Celiac Bites

Truth or Consequences: Bottle Caps Candy

Wonka Bottle Caps

Are They Gluten Free?

___  Yes!
___   No!
___  I'm afraid to find out!

Hmmm. Tricky one…. Candy's that are based on some mysterious powdery substance. They're good, therefore you probably can't eat them if you have celiac.

 

Post your answer and insights in the comments below! 

Yet another fine gluten free meal on the road...

Mmmm. Good.

I’m the world’s worst celiac patient

Quick! Has anyone seen House???

I like to think I have gotten pretty good at avoiding accidental glutenings, and even better at identifying the source. Practice makes perfect you know. Shoot, by now I should be considered an expert celiac patient. If there was an Olympic biathlon event for avoiding gluten while cross country skiing, I would be a shoe-in for the gold medal.

So last week I managed to subdue a glutening of epic proportions after a long and protracted battle. And this after I ate all week long with extreme caution.

• No restaurants.
• No new foods.
• Always fanatically careful about cross contamination. I could give Monk a run for his money in that department.
• I definitely did not scarf down any Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Pop-Tarts, as much as I wanted to.
• Same toothpaste.
• Haven’t taken a shower in months. Ok just kidding on that one, but I did not use any new shampoo or soap.
• Same dental floss.
• No new morning food or drink routine.
• I didn’t load 50 pound sacks of flour as a part time side job.
• No wheat farming or anything (that I can remember.)
• No pizza parties.

I’m stumped. Any ideas?

I’d love to hear about the most perplexing gluten mysteries you have solved. One of my most interesting ones to date has been the Senseo coffee pod adventure. What’s yours?

My gluten detection superpower

I have a gift.

I’ve been blessed with the supernatural ability to detect the quality and consistency of “thorough cleaning and sanitation processes.” Food manufacturers rely on these procedures to produce both standard and gluten free foods in the same facility. You might think that my powers would prompt generalized hero worship and mayors giving me keys to cities and such. In reality, my unique ability is more like a burden. I now completely empathize with Spiderman, and we attend the same self-help group on Tuesday evenings.

By the way, do you like how my superhero carries a grocery bag? That makes my enemies tremble with fear for sure.

Still, burden or not, I figure I still ought to use my talent for the greater good, so I continue to run right into blazing fires by testing new products that claim to be gluten free.

Take Chex cereal for example. There has been a lot of hype on the celiac bulletin boards and Twitter recently about various Chex cereals now being gluten free. General Mills also makes a big deal about it, listing “GLUTEN FREE” in large letters on the box front and four separate times on the back of the box. Either they are really concerned about my health, or they want to make a lot of money from the celiac community. I’m not sure which, but I would bet on the “want to make a lot of money” option. Either way, this was awesome news! A “normal” product I can buy in any grocery store instead of relying on UPS to deliver my food!

Being a gifted superhero, I teleported to the nearest store and bought myself a large box of Rice Chex. I used to love those when I was a kid. The very next morning, I ate a bowl - and promptly became violently ill. Nice. I love marketing.

This is where the value of my superpower comes into play. Lying on my death bed after the gluten-free Chex ingestion, I had a vision. I saw a large room with lots of noisy machinery and Wheat Chex hovering around dropping little gluten packages with  parachutes into the nooks and crannies of all the Chex making machines. When I regained consciousness, I managed to scrawl an email to Chex Customer Service. I asked them whether gluten-free Chex are made in a dedicated facility or at least on dedicated equipment. 

The response reminded me of why I love lawyers so much. Rather than simply answering my question, they gave me a 290 word statement that basically told me to check the label. To top that off, the response ended with the following:

“If there are no gluten-containing ingredients listed in the product ingredient label, we still cannot assure that this product is gluten free. While we have not added gluten-containing ingredients, factors such as sourcing, conditions of manufacture, etc. do not allow us to provide the full level of assurance that a gluten free claim requires.”

Unfortunately for me, I was only gifted with cross contamination detection superpowers and not a razor sharp intellect. You see, in my simple view of the situation, I was pretty certain that General Mills had made gluten free claims, maybe by writing GLUTEN FREE all over the box. This legal stuff is pretty complex though, maybe I should probably stay out of it and just stick to watching Boston Legal.

But, as I have said in previous posts, I am a giver. SO I persisted in getting my question answered so I could share it with you, the Celiac Bites reader. On my second attempt, I got the following response:

“Our Gluten Free Chex cereals are not produced in a gluten free facility.  We do, however, ensure against cross-contamination with gluten-containing ingredients and products through thorough cleaning and sanitation processes, including testing between gluten and gluten free product runs based on FDA proposed regulations.”

There you go. Cleaning and sanitation processes. As I wrote about in a previous post about dedicated fryers in restaurants, you have to believe in a lot of perfection before you trust your physical well being to “procedures.”

The moral of the story is that food manufacturers like to make money. And eating gluten free is becoming a trendy thing. So being savvy marketers, they are going to take every opportunity to sell more of their stuff by making it stand out from the competition. If a few celiac patients get killed in the process, well, that’s just the cost of doing business.

So be careful out there. Don’t blindly trust the marketing claims. Remember that there are a lot of great businesses that pride themselves on making real gluten free food - in gluten free facilities. Check The Gluten Free Mall for lot’s of those products. In fairness to General Mills, they claim to make the new Betty Crocker gluten free baking mixes in a gluten free facility. Hat’s off to them for that – and a big BOO for the scam on Chex cereal.

I’d love to here about any other cross contamination detecting superheroes out there. Let me know – maybe we can form a Cleaning and Sanitation Procedures Justice League!

Gluten free dining: How to interrogate your server

Disclaimer: The writers of Celiac Bites assume no liability for any consequences related to the use of enhanced server interrogation techniques outlined below.

Recently I wrote about Dying, I mean, Dining Out and the challenges of eating in restaurants safely. That got me thinking about the “usual” questions that I ask servers when I recklessly endanger my life eat out at restaurants. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

1. Do you have any reason to want to harm me? Did I pick on you or any of your friends when I was in kindergarten or grade school? I did not break your Rock ‘em Sock ‘em Robots game in 2nd grade. 
2. Does your meat/chicken/fish arrive pre-packaged or is it fresh?
3. Did any of your chefs ever study under Dr. Kevorkian?
4. Is there ANY type of marinade or seasoning that is added to your meat/chicken/seafood prior to cooking?
5. What other items are cooked on the same grill or griddle? (If patty-melts are a house specialty, I would be pretty nervous about ordering a burger.)
6. Are ANY seasonings besides 100% pure salt and pepper added during preparation?
7. Have you ever worked for Senseo’s Consumer Hotline?
8. Does your hamburger meat have any ingredients other than 100% pure meat? (Some have fillers!)
9. Have you ever been convicted of manslaughter, second, or even first degree murder? Should you have been at any previous time in your life?
10. What garnishes come on the plate?
11. Are your salads prepared to order or made at the beginning of each shift? (To be sure croutons are not simply “picked off” a pre-made salad)
12. Are we going to spend 10 or 20 minutes planning a perfect gluten free option for me only to have it delivered to the table with some random gluten-infested garnish on top like toastlets, fried onion crisps, or croutons? Because if that’s how you roll, I would like to know now rather than later.
13. Are your vegetables cooked in any sort of broth or are there any seasonings other than salt or pepper added?
14. Do you use real butter or a butter substitute?
15. Do you chefs use spray pan coating on the grill, griddle, or pans? If so, does it contain flour or is it 100% oil based?
16. Do you have any anger management issues that I should know about?

I would love to hear what y’all check for when dining out so please let me know!

Truth or Consequences: Crest Glide Dental Floss

Glide Dental Floss

Is it Gluten Free?

___  Yes!
___   No!
___  I'm afraid to find out!

Hmmm. Tricky one….

 

Post your answer and insights in the comments below! 

Man vs. Celiac: Atlanta Hartsfield Airport, Concourse C

These are the voyages of the Celiac Tom, continuing my mission to explore strange new restaurants and other eateries, to boldly go where no Celiac has gone before. 

I like to think of myself as a really resourceful guy – able to maneuver may way around nearly any obstacle.

Since I just saw the new Star Trek movie, I might even confess to idolizing Captain Kirk’s solution to the Kobayashi Maru test. As I have learned from real trekkies, the Kobayashi Maru is a hellish simulation test for Starship Captain candidates that has no winnable outcome. Apparently the sadists at the Starship Federation just want to see how their Flash Gordon wannabees face certain death and the ultimate fear. By the way, Kirk reprogrammed the simulator in order to beat it as he refused to “recognize a no-win scenario.” That’s kind of like me on a Man vs. Celiac adventure. In my dreams. Did I go off on another tangent? Imagine that…

Resourcefulness is not a guaranteed solution though. Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, life just throws you for a loop and the Klingons do in fact kick your fanny up and down the galaxy.

In this episode of Man vs. Celiac, I found myself running the 1,200 yard dash through Concourse C with 18 minutes between flights. I figured that left me a “find, choose, buy, and eat” time window of about 73 seconds.

However, as you may have picked up from my previous posts, I am a giver. So I accepted the challenge of finding a gluten free dinner, in the suckiest of Hartsfield concourses, in 73 seconds or less. All so I could pass on the hard earned knowledge to you. Like I said, I am such a giver. By the way, Concourse A is the best for gluten free dining - in my humble opinion. I will have to compare notes with GF Road Warrior on that topic. Maybe I will look him or her up and we can debate it online.

Anyway, back to the challenge. I am so easily distracted. Running down the concourse, dodging those electric trucks with insanely loud horns – frequent travelers you know what I am talking about – I caught a few glimpses of looming failure in my peripheral vision. Popeye’s Fried Chicken. Atlanta Bread Company. Gluten ‘R Us. Okay, I made up that last one, but it’s pretty representative of the slim pickin’s in Concourse C. In case you’re new to the whole celiac thing, those are some pretty onerous choices. You could die in Concourse C.

I did pass a couple of quick service stands on the way – all well stocked with… sandwiches. Great, I think I would have preferred to tackle the Kobayashi Maru challenge on this one.

Refusing to admit defeat, I found an option.

No, I’m not copping out and cheating. Hershey bars have all the basic food groups. Sugar, chocolate, and sugar.

Chalk up another successful mission and documented episode of Man vs. Celiac. So next time you're dashing through Concourse C, look for some Klingons to arm wrestle – your odds are better.  

School’s Out for Summer!

Aunt Rissy here!

Well, school is out here in South Carolina and it’s time for summer road trips. I am going out of town with the kids this week and knew I had to leave Tom with some quick and yummy gluten-free food. Tom isn’t a picky eater and is very happy eating the same things - He may disagree :-)

For breakfast, I just made some hard-boiled eggs. They are quick and easy and a great source of protein. Thank God that he doesn’t have a reaction to them.

I made pulled pork and potato salad for dinner so he can take the leftovers for lunch. Here’s the recipe for the pork –compliments of The Food Network.

Just make sure all the ingredients are Gluten-free! Most in this recipe are! I find that it is very hard to find gluten free barbeque sauce and this one has you make your own. It was pretty good!

The potato salad is made with Hellman’s mayo and French’s mustard. Also on the menu is glazed carrots. Just boil some baby carrots for 5 minutes. Drain and add some butter, honey and brown sugar. Cook for a few minutes until it makes a nice glaze.

I HAVE to leave Tom with some dessert, so I decided to try out this recipe for homemade donuts. Don’t worry, the photo was taken after Tom ate 5 10 of them, so it makes quite a few more than shown.

I use Jules gluten free flour.

I fried them in peanut oil, but you can use whatever oil you prefer. For the glaze, I just used the cream and powdered sugar. Be sure to check your powdered sugar to make sure it’s gluten free! I’m sure Tom will tell you that they were great! I did have a little bite and YUM! Now he just has to ration them so they last the whole week…yeah right. If he makes it a single day I’ll give him a hundred bucks.

Well, I’ll have to write again when I return and maybe Tom can tell you how he made out while we were gone. Oh, did I mention that we will be eating a lot of wheat while we’re gone? hehe

Positively Skeptical

I keep seeing Tweets from people with Celiac talking about restaurants and procedures to make sure items served are indeed gluten free. These conversations usually end with a Tweetebration about how restaurant such and such is “safe.”

Having owned a restaurant myself for about six years, I have to admit I am more than a little concerned for my celiac brethren when it comes to reliance on “procedures” to keep menu items gluten free in an all-gluten environment of doom.

Don’t get me wrong, I am all for restaurants making good efforts to serve their celiac customers. What I worry about is that people may tend to have a little too much blind faith and not quite enough healthy skepticism when it comes to dining out. It never hurts to stop and ask some questions before you jump in with both sets of teeth.

There’s one thing in particular that makes me cringe.

The dedicated fryer.

This sounds amazing, no, make that truly awesome, on paper. Imagine going to your favorite place that deep fries all sorts of poisoned breaded things. Imagine they say that you can eat their juicy, fresh-cut potato fries. Because they cook them in a dedicated fryer.

Sounds awesome, let’s go get some!

Not so fast. You restaurant owners out there – don’t flame me for what I am about to say – I am just trying to educate your customers so they can stay un-dead and you can stay un-guilty for inadvertently making someone no longer un-dead. Sorry I guess that last statement made un-sense. Gimme a break, it’s Friday!

A lot of things need to line up in the universe, without fail, and without exception, for the dedicated fryer plan to work.

• You have to believe that the dudes and dudettes in the kitchen never got so deep in the weeds during a mad lunch rush that they had to drop that chicken-fried-chicken sandwich in the dedicated fryer.
• You have to believe that there was never a brand new dude or dudette that was still learning the job and who didn’t know that you don’t cook deep fried Krispy Kremes in the dedicated fryer.
• If we’re dealing with a big restaurant or fast food chain, corporate has to have a clear policy and procedure. More importantly, they have to communicate that to hundreds or even thousands of locations. Even more importantly, each location has to abide by that procedure. And most importantly of all, each and every employee has to follow that procedure each and every time, forever, without fail and without direct supervision. Hmmm.
• You have to believe that when closing time rolls around, and the mad dash to get the heck out of there begins, the person stuck with the closing routine of filtering the fryer grease needs to jump through some hoops and invest some extra cleaning time. Most restaurants have just one fryer oil filter machine to strain the gunk out of the deep fryers at the end of each day. You have to hope that the person doing that stops, cleans the machine, and puts a brand new filter in it before filtering the oil in the dedicated fryer. And this during the Nascar “Finish my shift 500.” Not likely.
• You have to believe that no one in the kitchen ever lost focus, just for a second, and put a gluten-contaminated item in the dedicated fryer.
• You have to believe that the dedicated fryer is unlike most other fryers, and is not connected all in a row with the regular fryers where less than two inches separate one boiling and overflowing cauldron of poisonous gluten residue from the dedicated fryer. Oh, and you have to believe that fresh battered onion rings are not made in the adjoining fryer. That batter flies everywhere.
• Basically, you have to believe that, while your food is being prepared, the planets are lined up in peace and harmony, singing “I’d like to buy the world a Coke..”

So am I suggesting that you ban all restaurants trying to serve you a gluten free meal by developing and adhering to safe procedures? Not at all. I am simply suggesting that you exercise a little caution.  Ask about the dedicated fryer. Many places may not even deep fry breaded items at all. That’s great news for you! While I am not 100% sure yet, I believe Five Guys falls into this category. Some of the more sophisticated restaurants may in fact have a real dedicated fryer that is isolated and safe.

So just ask. Before you find out the un-fun way that the procedures don’t measure up to your needs.

Truth or Consequences: Vitamin Water

VitaminWater

Is it Gluten Free?

___  Yes!
___   No!
___  I'm afraid to find out!

OK, here’s one that’s a great example of things to always check out. I’ll give you some hints from the ingredients label. For example, Glaceau VitaminWater defense contains a bunch of serious and scary sounding ingredients, with the most suspicious being “natural flavors.”  Hmmm. That tells you a lot now doesn’t it?

 

Post your answer in the comments below.  We'll let you know how you did!