Wednesday, September 16, 2009

ConAgra Foods

A reply email from ConAgra Foods in response to my questions about gluten and their products (I have highlighted in bold what is immediately helpful):

September 16, 2009

Dear Mrs. ____,

Your communication concerning our products was most welcome. We appreciate comments and questions from our consumers.

Unfortunately, we are not able to guarantee that our products ingredients are gluten-free, since the source of an ingredient may change from time to time. We understand how difficult it can be finding foods that meet the requirements of a restricted diet, and we continue to look for ways to meet the dietary needs of our consumers.

Please be aware that although ConAgra Foods cannot certify products to be gluten-free, we can assist you by affirming that a product has been formulated without commonly known gluten containing ingredients.
The flour used in our products is often wheat flour and should be avoided by individuals with gluten sensitivities. Some fermented or distilled products, such as vinegar, may be derived from wheat. We suggest you speak with your physician to determine if you need to avoid distilled products derived from wheat, rye, barley, or oats. We always advise consumers who may have sensitivities to recheck the ingredient list on each package. Products are oftentimes reformulated and the ingredients may change. If Natural Flavors, Artificial Flavors, or Spices listed in the ingredients list contain wheat, oat, barley, or rye, these ingredients would be listed in parenthesis immediately following the ingredient.

Thank you so much for taking the time to contact us and for your interest in our fine products.

Sincerely,

Heather
Consumer Affairs
Ref: 052614845A

Friday, September 11, 2009

Ragu

Here is a reply email from Ragu. I have highlighted in bold what is conveniently important.


Hello Renee,

Thanks for writing!
You may call 1-800328-7248 to speak with a customer service representative.

Common ingredients that may contain gluten are rye, wheat, oats and barley, and noodles and pasta prepared with any of the previously mentioned grains. HVP, TVP, flavorings, are likely to contribute gluten as well, however, if they contain any gluten, the source would always be listed in the ingredient statements.

Since product formulations change from time to time, we do not have a printed list of products that identifies those products that contain specific allergens or gluten.
The best advice we can give you is to check the ingredient list on the label. Ingredients allergens as defined by FDA: peanuts, tree nuts, soy, fish, seafood, wheat, eggs, and milk or dairy, as well as any ingredient that may contain gluten are always listed on the label.

Therefore, WE SUGGEST READING ALL INGREDIENT LABELS CAREFULLY.

We hope this information is helpful!

Kind regards,
Your friends at Ragu
VC

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Dining Out

Ask Shelley Case: Eating Out - Resources & Tips

September 6th, 2009

Question: I just got diagnosed with celiac disease and my two children also have food allergies. Can you give me any tips on eating out safely… and easily?

Answer: Eating out can be a real challenge, especially when you are first learning about the gluten-free diet, so I recommend mastering the basics of the diet before venturing out to eat in restaurants. But once you’re ready to eat, there are a growing number of restaurants that are gluten-free (GF) friendly. Many have a GF menu or they’re willing to make adaptations and substitutions in order to meet the needs of the GF customer. Also it’s exciting to see initiatives like the Gluten Free Restaurant Awareness Program (GFRAP) from the Gluten Intolerance Group (GIG) that includes educational and training materials for restaurants and their staff. Once they meet specific criteria they are listed on the GFRAP website so that individuals can search participating restaurants in North America by restaurant name or city and type of cuisine. Check out www.glutenfreerestaurants.org

There are many other great resources to help you eat out and travel safely:

1. The Celiac Scene™ features a free database and downloadable maps of restaurants that locals with celiac disease trust in cities across the USA and Canada. Owned and updated by an individual with celiac disease. Many restaurants bear the special symbol of the Gluten-Free Restaurant Awareness Program.

2. Glutenfreeonthego.com is another free online global directory of over 6000 GF listings of restaurants, bakeries, hotels, resorts, spas, cruises and more. Recommendations are submitted by individuals with celiac disease or others following a GFD, as well as individual GF eating establishments.

3. Glutenfreepassport.com has a variety of resources on safe GF travel and dining. One is a great book called Let’s Eat Out with Celiac and Food Allergies that provides practical information on eating out in regular and ethnic restaurants. It includes 7 international cuisines with hundreds of menus items showcasing common ingredients, hidden allergens and food preparation techniques used by chefs and restaurants. In addition they have cuisine specific pocket size guides that include sample menus, menu dish descriptions, preparation techniques, quick reference guides and questions to ask to ensure safe meals. Another handy resource is the multi-lingual phrase pocket guide that has over 1200 translations from English to French, Spanish, German and Italian. The phrases include dining requests, ingredients, specific preparation requests, sample menus and over 300 health phrases in 4 languages. They have also just released new iPhone/iPod touch applications for some of their resources.

Listen to my podcast (scroll down to podcast #3) with Kim Koeller, co-author of “Let’s Eat Out: Your Passport to Living Gluten-Free and Allergy-Free.” It features an informative discussion on Kim’s newly released revised edition on eating out in regular and ethnic restaurants around the world and tips to eat out safely.

4. Triumph Dining has an Essential GF Restaurant Guide that features over 5000 restaurants across the US listed in a state by state directory and every listing is verified and updated each year by an individual with celiac disease. And the Guide has 80 GF lists from various chain restaurants. Triumph Dining also has laminated wallet sized dining cards for 10 different cuisines. One side of the card is in English and the other side in the foreign language.

5. Bob and Ruth’s Gluten-Free Dining and Travel Club is a company specializing in assisting individuals on a GFD. They offer escorted GF getaways to resorts, on cruises and tours of exotic places all over the world. All the arrangements are taken care of and you can eat safely in these various locations with fellow gluten-free travelers while enjoying a wonderful vacation. My husband and I booked a one week trip with Bob and Ruth a few years ago to the Caribbean. We stayed at the Club Med and not only was the food fantastic and safe, but we met so many nice people.

Here are a few tips for a safe and successful dining experience for those with celiac disease, as well as any intolerance or dietary restriction:

1. Call the restaurant the day before or earlier in the day and ask to speak to the chef or manager to discuss meal options. They can often substitute other ingredients or create an alternative menu or menu item.

2. If possible try to avoid peak meal times. Dining early or late will allow more time and easier access to the staff that can answer questions and usually accommodate special needs.

3. Explain your dietary restrictions briefly. The terms celiac disease is still often unfamiliar to many to those in the food service industry. So I often find it easier to explain that you have a serious food allergy and will get very sick if your order is not handled properly. Indicate that you must not have any foods or ingredients containing gluten which means no items made with wheat flour, breading, croutons, etc. It often helps to ask to speak to the manager or chef to make sure the order gets placed properly and prepared safely.

4. No matter whether the restaurant has a special GF menu or some GF items on the menu, it is still essential to ask specific questions. You need to inquire about cooking methods, specific ingredients that are in the item and how it is served.

5. Request that your food be prepared on a clean grill or in a clean pan. If this is a problem, suggest cooking it on clean aluminum foil.

6. When they bring your meal make sure you ask again if this is the special meal and were your instructions followed.

7. Don’t forget to thank the server, chef and manager. Leave a generous tip for good service and patronize the restaurant again.

Tips adapted from Gluten-Free Diet: A Comprehensive Resource Guide by Shelley Case and Restaurant Dining by the Gluten Intolerance Group.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Gluten Free Alcohol

Article from About.com:

There's plenty of gluten-free alcohol that's safe for people with celiac disease. Celiacs used to be told to avoid all grain alcohols -- for example, vodka, whiskey, rye whiskey, scotch -- but now the prevailing opinion is this:

Grain alcohols are safe for celiacs because gluten doesn't survive the distillation process.

(Distillation is the process of purifying a liquid, first by heating it so that it vaporizes and then by cooling and condensing the vapor and collecting the resulting liquid.)

An important exception is beer, which is not usually gluten free, because it's made from barley and is not distilled. In the past few years, gluten-free beers have come on the market, which has been a great breakthrough for celiacs. (See Where to Find Beers without Gluten.)

The Canadian Celiac Association, for example, says "Distilled alcoholic beverages such as gin, vodka, scotch whisky and rye whiskey are made from the fermentation of wheat, barley or rye. Since they are distilled, they do not contain prolamins [a component of the gluten protein] and are allowed unless otherwise contraindicated. Beer and ale, usually made from barley, may contain 1 to 2 mg of prolamins per pint (570 mL) and therefore is not allowed."

The European Food Safety Authority believes that "proteins and peptides are not carried over into the distillate during a properly controlled distillation process, at least not in amounts higher than 1 mg/L for total proteins and 0.4 mg/kg for gluten. The Panel considers that distillates made from cereals are unlikely to trigger a severe allergic reaction in susceptible individuals." (See How Much Gluten is Safe?)

The Celiac Disease Awareness Campaign of the National Institutes of Health also agrees that "a cocktail made with distilled alcohol is safe" for people with celiac disease.

Distilled alcholic beverages with added flavoring are not necessarily gluten-free. You'll have to check with the manufacturer.

Many people with celiac disease nevertheless react badly to grain alcohols and prefer to avoid them. These individuals can still have tequila (made from the agave cactus), rum (from sugar cane), vodka made from potato or corn, and wine or champagne -- as long as there are no added flavorings.

For lists of gluten-free alcoholic products and beverage recipes:

  • Triumph Dining has a good list of gluten-free alcohol products.
  • Mike's Bar (run by a bartender whose sister has celiac disease) has reports from distillers on the gluten-free status of their products, plus other useful information.

Sources:

Acceptability of Grains and Other Foods. Canadian Celiac Association. [Accessed August 22, 2009] http://www.celiac.ca/Articles/Fall1990-1.html

European Food Safety Authority: Opinion of the Panel on dietetic products, nutrition and allergies [NDA] related to a notification from CEPS on cereals used in distillates for spirits, pursuant to Article 6 paragraph 11 of Directive 2000/13/EC Question number: EFSA-Q-2006-143. [Accessed August 22, 2009] http://www.efsa.europa.eu/EFSA/efsa_locale-1178620753812_1178621165520.htm

How Much Gluten Is Too Much?

Article from About.com:

Question:
How much gluten is too much?
Answer: The amount of tolerable gluten varies among people with celiac disease. In general, research has suggested that a daily gluten intake of less than 10 milligrams (mg) is unlikely to cause significant damage to the intestines in most people with celiac disease (although these small amounts could still be enough to make a person feel unwell).

To put that into perspective, a dime weighs about 2,200 mg (2.2 g). Tricia Thompson, RD, an authority on celiac disease, explains that a one-ounce slice of regular white bread has approximately 3,515 mg of gluten, or 351 times the maximum daily amount that’s safe for celiacs. So basically, a crumb is too much.

However, this does not mean you can go cut a slice of bread into 350 little crumbs and then eat one, because even if you're otherwise gluten-free, odds are good that you're still getting at least some gluten every day anyway. In most parts of the world, regulations say that to be labeled gluten-free, a product can contain up to 20 parts per million of gluten (equivalent to about 20 mg per kilo). As Tricia Thompson points out, even a slice of gluten-free bread contains a little over 1/2 mg of gluten.

Sources:

Akobeng AK, Thomas AG. Systematic review: tolerable amount of gluten for people with coeliac disease. Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics 2008;27:1044-1052.

Thompson, T. Gluten: Is It Okay to Have a Little Bit? [Accessed August 22, 2009] http://www.diet.com/dietblogs/read_blog.php?title=Gluten%3A+Is+It+OK+To+Have+A+Little+Bit%3F&blid=13481