Production Line Cross-Contamination

[tex]

Hi All,

We all worry about this possibility, and we wonder if it actually happens. Apparently it does. The following quote comes from a letter that appears in todays newsletter from The Gluten Free Pantry. I was going to post their web address, but my Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security suite shows it to be a dangerous phishing site. I don't know if they've been hacked, or they are gathering that information intentionally, but it prompted me to close that browser tab and get the hell away from there as soon as the warning popped up. The address that collects the "pilfered" information is (http://server1.streamsend.co). I added the parentheses so that the system software wouldn't display it as a live link. Anyway, here's the letter:

FYI: I was diagnosed as having Celiac Disease in 2001. I have learned a lot. During the past few years, I have eaten gluten-free cereal for breakfast pretty much every day. It doesn't have a lot of food value but at least with a banana in it, it filled me up. Recently, I began getting sick every day. I didn't have a clue what was doing it to me so I started checking EVERTHING I put in my mouth every single day including my medication and tooth paste. With gluten-free printed in big letters across my cereal, I almost didn't call the company because how could that be that it might contain gluten. Anyway, as last resort, I called the company. The young lady there assured me there was no gluten in the product. HOWEVER, when I asked if it was processed in a dedicated area, she said it was not. They wipe down the equipment but could not guarantee that it wouldn't get contaminated. I must have gotten a batch that got contaminated because I eliminated it from my diet and have been fine since. How can a company get away with this? Joan

Apparently there was no mention on the label, that the product was processed on a production line that also handles products that contain gluten.

Just being careful isn't always enough - sometimes we have to be lucky, in order to eat a truly gluten-free diet. While this is mostly a risk for processed foods, it's certainly not impossible that whole, "unprocessed" food items could also be contaminated in a similar way, especially since so many of these products are brought to market in bulk, (unpackaged).

Tex

[Gloria]

Yes, we even have to worry about cross-contamination when we purchase foods in bulk, as you mentioned. Some of the scoops are shared between the different bins of grains. I will only buy from bins that release the product right into the bag.

I think it's extremely difficult to find products that aren't processed on equipment that is shared with other products. When I see that a product has been produced on equipment shared with other foods on my intolerant list, I usually cross my fingers and hope I get a batch that wasn't in the first run.

[tex]

Gloria,

When the very first Whole Foods store opened in Austin, (back before they even thought about branching out), I made my first and last visit in a single trip. Everything looked pretty good, until I watched someone take a scoop of grain, (I don't remember which one), and dribble it into the beans that were below the sack they were filling. Back then, I didn't even have any food intolerances, but that was enough to turn me off, anyway. LOL.

I agree with everything you said. I've gotten to where I don't pay as much attention as I used to, to the warning on some labels about being processed by equipment that is also used for products that contain gluten. As you suggest, I have a hunch that there are many products in the same boat, but the manufacturers just don't always see the need to put that information on the label. Like you, I cross my fingers and hope that the first run was shipped somewhere else. LOL.

Tex

[Matthew]

Interesting

I have found over years on the gluten free diet that the easiest way to avoid the problem of cross contamination is just not buy those foods that might be cross contaminated. It took to much time to be chasing food rather than do the work I love to do or follow many of my other interests.

I may not be so much a hunter gatherer as an opportunist. Hahaha.

Who is to know what even the most natural diet is contaminated with . As an opportunist I can just do what works for me. I am sure that it must have been part of Paleo mans survival guide.

No diet for recovery is easy

Eliminating complications has some benifits.

To your continued recover

Matthew