Accidently glutened

LauraAnn · Post by **LauraAnn** » Fri Feb 03, 2017 1:21 pm

I have been wondering how I would know if I ever got "accidently" glutened and think I found out this week. My sister made some grits (they came from a SC mill) for breakfast and since I've been doing ok with corn chips I figured I was ok with giving them a go. Well, not 2 hours later my gut was swollen up and the WD started and I felt like the school bus had rolled over me for the next 2 days. I sent the sick time in bed and slept and slept and slept. I looked up this product on the computer and sure enough the mill handles wheat and corn in the same facility. Lesson learned! Do you think that's what I ran into?

randyh · Post by **randyh** » Fri Feb 03, 2017 1:52 pm

Sounds like you found the source of your issue. Sorry that happened. Traces of gluten can cause us problems. Cross contamination can be one of those hidden sources. The equipment used to transport and process the food is probably common equipment used to process gluten containing items also. While the ingredients list may not indicate any gluten source, I always check either the product manufacture web site or one of the many watchdog sites that keep track of such things. If I cannot verify it is absolutely gluten free, then I will not take the chance. That can also be a problem when eating out, cross contamination in the food prep areas, common work surfaces, common cooking utensils. Hope you feeling better.

LauraAnn · Post by **LauraAnn** » Fri Feb 03, 2017 4:13 pm

Thank you for your insight. I am feeling much better now- even went grocery shopping today. I have been very careful and have done my due deligence for the past year. I usually know exactly what is going into my mouth. This is proof you can't let your guard down!

Post by **tex** » Fri Feb 03, 2017 9:13 pm

Laura,

Yes, I agree, those grits were probably the source of the gluten. Stone mills are notorious for being difficult to clean because they have to be completely disassembled in order to completely clean them, and that's a lot more work than most managers care to do. Many mills use augers to convey the grain from storage into the mills, and those do not completely clean out either, when switching between grains. Operators typically discard the processed product for an interval of time whenever they change grains, but that doesn't completely clean out all of the previous grain, so particles of it can fall into the current production at random times. Whether or not customers get glutened depends on how their luck runs.

It's good to hear that you're doing better again.

Tex

jlbattin · Post by **jlbattin** » Fri Feb 03, 2017 9:25 pm

Laura,

There is something called gluten ease that some of us use (I use it primarily when I'm traveling), but you might check that out. It helps lessen the symptoms if you do get glutened (or a little bit of dairy).

LauraAnn · Post by **LauraAnn** » Fri Feb 03, 2017 10:06 pm

Thanks Tex and Jari.

When I think about the milled grain, after the fact, it makes perfect sense to me that it would not be up to our standards. They are very proud of their "old ways" of processing and now that scares the heck out of me!

I actually made a special shopping trip to 3 different places today to find some gluten ease after reading about it on this site. Sprouts had a whole shelf full of different sizes and types so I am now armed for the next go around!

I had no idea how violent a gluten attack could be. I will be so careful from here on out that it will not happen again on my watch. At least it was only 2 days of hell and then gone and I'm back to where I was. Whew!