Flour Question

[onehappylady]

I was diagnosed this week with allergies to barley, wheat and oatmeal. I have digestive issues when I eat these items. I have tried the Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Flour to make corn muffins and I had slight stomach ache. I also had strong pain and gas in response to a multi-grain gluten-free pasta from DeBoles. Neither of these have any of the three ingredients. My doc said that I had reactions to legumes (and especially soy) in the ***** test, but that may simply be because I have a terrible pollen allergy- and I got the impression I can still eat beans. There was chickpea flour in the Red Mill Flour and quinoa in the DeBoles pasta (but nothing related to beans. I'm just stumped!

[TH_Arity]

Actually, Bob's Red Mill processes oats in their gluten free facility - I react to oats and their stuff makes me ill every time so I just called up recently to ask, actually! :-)

Sadly, the biggest issue with stuff like this often ends up being the cross-contamination. Fields that grow one grain and then another, and the second gets a bit contaminated with the first grain's residue left on the ground. Harvesters that harvest multiple grains and don't get cleaned properly. Trucks that ship multiple grains. Equipment that processes and mills multiple grains.

Or soaps to clean the machines that have grain derived ingredients. Or foods used during processing, so they don't count as an 'ingredient' and don't have to be listed on the label. Or coatings for fruits and veggies that have your allergen as an ingredient. Seriously, once you start looking into this, the list is endless, sigh.

One example of this that you'd need to be aware of is some rice milks using barley water during processing...but it's processing, so they don't have to list it on the label. :-(  Barley water is also often used on any products with sprouted grains - they often sprout the grains in barley water, where the grains get contaminated, but as it's not an ingredient, it's not listed.

Basically, the more processed something is, the more chance there is for contamination. Most gluten free products can be oat contaminated, by the way. They won't have non-GF oats, but they'll often have  GF oats. But CSA gluten free certified products have to be completely free from oats of any kind, so those may be safer for you.

[Katierose96]

hello, i have had celiac disease in my immediate family since my brother was diagnosed 8 years ago and i, 6 years ago. with celiac, i also must eat gluten free constantly and my family has prefered a mix of brown rice flours. as far as pastas go, i recommend Tinkyata brand pasta. i feel it is almost exactly the same. feel free to message me if u need help!

[SassyLassie]

I agree with the above poster. I would go to a Whole Food store and find the products you want and make sure they are not processed in a plant that uses the allergens that bother you. Hopefully the staff should be able to help you.

[bsmsl]

A friend of mine has similar issues.  She absolutely cannot use Bob's Mills products because although the product you purchase is wheat, glutten, barley, or oat free, the machines used to process the product has also processed the the things that give you problems as well leaving some residue.  This introduces very small amounts of your allergens into the product.  While federal standards may allow them to call the "free", if you are sensitive enough to the allergens you will react.  

I would suggest that you go to a Whole Foods store or health food store and find products that are processed in plants that do not handle your allergens.  The staff should be able to help you.

I hope that helps you.