about Oatmeal?

bincongo Contributor

For grocery shopping I recomend Cecelia's Gluten-Free Grocery shopping guide and take it with you and give it to your mother.

ravenwoodglass Mentor

I am so glad I looked this up. I recently got diagnosed after many years of questioning. I was munching on a bar and had been having symptoms again after being gluten free for about 2 months. I thought I was eating safe foods but the new addition was the nature valley bars. Glad I found this forum and all its great information. I actually thought oats were okay. So what about Oatmeal?

Some of us can tolerate certified gluten free oats but many can't. You could try and find out which group you are in by eating some certified gluten free oats a couple times a day for a week. If after that week you haven't reacted then the gluten-free oats are likely okay for your system. Most oats are cross contaminated by processing so make sure the one you challenge with says it is definately gluten free. Bob's Red Mill puts out a certified oats so you could try that. Just don't go with Quaker.

Cheryl-C Enthusiast

WHOLE GRAIN is GLUTEN :o:o

Can I ask a clarifying question? Yesterday I bought two bags of Riceworks crisps. On the front AND back of the bag it says "wheat and gluten-free." Score. There is also a part on the front that says "Whole Grain." Because this is a rice product, I'm assuming this means whole-grain rice, which would still be gluten-free, right?

Gluten-Is-Icky Newbie

The reason to be concerned with something stating "Whole Grain" is that it usually contains things like barley, wheat, kamut, things like that. If it specifically states "gluten free" you should be good. However, I'm posting from Canada and I know the term Gluten Free is tested differently here. As far as I know, the acceptable parts per million(ppm) is higher in the US. So if your super sensitive it's a good idea to find out the ppm the company is using.

Also a side note on oats. They are naturally free of gluten HOWEVER, the way they are grown is usually on a field beside wheat and so they can be contaminated right from the growing stage. They are also ground on the same mills as wheat usually, hence more cross contamination. That's why you sometimes get two answers for "are oats safe." Basically if you want to eat oatmeal or granola with rolled oats, it's best to get certified gluten free ones.

Hope that's helpful!

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