planter's nuts.. gluten free or not?

[1398-Days]

I've heard some people say that they're gluten free, and some say they're not.. I had a container of planter's cashews that I ate a few days ago and I haven't been feeling that great since then. I thought I was fine, but yesterday I woke up with a headache and was feeling really gassy all day. Then since last night, every once in a while I'll have some stomach cramps. They last for a few minutes and then go away.. that has happened 3 or 4 times since last night. It seems weird that I wouldn't have a reaction right away though.. or at least within a few hours of eating them. I ate some on thursday and on friday, and I didn't really start to feel sick until saturday. It's been a while since I last got glutened though, so maybe my reaction has changed? Or maybe I'm being paranoid and I just ate too many cashews haha. But that's the only thing I've eaten in the past like 2 weeks that was different.

Has anyone else had a problem with planter's nuts?

[silk]

I have also reacted to various Planters products, believing them to be safe because gluten is not listed in the allergens but have had almost identical reactions to yours.  It did not occur to me that I might be getting zapped from them until just recently when I ate some of their Salt and Vinegar almonds and became really ill and then recognized that I had reacted to them before. I have notice in the past few months that the 'Hermans' brand nuts, which have never mentioned wheat in their allergens now carries the 'processed in a plant that processes wheat' disclaimer.  It makes me wonder if all nuts are processed in the same manner and if all nuts and nut products should be considered unsafe? I know that I will not trust the Planters brand any longer regardless of whether wheat is listed or not.

[kareng]

I eat them with no issues and know several other Celiacs that eat them with no issue.

[cyclinglady]

I think that we have to remember that celiacs often develop intolerances due to our  damaged guts.  Our guts do not ncessarily heal either (usually adults) for  a variety of reasons even if their symptoms improve (see links below).  

Nuts are just plain hard to digest.   I can not tolerate almonds, but can handle walnuts and cashews in small amounts.  I can eat peanuts too, but resort to Peanutbutter after a Glutening as it is easier to digest (maybe I have to learn to chew better!  ?)  My nut symptoms have  nothing to do with gluten as I have purchased certified gluten-free nuts and suffered with the same symptoms.  .  

https://www.verywell.com/celiac-disease-when-will-your-small-intestine-recover-562341

http://www.cureceliacdisease.org/treatment/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23936873

i call the manufacturer when I suspect the manufacturer is sharing the line or if I just want to know.  I bought some Black English walnuts and called the company.  Those are the only nuts they process and they do not have any flavored nuts.   if you really want to test your theory out, buy some nuts from Nuts.com (certified gluten-free).   See if you get a reaction or ask your GI to retest your antibodies (which should be done annually anyway).  

I just hate to have Planters get a bum rap when you do not really know for sure.......?

 

 

[1398-Days]

12 minutes ago, cyclinglady said:

I think that we have to remember that celiacs often develop intolerances due to our  damaged guts.  Our guts do not ncessarily heal either (usually adults) for  a variety of reasons even if their symptoms improve (see links below).  

Nuts are just plain hard to digest.   I can not tolerate almonds, but can handle walnuts and cashews in small amounts.  I can eat peanuts too, but resort to Peanutbutter after a Glutening as it is easier to digest (maybe I have to learn to chew better!  )  My nut symptoms have  nothing to do with gluten as I have purchased certified gluten-free nuts and suffered with the same symptoms.  .  

https://www.verywell.com/celiac-disease-when-will-your-small-intestine-recover-562341

http://www.cureceliacdisease.org/treatment/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23936873

i call the manufacturer when I suspect the manufacturer is sharing the line or if I just want to know.  I bought some Black English walnuts and called the company.  Those are the only nuts they process and they do not have any flavored nuts.   if you really want to test your theory out, buy some nuts from Nuts.com (certified gluten-free).   See if you get a reaction or ask your GI to retest your antibodies (which should be done annually anyway).  

I just hate to have Planters get a bum rap when you do not really know for sure.......

 

 

I have intolerances to a few foods now, so I was wondering about that.. I love cashews though, and a month or two ago I was eating them all the time with no problems at all. I mean, could I really have developed an intolerance to them since then?

I don't know if they're made on shared lines (it didn't say on the package so I assumed they weren't), but I'll give them a call. I'm really, really sensitive to cross contamination. Even if something is just made in the same facility (but not on shared lines) it will make me sick. If that's not it, then I'm not really sure

[cyclinglady]

What if it were something else that glutened you?  Maybe you ate too much of a good thing?  I once (three months post dx) ate too much gluten-free fried chicken, vomited, passed out and fractured my back (osteoporosis) in the process.  Paramedics, ER doc and Cardio all thought I was having a heart attack.   No.  It was sheer gluttony and bad bones.  Not good to overload with a damaged gut.    Maybe you did get some contaminated nuts.  Afterall, anything processed is suspect.  What might be well tolerated by some, might be too much for others.  We all have our various levels of gluten intolerance.   The old 20 parts per million is just a guideline, but science does not really know (lack of funding......doe anyone really care enough to find out?) 

My hubby has been gluten-free for 15 years.  When I was first diagnosed, I tried to eat the gluten-free foods that I normally gave him.   Problem was he was healed and I was not.  Things like Xanthan Gum in commercial processed gluten-free breads make me feel like I have been glutened, but it is just (and still is) an intolerance.  So no bread for me unless I make it myself using a different gum.   Too lazy, so I do without.  

so, ask your doctor if you really want to know or lay off the cashews and test them again in a month using a certified gluten-free nut.  I wish this was easier!  

 

[cyclinglady]

Oh, Trish at the GlutenFreeWatchDog tested Planter's honey roasted peanuts three years ago.  The can did not state gluten-free, but showed no gluten ingrediants (per Kraft policy).  Test result: less than 5 part per million which is pretty much gluten-free.  

[squirmingitch]

Planters is a Kraft product. Kraft is a very trusted company who will always reveal gluten in plain english -- ie: Wheat, barley, rye. They also will always reveal if they are processed on the same lines as the above. Look at the can of Planters & you will see below the ingredients it says "manufactured in a facility that processes other tree nuts" or in the case of Planters peanuts it says "manufactured in a facility that processes tree nuts" (since peanuts aren't a tree nut). So you see they are being very specific. I also want to add that I have called them before & I am assured the above is correct.

 

[Nikki2777]

I have never had a reaction to Planter's Nuts (in fact, a bag of nuts from the vending machine is sometimes all I have time for for lunch some days), but if you have concerns, or just want to see if it's cashews in general causing a problem, try nuts.com.  I believe their nuts are certified gluten-free, and they have really fast delivery.  

When I was reacting to store bought pistachios after eating a bunch, I bought a bag of pistachios from nuts.com to see if I would also react to those.  I did, and now I know that more than a handful of pistachios (from any source) will not be good for me.

 

[SusanNash]

Planters has been adding more stuff to their nuts in recent years.  My husband is a long time peanut eater.  Dry roasted peanuts have Tortuga yeast which I'm a bit suspicious of.

[kareng]

4 minutes ago, SusanNash said:

Planters has been adding more stuff to their nuts in recent years.  My husband is a long time peanut eater.  Dry roasted peanuts have Tortuga yeast which I'm a bit suspicious of.

I just looked at my jar of Planter's dry roasted peanuts and there is nothing but peanuts listed as the ingredient.  

Only Brewer's yeast is not gluten free.

 

 

Edited August 2, 2016 by kareng

[kareng]

Looked on-line for ingredients - looks like some flavors might have torula yeast.  It should be gluten-free.  Kraft is very good about listing if an ingredient comes from wheat.  And of course, in the US, it is a law to label wheat.

[Beverage]

Hi.  If it's a packaged food product and it doesn't say CERTIFIED gluten-free (or has the gluten-free in the circle)... well, I stay away from it.

I was having some of my old symptoms, and I wasn't sure what it was. I was eating Costco Kirkland bagged nuts (not the ones in the plastic jar, the raw ones for baking). Costco does a good job of indicating if they are processed on same lines as wheat, etc..  The nuts in the plastic jars do have the warning, and the bagged nuts did not. I contacted Costco and they confirmed that the bagged nuts would have appropriate warnings, so these would technically be gluten free. However, they do not test, are not certified gluten-free, yada yada. 

So I heard about NUTS.COM in one of these conversations, and ordered a bunch of their CERTIFIED gluten-free nuts and have not had anymore problems.  Yes, they are more expensive, especially compared to the big bags from Costco, but they are so much safer.   And actually they are much fresher tasting.

I really try now to only eat CERTIFIED gluten-free packaged food (had a problem also with Bob's Red Mill gluten-free oats...not sure if CERTIFIED gluten-free oats would be ok or if all oats are out for me).

Remember, if you have a diagnosis, the additional cost of gluten-free food can be included in your medical deductions on your federal income taxes.  Do a search on the internet on what you need to do.  Just save all the receipts and track the cost differences (I use an excel spreadsheet).

 

[kareng]

58 minutes ago, Beverage said:

Hi.  If it's a packaged food product and it doesn't say CERTIFIED gluten-free (or has the gluten-free in the circle)... well, I stay away from it.

I was having some of my old symptoms, and I wasn't sure what it was. I was eating Costco Kirkland bagged nuts (not the ones in the plastic jar, the raw ones for baking). Costco does a good job of indicating if they are processed on same lines as wheat, etc..  The nuts in the plastic jars do have the warning, and the bagged nuts did not. I contacted Costco and they confirmed that the bagged nuts would have appropriate warnings, so these would technically be gluten free. However, they do not test, are not certified gluten-free, yada yada. 

So I heard about NUTS.COM in one of these conversations, and ordered a bunch of their CERTIFIED gluten-free nuts and have not had anymore problems.  Yes, they are more expensive, especially compared to the big bags from Costco, but they are so much safer.   And actually they are much fresher tasting.

I really try now to only eat CERTIFIED gluten-free packaged food (had a problem also with Bob's Red Mill gluten-free oats...not sure if CERTIFIED gluten-free oats would be ok or if all oats are out for me).

Remember, if you have a diagnosis, the additional cost of gluten-free food can be included in your medical deductions on your federal income taxes.  Do a search on the internet on what you need to do.  Just save all the receipts and track the cost differences (I use an excel spreadsheet).

 

People with Celiac are not supposed to eat regular oats.  Regular oats are not gluten free.  They must eat gluten free oats. 

 

 

Edited August 2, 2016 by kareng

[Beverage]

Yes, right. But what I had been eating was Gluten Free Oats (meets FDA guidelines of less than 20 PPM, does NOT require testing to prove it...I read the actual guidelines and it is quite clear that testing is not required to make a gluten free claim).

I had trouble with the Gluten Free Oats by Bob's Red Mill. I do not know if all oats will cause me a problem, some celiacs cannot handle oats regardless.  Perhaps CERTIFIED Gluten Free Oats  would be ok for me..Certified Gluten Free by the Gluten Intolerance Group, that's the little gluten-free inside the circle emblem (http://www.gfco.org/) or another outside organization is my preference, validated, tested, etc.  GFCO allows 10PPM than the FDA (20PPM).

[Gemini]

1 hour ago, Beverage said:

Yes, right. But what I had been eating was Gluten Free Oats (meets FDA guidelines of less than 20 PPM, does NOT require testing to prove it...I read the actual guidelines and it is quite clear that testing is not required to make a gluten free claim).

I had trouble with the Gluten Free Oats by Bob's Red Mill. I do not know if all oats will cause me a problem, some celiacs cannot handle oats regardless.  Perhaps CERTIFIED Gluten Free Oats  would be ok for me..Certified Gluten Free by the Gluten Intolerance Group, that's the little gluten-free inside the circle emblem (http://www.gfco.org/) or another outside organization is my preference, validated, tested, etc.  GFCO allows 10PPM than the FDA (20PPM).

Beverage.........Bob's Red Mill Oats are really safe oats.  I do not have any trouble with certified gluten-free oats and I have never had any trouble with Bob's.  If you look at their protocol, it doesn't get any better than what they and many other companies do.  Dedicated fields, dedicated facility, Elisa testing.......it may be that you cannot eat oats. I am sensitive to the crumb level and I have never had a problem with oats.  You will find that any of the major oat suppliers for Celiac's all test their products.  Without that, no one would buy them.  They have to test if they want to sell to the Celiac crowd. 

Regarding the Kirkland bagged nuts, I have eaten the small bags of them that contained cashews and raisins. Never had a problem with them, either.  I usually don't buy any nuts except from nuts.com and the Kirkland did not bother me at all.  When it comes to eating nuts in larger quantities, I use nuts.com and yes, they are great and really fresh. But there are other companies that do a good job without being certified....really.  I have been gluten-free for 11 years so have learned that something does not have to be certified to be safe.  It can be trial and error. It also might be that if you haven't been gluten-free for very long, the fat content in nuts may bother you.  That was one of my problems for years.  Right around the 8 year mark gluten-free, I noticed that I could eat things that I couldn't in the beginning.  It took me that long to get the harder to digest stuff back into my diet.

As far as deducting the difference in cost of gluten-free foods from your taxes, don't bother.  You have to have a minimum of deductions that equal 10% of your gross adjusted income to even begin to deduct anything.  So, unless you don't make much money or you have astronomical medical costs, you won't be able to deduct anything.  Not to mention that you are more likely to be audited trying to deduct gluten-free food costs.  Not many people qualify to do so and that raises interest from the IRS. They make it painful.

[Beverage]

Well, shoot, I wish I could eat the Bob's oats. I love oats and the gluten-free muesli. But the symptoms were pretty clear, and they completely stopped the day after the last time I ate them and have not returned. It must be the oats themselves that I cannot tolerate (oats have a protein in them similar to wheat rye barley, and cause problems for some but not others...guess I'm one of the former).

[squirmingitch]

Below is an email I received from Bob's Red Mill on January 15, 2016 in response to my inquiry to them regarding whether they only use gluten-free oats grown under a purity protocol or if they also source optically sorted oats for their gluten-free oat products. 

Let us be perfectly clear that Bob's Red Mill does NOT use only oats grown in dedicated fields. I have added the emphasis in the portion of the email below which states they do use oats that have been optically sorted. When I had called them in December of 2015 making the same inquiry, I got a response very different from this email. I was told that they exclusively use purity protocol oats. Tricia Thompson of Gluten Free Watchdog experienced a similar happening when she inquired of them on the subject of the sourcing of their oats. The phone call did not reveal the use of optically sorted oats but the email did.

 

NOW, having said that; I do think Bob's Red Mill is an excellent company and a friend to the gluten free community. I do believe they test gluten-free products as they say they do. I DO believe Bob's Red Mill gluten-free products are perfectly safe for the vast majority of celiacs. Let me be perfectly clear about that. However, there are some of us who are sensitive to minute levels of gluten &/or gluten-free oats. I have discovered myself to be one of those. It is not because I was new to the diet & had not healed. I had been staunch gluten-free for 3 years eating whole foods. Then I began using BRM products & I got sick. Not only did I get sick with all the old symptoms but my dh rash came back.

 

 

 

Thank you for contacting Bob's Red Mill.

 

I’d be happy to give you more information about our products.

 

Thank you for your inquiry regarding Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Oats. For over 30 years, Bob’s Red Mill has been committed to providing the very best in Gluten Free flours, cereals, baking mixes and grains for our friends on gluten free diets. For all of our gluten free products, we thoroughly batch test every product in our quality control laboratory upon delivery, during production and after packaging. We adhere to a standard of no more than 19 parts per million of gluten.  Should a test show that a product exceeds that limit, it would be simply rejected and made unavailable for distribution to anyone. Every step in the production of our gluten free products is done in a separate gluten free packaging division complete with specialized machinery to make sure that our products maintain their purity. By going to these lengths, we’re able to ensure that people with wheat allergies, celiac disease and gluten intolerance can trust that our products are safe to consume.

 

Oats require special care to ensure that they are safely free from gluten. Bob's Red Mill only sources from oat suppliers who are committed to practices for eliminating the presence of gluten. Our suppliers are innovative in controlling the presence of gluten by either avoiding crop rotation with gluten containing grains or using optical sorting technology to remove grain containing gluten.  Regardless of our suppliers' chosen methods for meeting our gluten free specification, we require that each lot is tested and confirmed gluten free before authorization for shipment to Bob's Red Mill. To ensure that they stay just as gluten free as the day their seedlings sprouted from the earth, we test each batch in our quality control laboratory when they arrive from the farm, during production and once again after they are packaged in our dedicated gluten free facility.

 

Additionally, we do have rigorous cleaning methods in place for our products. We clean our machinery thoroughly with high-pressure air between each production run, as well as discard or donate the first 15-20 pounds of product per lot before we begin the packaging process. We also have an air filtration system that runs continuously for employee safety reasons.

 

 

I hope this helps! Feel free to contact us again through our Customer Service Department at 1-800-349-2173 if you have additional questions or concerns.

 

 

Have a great day,

 

Julia Spock

Customer Service

Bob's Red Mill Natural Foods

13521 SE Pheasant Ct.

Milwaukie, OR 97222

jspock@bobsredmill.com

 

 

 

 

[Gemini]

21 hours ago, Beverage said:

Well, shoot, I wish I could eat the Bob's oats. I love oats and the gluten-free muesli. But the symptoms were pretty clear, and they completely stopped the day after the last time I ate them and have not returned. It must be the oats themselves that I cannot tolerate (oats have a protein in them similar to wheat rye barley, and cause problems for some but not others...guess I'm one of the former).

Udi's has oatmeal now and it is pretty good.  I am lucky that I can eat gluten-free oats without any issues but then again, I never had a problem with oats before I was diagnosed.  Sometimes it is the fiber content that can bother people.  I have tried about 3-4 brands of certified gluten-free oats since diagnosis 11 years ago and not one of them ever made me sick. I am very sensitive also and have gotten violently ill from a few crumbs. However, pretty soon, I will be able to test them myself.  I am waiting on a new gluten tester I pre-ordered so I am really interested in testing foods that people think are not safe. I couldn't help buying it....it seems like such a cool gadget and could prove really useful when I travel.

You still might be able to eat oats down the road.  Really.....it can much longer for the gut to completely heal than most people think.  As I have stated before, with each year that passes in healing, I am able to eat more foods than I ever could when first diagnosed.  Fats and fiber are the two things that are the hardest to digest and may be a problem for quite awhile. 

[dandles]

I realize that this thread is a couple years old.  But, perhaps someone will benefit from this.

Gluten isn't the only thing that can make you sick if you have suffered from Celiac disease.  Remember that the Celiac disease caused a lot of damage to the lining of your small intestine.  Due to that damage, you are now unable to digest many foods that are gluten-free.  For example, it is very common for Celiacs to suffer when eating high fructose containing foods, like apples and pears.  Some nuts are high in fructans, which cause similar problems as fructose.  Cashews and almonds are high in fructans.  If you have not yet researched the low FODMAP Diet, Monash University Medical School has done a marvelous job of researching the effects of high FODMAPS.  They maintain a very useful website to help us manage our digestive pain/symptoms.

[Highoctane]

Planters are made by Kraft.  Kraft is very specific on their ingredients and the Planters are also made on machinery that only process nuts.  They are the only one's I can eat.  You may have issues with the cashew only.  I do always try to eat the mixed nuts as they are supposed to be better for you.

[MJLancaster14]

On 7/24/2016 at 8:44 PM, 1398_Days said:

I've heard some people say that they're gluten free, and some say they're not.. I had a container of planter's cashews that I ate a few days ago and I haven't been feeling that great since then. I thought I was fine, but yesterday I woke up with a headache and was feeling really gassy all day. Then since last night, every once in a while I'll have some stomach cramps. They last for a few minutes and then go away.. that has happened 3 or 4 times since last night. It seems weird that I wouldn't have a reaction right away though.. or at least within a few hours of eating them. I ate some on thursday and on friday, and I didn't really start to feel sick until saturday. It's been a while since I last got glutened though, so maybe my reaction has changed? Or maybe I'm being paranoid and I just ate too many cashews haha. But that's the only thing I've eaten in the past like 2 weeks that was different.

Has anyone else had a problem with planter's nuts?

I break out in my DH rash almost immediately. I looked up Planters as a whole. They use the same equipment to process their gluten containing trail mixes as they do for the plain nuts. They refuse to market anything as gluten-free because they know it is cross-contaminated.

This is what shows up on google:

"Planters Nuts: This is a Kraft Foods company. ... Planters does not label any of its products "gluten-free," and the brand includes trail mixes and "dessert-inspired mixes" that have gluten ingredients and are processed on the same equipment as its plain nuts and peanuts"

[Amy R.]

Hi, 

I know this pos has been here for years. But I have had the same reaction. I called the several times. Only to come up with they have tons of Planters facilities and they all process GLUTEN in their lines. The part I don’t get is why do they put GLUTEN FREE on their products like Planters Nutrition . People just want to make money out of everything nowadays. MEANWHILE many of us are getting sick.