Company Statements

[laurelfla]

How far do y'all go to avoid the possibility of gluten?

i'm still pretty new to all this. it's been a few weeks and i thought i had it down, more or less. today i discovered that Coke Zero has gluten in it, and lo and behold, that is what i drank off and on all this summer. i'm so frustrated!! i know it takes a while to get good at avoiding the right stuff, but everyday i feel dumber.

i keep getting symptoms and am now on a quest to clear my kitchen of cooking utensils that might be holding onto gluten and cleaning products that aren't safe, and i'm checking into all my cosmetics. because apart from the Coke incident (which i hadn't had recently anyway), i think i'm eating fine, just sticking to things i know are ok.

i have the gluten-free list off delphiforums and here is the statement from Estee Lauder:

"Consumers will find ingredient listings on our primary packaging material, in accordance with FDA regulations, using names which are standard throughout the cosmetic and fragrance industry. Because of the vast number of raw materials from different sources, it is not possible to guarantee that our products are completely free of any of the grains specified."

i've gone through the ingredients lists and they check out ok. but do i worry about their "no guarantees" stance? do i now avoid all foods/products from any company that can't guarantee there are no cross contamination or questionable sources? is that even realistic? i feel like i will drive myself crazy trying to figure out what's in everything!

i'm sorry this post is so long! i do have one other quick concern. how many of you use pdas to keep track of product lists? my scraps of notepaper are starting to bug me and i'm toying with the idea of getting one.

thanks so much! have a great day, everyone!

[elonwy]

I tossed all my wooden and plastic stuff and cleaned my kitchen within an inch of its life. Still have a bf with GLuteny food, but he's super-paranoid about making me sick.

I'm still getting sick too, I'm not sure what's doing it.

I'm horrendousy paranoid right now, expecially since I've been getting tastes of how it feels to feel good again. That particular statement sounds like legal-coverbutt-ese, which a lot of companies give out. I think that stuff it a matter of comfort level on your part, which has been said here a few times.

Myself, right now I'm not comfortable with stuff that doesn't say gluten-free, or isn't on the Delphi list, cause every time I've deviated - whoop - tummy troubles and the incredible z's.

After a while when I've really got the hang of it, maybe I'll be more comfy.

Especially with makeup though, its so expensive, that if it does make you sick, what do you do with that ten-dollar lip gloss from Sephora that you just bought that looks sooo cute on you but they won't say that any of thier products are gluten free so it just sits on your desk taunting you because you can't bear to throw it away....... oh right, we were talking about you

For me, its a tough call.

As far as the files, I keep everything on a folder on my comp and make a list of what I want before I go to the grocery store and on my list I put a few options for brands that will work for that item.

I did my stint in the store with my book and my piles of paper and decided to condense. It takes some time, but excel has some prebuilt lists you can modify pretty easily. And I'm getting the "good' companies memorized.

HTH

Elonwy

[celiac3270]

Ok. Start in the kitchen. Toss any cast iron or teflon cookware, wooden spoons or cutting boards, and plastic isn't good either. Replace these with new cookware. If you have a spouse who will not eat gluten-free, keep these for non-gluten-free cooking--if not, get rid of them and begin with a 100% gluten-free kitchen.

Coke Zero doesn't have gluten in it. The company was merely covering its a** since they hadn't yet tested it. 99% chance it's actually gluten-free and if not, it would be from contamination, not some wheat they actually added. Coke will only list certain products as being gluten-free...and most of the rest of them are, too, but they haven't tested, so they're being careful about saying it's gluten-free and getting sued. Just stick with the basics with Coke or you can go to Pepsi. All softdrinks made by Pepsi, Co. are gluten-free...and that includes an array besides actual Pepsi, such as Mountain Dew, etc. Look at their product list and you'll be looking at their "gluten-free list" in a sense.

Umm...wrong person to ask about makeup...Kaiti will probably drop by.

PDA--great idea. Many people do this. You can upload the Delphi list, forbidden and safe ingredients lists, and any other customized food lits you may make. If you get the "Pocket PC" which is like a Palm, but a little more expensive, you can leave the Delphi list in word. If not, you should go to the site (I have instructions somewhere on how to do it, but I think I remember seeing this post there, so you might have discovered it already?) and download the TEXT file version of the Delphi list. This would be better suited to work on a Palm or comparable PDAs.

If you have any other questions, ask away!

-celiac3270

[Carriefaith]

How far do y'all go to avoid the possibility of gluten?

- Separate food containers such as mayonaise, peanut butter, jam, butter, ect

- I have a lot of my own cookware (wok, stirring spoons, baking pans, cutting board) which were all gifts, but I cannot personally afford to buy all new stuff like pots, silverware, plates, glasses, ect. so I am extra careful at cleaning that stuff.

- Separate toaster

- Cleaning counter surfaces before placing food on them

- I check all plates and utensils before using them and wash them twice if I have to. Crumbs are EVERYWHERE in my house and I often find crumbs sitting on clean plates.

I'm probably missing some things, but in general you have to be very careful. Even when I do all these things, I still can get contaminated somehow

[laurelfla]

thanks, guys, for your replies!

today is Gluten Free Day! i have been to the farmers market and am going to cook a fabulous dinner later on, as a reward for all the work i'm about to do in the kitchen. i think the physical act of boxing up all the stuff that could make me sick will go a long way towards making me feel better emotionally. i've been so irritable lately! i do live alone, so crumb contamination from a significant other is not a problem. that's fortunate, i guess.

i think one of my friends is going to give me an older pda; all i have to do is buy a battery for it.

i'm feeling better this morning tummy-wise at last. but am not going to relax the vigilance. i felt so much better there for a few weeks; it's disappointing to keep having to go through symptoms. elonwy, i hope you get to feeling better soon!

thank you again!!

[ravenwoodglass]

Hi, Welcome to the family. I recently called the neutrogena company and all their shampoos and conditioners are gluten-free. Your doing the right thing by cleaning everything out. I donated everything except the box of Triscuts that I took down to Fort Bragg in Oct 2001 when I went to see my son on family day when he was in training. (It is in a plastic bag, sealed. We Moms keep the stupidest things!). Any way I saw on your post that you have a four-footed freind. Please be aware that most dog and cat food has gluten. When first diagnosed I wore nonpowdered gloves to feed my 4 footed freinds. Now I just make sure I wash real well. I make sure I puchase all makeup and toiletries from a store I can return them to if needed and then I call the maker. I recently found clientel on QVC and they did certify that their creams and foundations are gluten-free. A bit expensive but it is nice to use something that doesn't give me blisters and zits. Now if they would just come out with shadows and mascara I'd be all set. Good luck and keep making those lists.

[laurelfla]

hello, friends!

Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama (my home state) and the damage and people affected are all i can think about at the moment... ...

but i'm going to take a break from watching the news coverage to ask something that's been on my mind as far as cross contamination goes. when i told friends and family that i was still getting sick and was cleaning out my kitchen this past weekend, the typical response was, "can't you boil that stuff and kill it?" all i could come up with for a response was, "it's not a germ that i am trying to kill! it is a protein embedded in my cooking stuff!" which sounded rather unscientific, i guess. does anyone know of some authority that recommends the kitchen-cleansing? or a sciencey article about it that i could refer these people to?

it also bothered me that it felt like they were criticizing rather than supporting! it's my health and if i thought it was necessary in order to feel better, that should have been good enough. but i'd like to have a better answer to their suggestion to "just throw things in the dishwasher to clean them up", if anybody can help me out.

[laurelfla]

Any way I saw on your post that you have a four-footed freind. Please be aware that most dog and cat food has gluten. When first diagnosed I wore nonpowdered gloves to feed my 4 footed freinds. Now I just make sure I wash real well.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

ravenwoodglass, thanks for the neutrogena info! i am in the market for new haircare stuff, since i found out my redken stuff has wheat ingredients. also i wrote bumble and bumble, but they have yet to get back to me.

i do indeed have a 4-footed friend. but actually my avatar is of my dog at home in Alabama. i got a kitten this summer named Frank Thomas, and at first he was on Purina, but i've since gotten him on Nutro... it does have oat fiber, but i figure that is somewhat better than wheat flour as the second ingredient. plus i wash my hands after every feeding and try not to inhale!

[celiac3270]

You're absolutely right--(re: it's not a germ, it's a protein). And you really can't clean some of the cookware. I have talked to one person who managed to keep her cast iron cookware after SANDBLASTING it.

[skbird]

I have a cast iron pan - an Aebleskiver pan from my mom and dad (they got it for their wedding) and really want to use it again. For those who don't know, it's a pan with like 9 semi-circle depressions in it and you pour batter in halfway, put in a spoon of applesauce, then pour more batter to cover, cook, turn them over, and have a ball-shaped treat you can sprinkle with powdered sugar. We also used jam. Anyway, I have been thinking about putting it in the fire- I did that with another cast iron tortilla pan (before gluten-free) and took it back to the original iron finish. Lost the years of seasoning, but that was the point. I have also heard of people putting their cast iron pans in their self-cleaning ovens and running the cycle, but some reported cracking of the pans after doing this.

I don't know if it would get the gluten out but am thinking of trying the fire version. Basically, you have a fire in the fire place and stick the pan face down on the coals for a while. Then you pull it out, let it cool, and then clean it up. Seems like that might do it.

Stephanie