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Dang! Tomato Paste

gatita

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gatita Enthusiast
gatita
Posted

I am just recently diagnosed and 6 weeks gluten-free, so I am still learning. My friend's homemade soup last night made me soooo sick so she fished the can out of the garbage and there it was, right on the label: "wheat gluten."

I couldn't believe it! I thought I was a hard-core label checker, but didn't think to bug her about tomato paste after she told me she hadn't used any bullion.

I checked Contadina's website for their "Italian paste with Italian Herbs," and there it is in the ingredient list.

So I'm gonna be sick for another day or two :(

Who knew?

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kareng Grand Master
kareng
Posted

Crazy, ain't it?

"Ingredients List:

Tomato Puree (Tomato Paste, Water), High Fructose Corn Syrup, Salt, Dried Onions, Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (Soybean And/Or Cottonseed), Spices, Hydrolyzed Corn Gluten, Soy & Wheat Gluten Proteins, Grated Romano Cheese Made From Cow's Milk (Cultured Milk, Salt, Enzymes), Garlic, Citric Acid, Yeast, Soy Flour. Contains Soybeans, Wheat, Milk."

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Lisa Mentor
Lisa
Posted

That sucks! I grab Hunt's off the shelf without even reading the label. I trust them, but this serves as a reminder for ME to always check and re-check labels. (When I do buy a different brand, I always do read the ingredients )

Hope you won't feel too badly. :)

psawyer Proficient
psawyer
Posted

So, to be clear, we are not actually talking about something labeled simply as "Tomato Paste."

We are talking about a certain brand of tomato product described as "Italian Paste with Italian Herbs.

That doesn't sound the same to me. I expect "Tomato Paste" to not have herbs and other things added. To me, this is a quite different product--which happens to have tomato paste as one of the ingredients. It does use the words "Tomato Paste" as part of the label description.

I don't even see the "herbs" in the ingredient list, unless they are hidden in "spices." There are a lot things in there that are neither herbs nor tomatoes: cheese, garlic, onions, salt, corn syrup, yeast, soy flour, etc. This is clearly not ordinary tomato paste.

Does anyone know of a product that is described just as "Tomato Paste" that has anything other than tomatoes and possibly water? I don't.

tarnalberry Community Regular
tarnalberry
Posted

Peter, to be fair, this is one that can throw you, and it IS labeled tomato paste. Look at the cans, they look EXCEPTIONALLY similar (though different) and I don't think you'd first expect the ingredient list to be so different between the two of them. This is a reason to be very critical (in the "observant") sense of what we buy.

Regular tomato paste:

170x245_t_paste.png

Italian Herb tomato paste:

170x245_t_paste_herbs.png

When you compare that to a number of similar products in the same aisle - specifically the other preparations of canned tomatoes (stewed, diced, sauce, etc.) - that DO have "with italian herbs" and other such labels and really do have just herbs added... Well, I think that it's a pretty easy mistake to make if you haven't yet convinced yourself not to assume ANYTHING.

psawyer Proficient
psawyer
Posted

Tiffany, thank you for the photos. The appearance is very similar, even though the products are very different. Bah! "Tomato Paste product with Italian Herbs is in small print. :angry:

gatita Enthusiast
gatita
Posted
  • Author

Thanks, those photos really show it...

Yes, as you suggest Peter, I expect tomato paste to be made of something simple, like, oh, tomatoes and salt. Never heard of "tomato paste product." Silly me.

Live and learn. I'm hurting and the intestinal "gurgles" were so loud today, I had to walk out of work till they settled down! This from one bowl of soup. Sigh.

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Takala Enthusiast
Takala
Posted

Wheat ...... is not an herb. It is not an Italian herb, either.

That was my brand of tomato paste until they started doing that. I think they've managed to increase the number of ingredients to "Frankenstein's bride's made status," since the last time I looked at the label. It is just easier to train the spouse to select another brand which is less likely to be booby-trapped. I still have to read all the labels, but it's less likely to make it past the cash register and then into the pantry. But he has tried picking that up a time or two, and I caught it. I've accidentally picked it up, and put it right back on the shelf.

As someone who has been making traditional spaghetti sauce for decades, recipe from my mother who learned it from her Italian neighbors as a young adult, that mish- mash of cottonseed oil is so deeply offensive... corn syrup... soybeans... in pasta sauce.... that is so gross. And then the wheat in it. <_<

  • 2 weeks later...
gatita Enthusiast
gatita
Posted
  • Author

And by the way, I just found out it's not only that Contadina product. My friend checked other "tomato paste" in her cupboard and the ingredients were almost the same. This time it was one of those off-label cheap-o brands called Western Family. No "Italian herbs" but yes wheat gluten.:(

mbrookes Community Regular
mbrookes
Posted

The lesson here is read the labels. I recently picked up a can of turnip greens, got home and read the label. Yep. Wheat. Why is wheat in turnip greens? Or roasted peanuts? Or a host of other things. That is why we have to read the labels, always.

Juliebove Rising Star
Juliebove
Posted

I rarely buy tomato paste. Unless I need a larger amount for a recipe, I just use a tube of stuff imported from Italy. Since I use so little, I usually wind up throwing it out and replacing it every couple of years. I do not buy the tomato products from Trader Joe's or the Walmart brand because they are on shared lines with a lot of things we can't have. I believe wheat or gluten is among those things.

  • 2 weeks later...
Linda422 Newbie
Linda422
Posted

If I read this right then your saying that I can't use tomato paste? Very new to this.

IrishHeart Veteran
IrishHeart
Posted

If I read this right then your saying that I can't use tomato paste? Very new to this.

No hon, if you read the entire discussion,

you would have seen that SOME tomato pastes MADE WITH ITALIAN HERBS contain wheat (not sure why they do, but that's another story)

Tomato paste, in general, does not. I use Hunt's tomato paste all the time- no problem.

Checking the label is always a good idea.

Hope this clears it up for you?

Welcome to the forum!

Linda422 Newbie
Linda422
Posted

No hon, if you read the entire discussion,

you would have seen that SOME tomato pastes MADE WITH ITALIAN HERBS contain wheat (not sure why they do, but that's another story)

Tomato paste, in general, does not. I use Hunt's tomato paste all the time- no problem.

Checking the label is always a good idea.

Hope this clears it up for you?

Welcome to the forum!

Thank you so much it did help. I want to make my own sauce so I know what in it. Still have brain frog.

IrishHeart Veteran
IrishHeart
Posted

Thank you so much it did help. I want to make my own sauce so I know what in it. Still have brain frog.

I know this is just a typo and you're understandably fatigued, but I cannot resist..."brain frog". :)

Linda, welcome to the family. We ALL had brain frogs.

( and sometimes, they return)

You're going to be okay, hon!

Linda422 Newbie
Linda422
Posted

I know this is just a typo and you're understandably fatigued, but I cannot resist..."brain frog". :)

Linda, welcome to the family. We ALL had brain frogs.

( and sometimes, they return)

You're going to be okay, hon!

LOL.....Yep that is me....I know that it is going to be slow, I have been on here reading a lot and learn so much....more then what the dr told me. Plus I have Lupus so that doesn't help.

Have Great Day!

IrishHeart Veteran
IrishHeart
Posted

LOL.....Yep that is me....I know that it is going to be slow, I have been on here reading a lot and learn so much....more then what the dr told me. Plus I have Lupus so that doesn't help.

Have Great Day!

Lupus is a difficult disease, I know. Sorry, hon. I hope that you are finding all you need on here. I will PM you rather than go too far off topic. I have some suggestions for you--to get you started. :)

Celiac Mindwarp Community Regular
Celiac Mindwarp
Posted

Saw this post - reddit reddit

IrishHeart Veteran
IrishHeart
Posted

Saw this post - reddit reddit

:lol: :lol: :lol:

in the US, it would be Ribbit RIbbit

UK frogs must have an "accent" ;)

ndw3363 Contributor
ndw3363
Posted

Who knew that a simple post about tomato paste could crack me up on a VERY LONG Friday afternoon? Brain Frog...hilarious! What's sad/funny, is that I didn't even catch the typo until someone else pointed it out. Maybe I have brain toad instead.

When I was younger, I used to eat tomato paste straight out the can - yep, I'm weird. My mom would leave a little in the cans she would use for me. I suppose there are worse things I could eat though right? :-)

Celiac Mindwarp Community Regular
Celiac Mindwarp
Posted

Sorry, a bit obscure.

A frog went into the library. The librarian pulls out a book. The frog say reddit. Librarian gets out another book. Frog says reddit.

My brain managed to read that as brain toast! Brain frog and my dyslexia are apparently a recipe for bad jokes.

Good news about the tomato paste though x

IrishHeart Veteran
IrishHeart
Posted

Sorry, a bit obscure.

A frog went into the library. The librarian pulls out a book. The frog say reddit. Librarian gets out another book. Frog says reddit.

My brain managed to read that as brain toast! Brain frog and my dyslexia are apparently a recipe for bad jokes.

Good news about the tomato paste though x

Oh it's a good joke and I got it--reddit reddit. :lol:

Humor heals and of course, we are not laughing AT linda and her frog, we are laughing with her.

I did not just have brain fog (or even a frog), I had brain vaseline. It was not funny at all back then, :( but I do try to laugh about it now.

As for tomato paste out of the can? sure, why not! You should have seen me with the remnants of the can of condensed milk...yum yum

Celiac Mindwarp Community Regular
Celiac Mindwarp
Posted

Definitely laughing with x

GottaSki Mentor
GottaSki
Posted

Ribbit, Ribbit - Linda is not alone and the typo sure made me smile.

We could start the froggy club - so much more fun to say "I'm a bit froggy today" rather than "I've got brain fog - again".

oops...off topic :D

IrishHeart Veteran
IrishHeart
Posted

Ribbit, Ribbit - Linda is not alone and the typo sure made me smile.

We could start the froggy club - so much more fun to say "I'm a bit froggy today" rather than "I've got brain fog - again".

oops...off topic :D

well, here's a warning.....CROAK! CROAK! :lol: :lol:

frogs like tomato paste.

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