Reading Labels

[Jo.R]

I've been gluten free for three days because I have Celiac (too bad they couldn't have found out before taking out my gal bladder). How do you read labels. Is it true that if it says artificial flavors that it may or may not have gluten. How can they be alowed to be so cryptic. It makes finding food a nightmare. I just spent an hour on the internet to find out about four items. GRRRRR! How do you deal with this. Also, can someone recomend a gluten free cookbook, nothing high end, I have the taste of a teenager

[Guest lorlyn]

  Jo.R said:

I've been gluten free for three days because I have Celiac (too bad they couldn't have found out before taking out my gal bladder). How do you read labels. Is it true that if it says artificial flavors that it may or may not have gluten. How can they be alowed to be so cryptic. It makes finding food a nightmare. I just spent an hour on the internet to find out about four items. GRRRRR! How do you deal with this. Also, can someone recomend a gluten free cookbook, nothing high end, I have the taste of a teenager

Hi Jo.R

My 10 year old daughter also has Celiac Disease and we have had hard times finding food that she likes. I have a hard time understanding where hidden gluten is in. I have spent hours reading labels at the grocery store and don't understand the artificial flavors thing because they put that in a lot of things. Just try to hang in there and start out with simple foods that you know are safe. Also welcome to the board.

[tarnalberry]

make use of the 'safe/unsafe' list on this site (go to 'site index' on the left of your screen, and navigate from there). natural and artificial flavors would have to note if they contained wheat (due to the food allergy labeling law) but not rye, barley or oats. some companies (search around here for the posts that list them) have a full disclosure policy and will also label if they have either of the other three grains.

it can be hard to tell sometimes, and yes, that means that sometimes you have to put the item back because you're just not sure. (one reason why I find naturally gluten free foods (fruits, vegetables, meats, eggs, beans, etc.) much easier to deal with.)

[mamaw]

Hello & welcome

It is crazy at first but in a little time & patience you will be able to know maybe more than you ever wanted to know! This is a terrific site to learn & also has some tasty recipes ib the recipe section... I also have found many good recipes on the delphi group...

Nini on this site has a great newbie packet which is very helpful for newcomers.......

I use alot of contadina tomato products as they are mostly gluten-free... Progresso has a couple of soups that are gluten-free... mushroom ( made with portabella mushrooms), calm chowder,chicken & rice,chicken & vegetable.

If you haven't had them yet glution has yummy pretzels.I can go on & on .

For cookbooks I love the one from Annalise Roberts called "Baking Classics" & i enjoy the one by MIke Eberhart called "Gourmet Desserts". I also like Robyn Ryberg's books...I convert alot of my old recipes by using the flour blend from Annalise Roberts or I use the four bean flour blend from Betty Hageman....

Joan's gluten-free great bakes has the very best bagels & sweet bread in all the gluten-free world....

I love the bread mix from Anna's mixes. Also there is a good bread to make that is easy, easy to make.

If you want more on good stuff just send me a personal message.

mamaw

[kbtoyssni]

Some brands are "safe" - if the flavourings have gluten they will label that. Kraft is one. One thing that helps now is that in the USA, companies are required to label the eight major allergens which includes wheat.

[Guest cassidy]

I also recommend going to the safe/unsafe list on the main celiac.com page. I printed those out and kept them in my purse. I also got a list of the companies that don't hide gluten - like Kraft. For the companies that don't hide gluten you can just read the label and if it doesn't have any obvious words like wheat or barley then it is ok. They don't hide gluten in modified food starch or artificial flavors.

That being said, I would recommend sticking to a basic diet that is naturally gluten-free in the beginning. Your body probably has a lot of healing to do and you may find that you have other intolerances that you never knew about. If you stick to veggies, fruits, rice, and meats that don't have labels you don't have to worry about reading labels and you aren't eating a lot of chemicals which may be hard on your body when you are first healing. I didn't want to have to do this in the beginning but I really saved myself getting sick accidently when I just kept things simple.

Good luck and it does get easier. You can use the search box here and type in almost any food and most likely a post will come up where someone checked on the food already. Once you have new standbys it isn't hard at all. I rarely look things up now, but in the beginning I spent a long time figuring out what was safe.

[GFinVA]

I completely understand what you mean by having the taste of a teenager. Try the "Wheat-Free, Gluten-Free Cookbook for Kids and Busy Adults" by Connie Sarros. I own a number of Gluten-Free cookbooks and this one is the best by far. It has a ton of recipes that are easy to prepare quickly and don't have a lot of complicated ingredients. Good luck!