Scott Adams

My wife just brought home some Wendy's canned chili from Costco. I've eaten it at Wendy's and it's on their menu there as gluten free. However, it's not stated as such on the can. On the other hand, wheat is not in the allergen list on the can.

Wendy’s canned chili is gluten free.  My husband just brought home canned skyline original chili.  Is it gluten free? It’s not stated on the can and does have dried yeast, spices and natural flavors.

Another strange failure of the FDA just happened to me.  Like many, if I DO ingest gluten I experience massive projectile vomiting. This can be life threatening when it messes with my insulin/food balance.  So my doctor has prescribed for years two anti nausea drugs. I don't, thank goodness, have to use them often. 
This time, my doctor apparently, when asking for preapproval,  mentioned celiac disease as the reason for the vomiting.  Suddenly, for the first time in 30 years, the insurer denied a claim.  This was not due to "saving the company money."  One drug cost 4.20 with insurance, and 7.00 without.  
The REASON for the denial was that the FDA has not listed nausea as something connected with celiac disease.  "If the FDA does not list a drug for treating a condition Part D cannot cover it" was the insurers conclusion.  Lordy Mama.  Adding nausea as a possible symptom of gluten ingestion is clearly not high on the FDA's regulatory schedule.
My doctor is smart and sneaky.  He just put through the scrips for "occasional serious nausea and vomiting" without mentioning why, and the approvals sailed through.  

Thank you for this article. I was diagnosed in january of 2003, Marsh III B-C,at the age of 55. I had it my entire life. I have always remained very sensitive to gluten, buckwheat and lactose. I have always adhered to  a strictly glutenfree diet and have always baked my own bread. My Dexa scans every 5 years continued to show an improved bone density, although still classified as osteopenia.   The last few years, the food industry here have changed their labelling and added more gluten to products that used to be 100% gluten-free. Navigating a gluten free diet has been more challenging since then. Even with a Mediterranean diet, fatty fish and meat 2x a week, and few sweets, a fair amount of exercise, a  20 year intake of multivitamin, extra vitamine D and glucosamine, chondroitin, I have come to think I am frailer than my life style warrants, because I broke my right tibia plateau and tibia, from a fall, in October, while simply walking. (4th fracture over a life time). In any case this seems to corroborate this article.
Aside from this, I now have a low iron count, hemoglobin etc, Although other counts are ok, I am worrying if I may have a form of EATL or skin lymphoma with 2 rows of small little lumps, neatly arranged in the middle of my arm pit and a certain sensitivity around this area in my left arm and left chest.  The future will tell. I will turn 77 this month. There is so much that can ail a person. I guess it's my turn.
I sometimes think you could talk of a Celiac syndrome, with malnutrition, gallbladder disease, afib, and for many, diabetes into the bargain. Well, I don't even know the medical definition of a syndrome...Must look it up.
Thank you for your many years of service to the celiac community.

Amen. Even worse than the food labeling is the near-complete absence of medication labeling. 

I like Jovial brown rice pasta. I regularly use Jovial lasagna and tagliatelle noodles. Don't know why this wasn't on the list. 

Andre, what if it costs the producer much more to make gluten-free bread than wheat bread but they cannot charge more in order to cover the extra expense? Is that fair? And what will happen in that case? Will the government need to subsidize the product? Will food companies just quit making gluten-free bread because they are losing money? Will food companies charge you the same but give you a tiny loaf which is a fraction of the size of a loaf of wheat bread? 

Thank you for this information.  I have not yet been diagnosed, but I am almost CERTAIN that this is what I have had for a number of years.....in fact most of my life.  I have been treated for "chronic migraine" and as my bouts of diarrhea have gotten worse, I now have sought out a gastroenterologist.   He had access to many of my old records and told me that a previous colonoscopy showed a possible celiac, but when they ran a fecal, it was negative, so they simply never mentioned it to me.  I have now gone all these years (I'm 82) treating my migraines, which present with diarrhea, not having a clue that it was connected to what I may have eaten the day before.  OMG!  I feel like a person who may be escaping (partially or completely) from a prison.  I have a doctor's order for a fecal at the lab right now, and I'm almost certain for what the results will be.  I have gone YEARS to see what I've now seen on the Celiac website!  I'm one of you!

Thank you for this article, very helpful. I am one of the few who has a skin reaction.

Welcome to the forum, @Rcnc63!
Well, celiac and gluten go together. Celiac disease is an autoimmune reaction triggered by the ingestion of gluten that damages the lining of the small bowel. Gluten is a protein found in three grains: wheat, barley and rye. So, for starters, bread and pasta are out. Focus on fresh meat, vegetables and fruits and cooking things from scratch rather than buying prepackaged meals. Avoid fast food and eating out at restaurants where you have no control over what goes into the food they make or cross contamination issues in the preparation and serving of it. This might be helpful to you in getting off to a good start:
Because of your several other health conditions you would do well to enlist the services of a registered dietician to map a plan for eating safely.

Very sad.

The surprising one I've heard, but have not yet confirmed, is Bath & Body Works hand sanitizer.

If there is anything I've learned in this long journey back to gluten free health, it's not to trust any food made by others that are not celiacs and careful themselves. Too many times have I got glutened by a well meaning friend or family member that doesn't realize gluten is hidden in many foods they use in recipes. I just now politely turn down their offering and say I'm not hungry or I'm full or I don't feel good, any excuse to not eat their offerings and just thank them for the offer. And that's much easier than explaining the whole gluten/celiac thing. If I don't know for a fact all the ingredients in a recipe, I don't eat it. Period. 

Dear Mr. Adams"
Try Amy's newest Gluten Free Soup, VEGETABLE JAMBALAYA WITH RED BEANS, currently available only at Wal-Mart in the Tallahassee (Florida) area.

this is encouraging......

Diagnosed with anal cancer at age 50 and discovered gluten sensitivity 15 years later.  I still think I have celiac even though blood tests show otherwise.  In retrospect, I think that I was intolerant of gluten throughout my life.  It likely contributed to my cancer, my osteoporosis, scoliosis, and the list goes on…

I usually have at least one of these snacks in my vehicle- just in case. Thanks for sharing. 

I suffered badly from hemorrhoids for years before I was diagnosed. I gave up gluten and, as if by magic, they totally disappeared within 48 hours. Never returned.

Reared a gluten-free kid who is now doing great in his 40s.   Some stress in earlier childhood, but by mid-high school had it all figured out.  I heard a comment back then that gave me hope. "By the time a celiac kid reaches college age, he or she has developed a hundred ways to say 'No, thank you' and make it stick."  The celiac kids end up knowing that whatever someone else, adult or child, tells you to do, it is your body that bears the brunt of misguided advice. Which helps a lot with peer pressure in other areas.

This would be wonderful.  I suffered from those horrible mouth ulcers until I was finally diagnosed at 54.  I had one that day, and it was the last one  I ever had.  The inside of my mouth is covered with scars from those painful ulcers.  At my first dental appointment after I went gluten free the dentist remarked that it was the first time in the 25 years I had been his patient that I did not have any ulcers.  I told him about the connection between the ulcers and gluten.  At my next visit I delivered multiple medical journal articles to him.  He started referring patients with chronic ulcers to my doctor and several, who had no idea they had a gluten issue, were diagnosed.
I have been seeing a dentist in Mexico for the past 8 years and at my first visit he remarked on the scars from the ulcers.  He asked me if I had celiac or was just gluten intolerant?  It just reinforced the decision I  made to continue using him after my initial visit for a dental emergency while on vacation.  Great dental care at a very reasonable price.

Did the study include the effect of the celiac gene on oxalate sensitivity?  This leads to creation of kidney stones, over and over--one of my kidneys is atrophied from "silent" stones and no longer functioning.  I also have Type 2 diabetes and celiac disease.  These all have a genetic component.  They have the "silent" part in common, too, until late in the disease.  
Possibly there aren't a whole lot of people who suffer all three, so the connection might not have investigated.  Have you heard of any such investigation, or evidence that these ARE connected. 

"She regularly used approved unpaid leave and ADA accommodation days when she experienced health flare-ups, particularly after incidents of gluten contamination, which worsened her condition."
Though this happens at least occasionally to most celiacs, even the most diligent, I wonder how consistent she was with her gluten free diet. 

@Celiac Dad14
"Boyd was prescribed a single-infusion iron drug, but Cigna denied her request ... offering a five-infusion alternative instead. This ... was unreasonable, given her ... work schedule.  She found it  impossible to arrange ...  without taking even more time off from work.."
By denying the prescription for their own employee, and denying her Short Term Disability application, Cigna exacerbated her problems with scheduling complianced leading to her dismisal.  They basically denied the care she needed and was entitled to and threw her out with the trash.  This is not something new.  Health and Disability Insurance companies regularly deny valid claims to lower costs.
My wife was diagnosed Ovarian Cancer stage 3b, with a one year prognosis. She was at first denied her insurance's short term and long term disability claims and Social Security disability as not severe enough.  We had to hire a company that specializes in disability claims to fight it for several months before approval.  What is the point of paying for disability if they refuse to pay valid claims.
And shame on Cigna for doing it to their own employees.

I found this in Texas at WALMART- yet here in NC, it doesn’t seem to be available. 
This was so out of the realm of my expectations- not only did I love it, but my 5 yr old non celiac grandson also loved it and it’s all he wanted to eat! 
I would love for this to become more readily available in all areas! ♥️

Yes I was wondering the same thing.I know I don’t want to go thru that pain again .