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Santa Maria E551 Ingredient Question

dani nero

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dani nero Community Regular
dani nero
Posted

Hi everyone!

Just thought of posting a little warning about anti-caking agent E551 which can be found in some spice mixes.

I checked the unsafe foods page and didn't find E551 on it so I went ahead and made a salad dressing with an Italian spice mix containing E551. Just a few hours after my rash fired up, and I had not so cooperative bowel movements for days after although I took fiber the moment I saw the DH on my hand :-/

So I googled santa-maria and found that some kind soul posted a letter from them stating that anyone with celiac should NOT be consuming any santa-maria spices containing E551. Wonderful.. why wasn't that stated on the label X( I really wish that "trace amounts of gluten" would be taken more seriously.

Anyway, just thought I'd warn others about it. I think it should also be added to the unsafe foods page. Anyone know how to suggest it?

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kareng Grand Master
kareng
Posted

I don't think that is a US ingredient. I haven't seen anything listed like that.

psawyer Proficient
psawyer
Posted

These additive codes are used in Europe, Australia, and (I believe) New Zealand. In North America, the actual name of the substance is used.

I don't have access to a complete dictionary, but I believe E551 is silicon dioxide--quartz. Not being of organic origin, it would not have any vegetable protein of any sort--certainly not gluten.

dani nero Community Regular
dani nero
Posted
  • Author

These additive codes are used in Europe, Australia, and (I believe) New Zealand. In North America, the actual name of the substance is used.

I don't have access to a complete dictionary, but I believe E551 is silicon dioxide--quartz. Not being of organic origin, it would not have any vegetable protein of any sort--certainly not gluten.

Is made from sand and not supposed to contain gluten, so I used it and I got a reaction, which is when I found the response of the manufacturing company. They clearly stated that celics are not to consume it. They didn't say why but my guess is it might be cc with traces of gluten during the manufacturing process. I don't know, but I did get a reaction from it.

Here is their message (I translated it from swedish through google translate)

Santa Maria:

The easiest and best way to ensure this is to read on Santa Maria packaging (glass, bag, etc). If it does not say that it contains anti-caking agents E551, it is ok for you. All our spice jars with as black pepper, allspice, pepper, cayenne pepper, etc. are without E551. We also magna spice blends that do not contain E551, but the easiest is to look at the list of ingredients on the package.

Sincerely

Santa Maria AB

Skylark Collaborator
Skylark
Posted

E551 is gluten-free so it wouldn't go on the unsafe list. As Pater says, it's silicon dioxide or sand.

It sounds like they are adding flour or some other form of undeclared gluten along with the silicon dioxide. It's maddening when that happens and zaps you! Maybe you should retitle your thread to be a warning against Santa Maria products with E551? Or Santa Maria products in general if they're going to add gluten to what should be a safe additive?

dani nero Community Regular
dani nero
Posted
  • Author

E551 is gluten-free so it wouldn't go on the unsafe list. As Pater says, it's silicon dioxide or sand.

It sounds like they are adding flour or some other form of undeclared gluten along with the silicon dioxide. It's maddening when that happens and zaps you! Maybe you should retitle your thread to be a warning against Santa Maria products with E551? Or Santa Maria products in general if they're going to add gluten to what should be a safe additive?

Agreed :-) Thanks for changing the title for me, I didn't find an option to do it myself.

Skylark Collaborator
Skylark
Posted

Agreed :-) Thanks for changing the title for me, I didn't find an option to do it myself.

Twasn't I. I'm not a moderator. Peter probably took care of it. B)

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  • 1 month later...
dani nero Community Regular
dani nero
Posted
  • Author

It's been a while since I posted this, but I was thinking back, and thought that I should give the product it's justice. I was sadly mistaken about the E551 in Santa Maria!

The brand's spices are probably gluten-free, and the cause of the reactions I was having was the high amount of Salicylates in the herbs which the spice-mix contained.

I didn't know much about Salicylates at the time and that an intolerance to them would cause Dermatitis Herpetiformis to surface if the person has it. Seeing the rash surface made me believe I was getting glutened, when in fact, it was the insane amount of sals in the herbs which the spice contained together with the olive oil and vinegar I was putting them in.

It's ok to delete this thread or correct the title again if it's necessary. I apologize for the mistake ;-(

Skylark Collaborator
Skylark
Posted

Wow! I'm glad to hear you figured it out. I bet a lot of people with DH would like to hear about that in more detail. You can't be the only person with salicylate-sensitive DH. Maybe you could start a thread and tell your story in the DH section of the board. :)

dani nero Community Regular
dani nero
Posted
  • Author

Wow! I'm glad to hear you figured it out. I bet a lot of people with DH would like to hear about that in more detail. You can't be the only person with salicylate-sensitive DH. Maybe you could start a thread and tell your story in the DH section of the board. :)

Thanks :-) We found out about it with a lot of help from pricklypear. Eating foods that are high on sals do indeed cause DH reactions and even anxiety and bowel problems.

There are two threads discussing the problem :-) I'll post them here for reference

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