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Gluten Free Chicken? No Such Thing


buckwheat

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buckwheat Apprentice

First off I just wanted to say, I'm not one of these whackos suggesting eggs have gluten, ect. The following is a real issue and I hope everyone takes it seriously.

Keep getting glutened from chicken and think its the added solutions? Could be, but there is another problem. The problem comes from the slaughter house. It doesn't matter if its a huge tyson factor, or a local farm. As they are slaughtered, there are guts, undigested wheat feed from the stomach ripped open, intestines, ect -not to mention the wheat already on the feathers and skin from rolling around in feed. The tables are absolutely contaminated with wheat. After they are rinsed, they look clean, but the powderous feed is already imbedded in the porous skin. At this point the chicken is reeking of gluten on the skin, and partially absorbed through the areas of the meat (the skin is not air-tight after being cut!). The inside of the chicken is lubricated with undigested feed (gluten) (from the removal and clinching of intestines -squeezes out undigested feed[gluten]) As the breasts, thighs, and legs are cut the knife will cut through this core at some point, contamining all cuts of meat. The unfortunate thing about this too is that gluten free chicken broths, are not 100% gluten free and may contain way more wheat than you would think. I personally I have tried progresso gluten free broth and I reacted within an hour or so.

So if your fed up with all of the factory brands, don't be suprised when you get glutened from a chicken at your local butcher.

Some folks think they are having a "chicken allergy" but I believe it is because of this issue. Obviously this is only going to effect supersensitve people, but if you really are celiac, you might want to think about cutting out chicken anyway even if you don't react to it.

Its hard to accept, and some of you may be in denial. However this is a real issue and I hope a lot of people find this post and it helps them.


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Gemini Experienced

First off I just wanted to say, I'm not one of these whackos suggesting eggs have gluten, ect. The following is a real issue and I hope everyone takes it seriously.

Keep getting glutened from chicken and think its the added solutions? Could be, but there is another problem. The problem comes from the slaughter house. It doesn't matter if its a huge tyson factor, or a local farm. As they are slaughtered, there are guts, undigested wheat feed from the stomach ripped open, intestines, ect -not to mention the wheat already on the feathers and skin from rolling around in feed. The tables are absolutely contaminated with wheat. After they are rinsed, they look clean, but the powderous feed is already imbedded in the porous skin. At this point the chicken is reeking of gluten on the skin, and partially absorbed through the areas of the meat (the skin is not air-tight after being cut!). The inside of the chicken is lubricated with undigested feed (gluten) (from the removal and clinching of intestines -squeezes out undigested feed[gluten]) As the breasts, thighs, and legs are cut the knife will cut through this core at some point, contamining all cuts of meat. The unfortunate thing about this too is that gluten free chicken broths, are not 100% gluten free and may contain way more wheat than you would think. I personally I have tried progresso gluten free broth and I reacted within an hour or so.

So if your fed up with all of the factory brands, don't be suprised when you get glutened from a chicken at your local butcher.

Some folks think they are having a "chicken allergy" but I believe it is because of this issue. Obviously this is only going to effect supersensitve people, but if you really are celiac, you might want to think about cutting out chicken anyway even if you don't react to it.

Its hard to accept, and some of you may be in denial. However this is a real issue and I hope a lot of people find this post and it helps them.

This post begs a response...... :blink:

What your post suggests is that any chicken that is slaughtered is contaminated to the point where a Celiac cannot eat them and it's because of the wheat feed that a chicken consumes before they are slaughtered? Now, I realize that the process of slaughtering animals is not pretty and it may get pretty messy but I would like to think that chickens are washed well enough so that people won't be dying of E. Coli because that would be far more of a worry than wheat feed spilling from the intestinal tract of a chicken. What you have posted is utter nonsense and it fits in well with the "gluten in eggs" crowd. :lol:

Bottom line is that chickens or any other animal have to go through a pretty intensive wash process to eliminate stuff that would make us sick. Fecal matter would be the top worry and as many, many people consume beef, chicken and pork products daily without becoming ill, then they do a pretty good job of it. Yes, some get sick but most of that has come from heavily processed meats, with added ingredients. Celiacs or anyone else with a gluten issue need not worry about chickens and wheat feed....unless you eat the chicken feed yourself and I wouldn't recommend that!

Where has all the common sense gone?

Adalaide Mentor

I pretty much get sick if I am at a party and make eye contact with someone who was thinking about cookies that contain gluten. I am also the single most paranoid person I know. Having grown up on a farm I can say with 110% confidence that you are so far beyond paranoid and have gone so far beyond the realm of science that I don't even know where to start. Chicken is fine. I'll leave it at that.

buckwheat Apprentice

If your eating a chicken breast from a restaurant, marinated buttered, ect. You probably wont feel the effects of the gluten from being diluted. For those of us that buy a whole chicken, SOME of us DO have a problem. I was trying to be funny when I mention it in detail (not paranoid). Bottom line is the tables are contaminated, from undigested wheat.

I'm speaking to the few people on this site who are actually come to this site FOR HELP, the people that area actually CELIAC FORREAL. Adalaide, it looks as though you have your own food issues, besides gluten. Everyone is different and through google searches I know a lot of people are just like me with chicken, after visiting a local butcher I decided to post this.

Thanks

bartfull Rising Star

While there may be wheat in some commercial chicken feeds, the one I buy locally is corn.(They also sell an oat-based feed which isn't nearly as nutritious for the chickens.) I react badly to corn, you might even say I am supersenstitive to corn, but I am able to eat chicken every day with no reaction whatsoever. I can even eat grocery store chicken with no reaction. I always wash chicken well before cooking of course, just as I do with all meat except for the ground bison that I love so much.

Oh, by the way, no, I don't raise chickens. But there is a "stray" rooster here in town who hangs out on the lawn of a local B&B. When the owner is out of town, I take him food and water. We have gotten to be good friends, this rooster and I. My friends have taken to calling me "the chicken whisperer". :lol:

bartfull Rising Star

Buckwheat, chicken skin is no more porous than human skin. Humans can't get glutened from touching wheat because the molicules are not small enough to pass through the skin. If you wash chicken well, it is perfectly safe.

I'm not saying you don't react to chicken. It is very possible that you have an allergy or intolerance to chicken, but it is not because of any gluten they eat.

sa1937 Community Regular

Nice that you found it comical. You obviously don't have a problem with chicken, other do and this is why. It is the real did and it is an explaination why a lot of people show some symptoms after consuming chicken, even from a local butcher. Bottom line is the chicken are not washed off that would, and wheat is sticky gets into pourous skin. It is no more far fetched than flour dust in the air contaminating gluten free production lines in a fritos factory.

A lot of people find they have various problems with different types of food. If chicken makes you sick, don't eat it.


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Gemini Experienced

While there may be wheat in some commercial chicken feeds, the one I buy locally is corn.(They also sell an oat-based feed which isn't nearly as nutritious for the chickens.) I react badly to corn, you might even say I am supersenstitive to corn, but I am able to eat chicken every day with no reaction whatsoever. I can even eat grocery store chicken with no reaction. I always wash chicken well before cooking of course, just as I do with all meat except for the ground bison that I love so much.

Oh, by the way, no, I don't raise chickens. But there is a "stray" rooster here in town who hangs out on the lawn of a local B&B. When the owner is out of town, I take him food and water. We have gotten to be good friends, this rooster and I. My friends have taken to calling me "the chicken whisperer". :lol:

"The chicken whisperer"......that's beautiful, bartfull! LOL! :lol:

buckwheat Apprentice

ok noboday reads. the gluten is from the CUTTING TABLE, THE KNIFE, UNDIGESTED FEED. I never suggested the chicken's meat is contaminated in any other way except the butchering process.

IrishHeart Veteran

If your eating a chicken breast from a restaurant, marinated buttered, ect. You probably wont feel the effects of the gluten from being diluted. For those of us that buy a whole chicken, SOME of us DO have a problem. I was trying to be funny when I mention it in detail (not paranoid). Bottom line is the tables are contaminated, from undigested wheat.

I'm speaking to the few people on this site who are actually come to this site FOR HELP, the people that area actually CELIAC FORREAL.

So now you are saying that a "marinated or buttered" chicken will magically not have the gluten in it that all chickens will have from the wheat pellet smeared slaughter house?

Sorry, but your explanation is getting more convoluted as you go along.

I am speaking to all the people who come to this site for help--please, take it from this "for real" celiac who is telling you the honest truth...

you can rest assured your chicken is safe from gluten.

Buckwheat, I'm sorry---- but your theory lacks credibility.

You may not feel well after eating chicken, but it isn't from gluten.

IrishHeart Veteran

ok noboday reads. the gluten is from the CUTTING TABLE, THE KNIFE, UNDIGESTED FEED. I never suggested the chicken's meat is contaminated in any other way except the butchering process.

Actually, you did say it would get through the skin, but you edited your post after Bartful replied with her response.

We understand what you are saying to us, we just do not agree it is possible. Th chickens are thoroughly cleaned and then, most (wise) people clean them again before cooking.

Sylvia's post above has your post quoted as:

"Bottom line is the chicken are not washed off that would, and wheat is sticky gets into pourous skin. It is no more far fetched than flour dust in the air contaminating gluten free production lines in a fritos factory."

Adalaide Mentor

First, I'm here because I do have CELIAC. FOR REAL. And I am one of the lucky (or unlucky, depending on your point of view) super sensitive people. You have no scientific evidence for where you are coming from. You just seem to be having issues with chicken and coming up with some convoluted ideas with why. I have participated in all stages of the chicken process, from raising the eggs, raising the chickens to killing them and butchering them. Gluten will not become magically and permantently embedded into your meat during this process, I assure you. I eat chicken at least once and usually twice a week. I buy it without additives and have no problems. I can tell you that if our chickens were being contaminated wholesale at slaughter I would be hospitalized by now.

Gemini Experienced

If your eating a chicken breast from a restaurant, marinated buttered, ect. You probably wont feel the effects of the gluten from being diluted. For those of us that buy a whole chicken, SOME of us DO have a problem. I was trying to be funny when I mention it in detail (not paranoid). Bottom line is the tables are contaminated, from undigested wheat.

I'm speaking to the few people on this site who are actually come to this site FOR HELP, the people that area actually CELIAC FORREAL. Adalaide, it looks as though you have your own food issues, besides gluten. Everyone is different and through google searches I know a lot of people are just like me with chicken, after visiting a local butcher I decided to post this.

Thanks

I am one of those FOR REAL Celiacs so I guess I am allowed to reply FOR REAL.

I have no doubt that chicken causes you grief because people can and do react to chicken. My thyroid doctor has an allergy to chicken and she itches all over, badly, from eating chicken. So she did the smart thing and stopped eating chicken.

You need to be less defensive when people post back in response to what you say when it makes no sense. We do read, and judging by the way you post, we do a pretty good job considering the stuff you have thrown out here. Chicken is NOT contaminated with undigested wheat feed during slaughter or Celiacs would not be able to eat it. In fact, most of the population would be very sick if chicken were contaminated with anything that comes from the GI tract of a dead chicken. We would be keeling over in droves and it ain't happening. If you want to continue to believe it's so, that's fine, but the rest of us have to make sure that newly diagnosed Celiacs don't read this and think they can't eat chicken. They can, as long as it isn't fried in wheat coating or smothered in a wheaty cream sauce. Does that make sense to you?

carolynmay Apprentice

I can perhaps add something here as I actually spoke to a chicken farmer about the slaughter process, although I do appreciate that different farms / slaughter houses may adopt different processes.

However, he said that here in the UK at least there are very strict rules that any meat which is spoiled by coming into contact with any fecal matter / digestive tract etc has to be thrown away. He also said that chickens are typically starved for a few hours prior to slaughter to minimise this risk, so there really should not be any partly digested food hanging around in their intestinal tracts.

I do also appreciate what the OP says about gluten on chicken skin though, and don't think that is as ridiculous an idea as others are suggesting. Let's face it - if other foods sat around in wheat and other grain pieces and dust before being hosed off for us to eat we might not be so keen!

Best wishes,

Carolyn

cahill Collaborator

You can have issues with chicken that have nothing to do with gluten. Some people ( like me) just do not tolerate chicken .

signed ,

a " for real " celiac .

Jestgar Rising Star

When I process my chickens, I do it in the morning after they have been without food all night. I do not cut open any part of the digestive tract, nor is there reason to (and plenty of reason not to). The chickens do not roll around in feed (especially commercial chickens whose feed is carefuly controlled), and the feathers are so protective that it's hard to get anything on their skin even when you're trying.

GFinDC Veteran

Just wanted to chime in and agree that washing any meat before cooking it is a good idea. Chicken or not.

  • 2 years later...
Ursa Major Collaborator

First off I just wanted to say, I'm not one of these whackos suggesting eggs have gluten, ect. The following is a real issue and I hope everyone takes it seriously.

Keep getting glutened from chicken and think its the added solutions? Could be, but there is another problem. The problem comes from the slaughter house. It doesn't matter if its a huge tyson factor, or a local farm. As they are slaughtered, there are guts, undigested wheat feed from the stomach ripped open, intestines, ect -not to mention the wheat already on the feathers and skin from rolling around in feed. The tables are absolutely contaminated with wheat. After they are rinsed, they look clean, but the powderous feed is already imbedded in the porous skin. At this point the chicken is reeking of gluten on the skin, and partially absorbed through the areas of the meat (the skin is not air-tight after being cut!). The inside of the chicken is lubricated with undigested feed (gluten) (from the removal and clinching of intestines -squeezes out undigested feed[gluten]) As the breasts, thighs, and legs are cut the knife will cut through this core at some point, contamining all cuts of meat. The unfortunate thing about this too is that gluten free chicken broths, are not 100% gluten free and may contain way more wheat than you would think. I personally I have tried progresso gluten free broth and I reacted within an hour or so.

So if your fed up with all of the factory brands, don't be suprised when you get glutened from a chicken at your local butcher.

Some folks think they are having a "chicken allergy" but I believe it is because of this issue. Obviously this is only going to effect supersensitve people, but if you really are celiac, you might want to think about cutting out chicken anyway even if you don't react to it.

Its hard to accept, and some of you may be in denial. However this is a real issue and I hope a lot of people find this post and it helps them.

I have been thinking that I get glutened from my chicken meat for a while now. When googling, I came across this post. 

I made chicken soup a couple of days ago, with all fresh ingredients, and a whole organic chicken from our butcher, as usual. And again, as usual, I am sick today, and have stomach and bowel cramps and diarrhea. 

There is no way this is another coincidence, it has happened too many times. Thanks for your post, it explains a lot. I guess I'll have to stop eating chicken, which is pretty sad!

notme Experienced

once again, there is no gluten in chicken.  rinse your chicken if you think there is gluten ON it and you will magically rinse it off....

  • 3 months later...
Peggy-O Newbie

Question for you as I have had problems with both chicken and eggs. Free range chicken and eggs from small farms (luckily, there are several in the area I live in) seem to be ok. If I eat chicken or eggs dining out I don't feel very well almost like I ate something contaminated with gluten. Red meat is extremely irritating and I can not eat it. Grass fed only is less upsetting, but not tolerable. I wonder if the issue is in what the animal was fed. Are we not what we eat?

  • 3 weeks later...
kareng Grand Master
On ‎11‎/‎14‎/‎2015‎ ‎7‎:‎03‎:‎03‎, Peggy-O said:

Question for you as I have had problems with both chicken and eggs. Free range chicken and eggs from small farms (luckily, there are several in the area I live in) seem to be ok. If I eat chicken or eggs dining out I don't feel very well almost like I ate something contaminated with gluten. Red meat is extremely irritating and I can not eat it. Grass fed only is less upsetting, but not tolerable. I wonder if the issue is in what the animal was fed. Are we not what we eat?

If you are eating food while "dining out",  Maybe you are getting cc'd from the restaurant!  That seems the most logical answer.

  • 5 months later...
kyle1960 Newbie

Yes, chicken you buy in the store can contain gluten.  Chicken meat will not contain gluten before packaging, but look at the excerpt below from an article entitled:

What's really in supermarket poultry (abbreviated title)

Open Original Shared Link

 

The article specifically mentions wheat  (it's toward the end of the passage) as a potential ingredient in the solution injected into the chicken meat.  They inject a lot of this solution into the meat, as much as 30% of the chicken weight you pay for can be the injected solution (Open Original Shared Link.  If packaged chicken is gluten free it will say so below the box on the plastic wrap that has the nutritional information (calories etc).

Here's the passage:

His next task is to bulk out the trim by getting it to absorb water and additives. For this to happen, the manufacturer has to create a ‘brine’, a chemical solution that will encourage the meat to retain liquid using binding agents.

These binding agents are usually from five main sources, which can be used separately or mixed together.

The first is transglutaminase, an enzyme that is essentially a natural glue. Indeed, it is sometimes called ‘meat glue’. The second is from a group collectively known as hydrocolloids, substances that form a gel on contact with water.

These hydrocolloids include carrageenan, which is derived from seaweed, as well as the exotically named locust bean gum — extracted from the seeds of the carob tree — and guar gum, which derives from ground guar beans.

The third widely-used agent, especially in seafood, is phosphate, which is taken from phosphoric acid and is valued for its ability to make oil adhere to water.

The fourth is fibre, made from a source such as wheat, citrus or cellulose.

And the fifth is protein powder, which is made by extracting collagen from pigs’ skins.

kareng Grand Master
 

Yes, chicken you buy in the store can contain gluten.  Chicken meat will not contain gluten before packaging, but look at the excerpt below from an article entitled:

What's really in supermarket poultry (abbreviated title)

The article specifically mentions wheat  (it's toward the end of the passage) as a potential ingredient in the solution injected into the chicken meat.  They inject a lot of this solution into the meat, as much as 30% of the chicken weight you pay for can be the injected solution.  If packaged chicken is gluten free it will say so below the box on the plastic wrap that has the nutritional information (calories etc).

Here's the passage:

His next task is to bulk out the trim by getting it to absorb water and additives. For this to happen, the manufacturer has to create a ‘brine’, a chemical solution that will encourage the meat to retain liquid using binding agents.

These binding agents are usually from five main sources, which can be used separately or mixed together.

The first is transglutaminase, an enzyme that is essentially a natural glue. Indeed, it is sometimes called ‘meat glue’. The second is from a group collectively known as hydrocolloids, substances that form a gel on contact with water.

These hydrocolloids include carrageenan, which is derived from seaweed, as well as the exotically named locust bean gum — extracted from the seeds of the carob tree — and guar gum, which derives from ground guar beans.

The third widely-used agent, especially in seafood, is phosphate, which is taken from phosphoric acid and is valued for its ability to make oil adhere to water.

The fourth is fibre, made from a source such as wheat, citrus or cellulose.

And the fifth is protein powder, which is made by extracting collagen from pigs’ skins.

If you are going to copy someone else's article, please link to the source.  If you want us to believe it is true and from a reliable source, linking would help with that.  

 

kareng Grand Master

There are no warnings, in the US,  from Celiac center's or various Celiac Societies that a Celiac cannot eat plain meat.  If you are worried about what might be added to your meat, buy high quality meat that is cut or ground at the grocer.  Look at the sodium contents on pre-packed meat.  You will see that salt water is sometimes added - the sodium amount will be much higher per serving than plain meat.  

  • 9 months later...
Grosbeak Newbie

     I am super sensitive to gluten. If I eat a tiny amount, I experience atrial fibrillation. In fact, my  wife and I call my heart the "gluten gauge." My diet has included chicken every day at least once--sometimes twice--a day, for well over a year. Recently I began to experience A fib regularly even though I have taken great pains to remove gluten from my diet. I was beginning to think that celiac disease had somehow ruined my heart as well as my digestive system. One night recently I forgot to cook chicken, so I ended up with a vegetarian dinner. I did not experience an irregular heartbeat that evening or the next morning, so I began to suspect that chicken was causing the A fib. I have stopped eating chicken for several weeks now; my heart is completely back to normal. I thought I was a goner. Now I feel like I have a new lease on life. I never would have believed that chicken could cause such a serious reaction until I experienced it myself. It is definitely not nonsense. By the way, I have always carefully washed off the chicken before cooking it, so I'm pretty sure there is never any gluten on the chicken....

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