May 2016 Meeting Summary

MAY IS NATIONAL CELIAC AWARENESS MONTH.  

The May meeting of the Prescott Area Celiac and Gluten Free Support Group was held on Tuesday, May 10th from 12-2PM, at the Prescott Valley Public Library. 

We have been among this nationally recognized group for some time now and yet there are still those out there that think eating  gluten free is a "fad" or a "trend".  It is our responsibility to "kindly" remind our friends, family, co-workers and especially restaurant staff that eating gluten free is not a choice for us, but a true medical necessity!  Every time we ingest a small amount of gluten, we set our body back and it has too struggle to neutralize the enemy we ate.  You may call it getting "nuked" or glutenized, but either way it is critical to reduce this possibility.

Labeling of gluten-free food changed when Congress approved the new labeling law in August 2014.  Food companies can now claim they are gluten free by having 20ppm (parts per million) of gluten. For many, if not all that have Celiac or Non-Celiac Gluten Intolerance this is still too much gluten to ingest 3 times per day!!  At our May 10th meeting everyone received handouts of an interview with the FDA discussing whether they think the new gluten-free laws are working. Extra handouts are still available.

In keeping with this same train of thought, we discussed food companies that have dedicated gluten free facilities.  Their products will not be cross-contaminated with wheat products.  Bob's  Red Mill, Kinnickinnick, and Schaar are among a few.  If you are still having symptoms, perhaps you are eating products that have been cross-contaminated in the processing plant.  Too make matters even more complicated many of the small gluten free companies have been bought out by major mainstream corporations.  Info on that will be sent to you separately.

Looking forward to seeing you at our next meeting June 14th.

Renee and Linda

April 2016 Meeting Summary

The Prescott Area Celiac and Gluten Free Support Group met at the Prescott Valley Public Library on tuesday, April 12th, from 12-2PM. The topic for April was "Gluten Lurking in Our Gluten Free foods".

The big name brand food industry has lobbied the FDA to allow 20ppm of gluten in our foods and still be labled GLUTEN FREE, because they wanted to cash in on the mulit-billion dollar a year gluten free food industry. They wanted to be able to manufacture our foods on shared equipment with wheat and gluten without investing the money to build a seperate dedicated gluten free facility.

The concern is that they are not at any time concerned with our health just with making money off of our medical inability to eat gluten.

Renee R. had forwarded an email from one of The Phoenix Celiac members.

In this email the writer explained how after eating products from Arrowhead Mills she had been suffering terribly with Dermatitis Herpetiformis, a form of Celiac. When she looked on the package of rice flour it said  they are certified gluten free and cannot contain more than 10ppm gluten!

Linda was shocked when she read that, as she had been using Arrowhead Mills rice flour exclusively for over a year, and was constantly sick with symptoms associated with getting glutened! Sure enough she looked on the bag and that is what it states.

So Linda called the company and found out that all of their products are manufactured in a faculity that manufactures wheat and other gluten containing grains and that the flour is manufacutred on the same lines at gluten!

The email writer also had a list of companies that are not dedicated GF facilities, so it got Linda thinking about the different gf foods in my pantry. After many phone calls it looks like at least one third of the gluten free foods that are in her home have are made on shared equipment with wheat and many have the ceritfied gluten free label!

Let's think of it this way.

If the GF product manufacturers also process wheat, they supposedly clean the lines before processing Gluten free foods.But,if they process 10 thousand bags of flour the ones at the front of the lines may have 10ppm or or more and the ones at the back of the production run may have 5ppm or none! So when you are buying that product made on shared equipment with gluten are you getting the one at the front with possible contamination, or the one at the last with no gluten?

Some of the gluten free products manufactured in a facility that also process gluten are:

Arrowhead Mills

Amy's foods

Alexia

Natures Path

Glutino

and many others.

Some of the safe dedicated gluten free manufacturers are:

Bob's Red Mill

Hodgson Mills

Kinnikinnick Foods

Freedom Foods

Schar

and others.

If you are in doubt, look online or call the company, if you have questions about your processed foods.

Also, the "Certified Gluten Free" label on the front of the package doesn't mean our foods are safe to eat.

The GFCO, Gluten Free Cetification Organization, allows manufacturers to process our foods on shared equipment with wheat, if they test out at 10ppm of gluten. But, do they recieve test samples of every batch of food these companies make, or just a sample of a particular batch of  food?

BEWARE the Gluten free label with out reading the ingredient list!

Linda C. purchased some Gourmet Jelly beans from Trader Joes that said, natural flavors, colors from fruit and vegatable sources. Linda C. looked on the back and saw GLUTEN FREE, so she purchased them and had a big handful when I got home. Within an hour she felt sick and was sick the next day also, realizing that the only new thing she had eaten was the jelly beans she read the ingredient list and it says, "Sugar, Glucose Syrup, (Corn Syrup, WHEAT SYRUP)" !!! The wheat syrup had an asterick behind it and she found the statement below the GLUTEN FREE words; Wheat syrup has been processed to allow this food to meet FDA requirements for a gluten free claim.  We can no longer trust that any one has our health and best interest at heart so, READ EVERY LABEL! And if in doubt don't eat it, call the company that made it.

LC/DJ