Near East Rice

[gancan]

My family USED to eat a lot of rice pilaf. Ever since I went gluten free I have only made it a few times for just them to eat. When I looked it up online to see if they have other types of rice that does not contain gluten it showed the spanish rice has NO gluten so we bought a few boxes and I made some last night with dinner. It was great.. until later that night I was in sooo much stomach pain and sweating really bad! I didn't eat anything else that day that I was not already sure was safe since I knew I was going to make that rice and I wanted to make sure I was ok with it. Has any one else had this problem? I just got to thinking that maybe it was cross contaminated because that company makes so many other types of rice products that DO contain gluten. There is no warning on the box saying anything about how its processed in the facility and it doesn't say "gluten free" It just says in the allergy section that it does not contain gluten ingredients..

Any input i'd appreciate.. Thanks!

[Lisa]

My family USED to eat a lot of rice pilaf. Ever since I went gluten free I have only made it a few times for just them to eat. When I looked it up online to see if they have other types of rice that does not contain gluten it showed the spanish rice has NO gluten so we bought a few boxes and I made some last night with dinner. It was great.. until later that night I was in sooo much stomach pain and sweating really bad! I didn't eat anything else that day that I was not already sure was safe since I knew I was going to make that rice and I wanted to make sure I was ok with it. Has any one else had this problem? I just got to thinking that maybe it was cross contaminated because that company makes so many other types of rice products that DO contain gluten. There is no warning on the box saying anything about how its processed in the facility and it doesn't say "gluten free" It just says in the allergy section that it does not contain gluten ingredients..

Any input i'd appreciate.. Thanks!

Companies who list their products as containing no gluten or free gluten have no obligation to verify for no gluten. In the US, there is no legal criterial for labeling a product gluten free. All labeling is voluntary at this time.

In this case, it might be best to contact the company and inquire about shared equipment or shared facility. I also would like to add that if you are new to the diet, many foods can be troublesome, until some healing can take place.

[gancan]

Thanks Lisa - I just found my mistake.. I was also looking up carolina rice on the same day that I looked up Near East and was picturing that website when I was remembering that the spanish rice was gluten free... (dumb!!) but I just went to the FAQ section on Near East and read "While Near East is proud to offer a variety of grain dishes to suit many needs and tastes, we cannot guarantee that any of our products are gluten free. Because our products are processed in facilities alongside other ingredients that contain gluten, there is always a slight risk of cross contact"

So lesson learned.. I must be very sensitive. I will just stay away!!

[Juliebove]

It's very easy to do rice from scratch. When I make Spanish rice I toast the rice in a little olive oil until it's lightly browned. You can use white or brown rice for this but brown will take longer to cook. From there, the most simple way to do this is to sub in some form of tomato product for part of the water. You can use salsa, tomato sauce (we like the seasoned Rotel), canned tomatoes or even a dab of tomato paste. Add chili powder if you want it spicier. You can also add a variety of vegetables. I usually add red and green peppers and lots of onion to help lower the carb count of the overall dish. I have diabetes so have to watch the carbs. But peas, corn and carrots work well in here too. If you are using raw veggies, you should add them at the start. But if you are using cooked ones, then stir them through at the end so that they don't get overcooked. You can also add any kind of cooked, dried beans. And if you want this as a main dish then add cooked ground meat or chopped cooked chicken. I use a cup of rice to two cups of liquid unless the package says otherwise. Recently I bought a huge bag of Basmati brown rice from Costco. It requires a little more handling but it's worth it to me because of the cheap price. You have to rinse it well and let it soak for a while. White rice usually takes 20 minutes to cook and brown rice takes anywhere from 30 to 50 minutes.

[gancan]

that sounds pretty good