Celiac Disease

Official Website of Celiac-Disease.com

You are here: Home / 2008 / Archives for October 2008

Archives for October 2008

Learning How to Read Grocery Labels

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff Leave a Comment

If you are new to Celiac Disease, the first and most important thing you need to learn is how to understand food labels.  More specifically, you need to learn how to find the most notable gluten-containing grains (wheat, barley, rye, and oats), which are often hidden in products.

The safety of oats in the celiac diet has been under a great deal of debate for as long as I can remember. Some celiacs cannot tolerate oats because oats contain a protein similar to that in gluten. In addition, cross-contamination with other grains can occur during processing. There are a few companies that manufacture a gluten-free oat, but it must say so on the label.  Millet and sorghum are other grains that have not been tested for gluten but are tolerated by many celiacs as they are more botanically similar to corn than wheat.

Some other notable gluten-containing grains include:

  • Bran
  • Couscous
  • Semolina
  • Kamut
  • Spelt
  • Matzo
  • Pasta
  • Triticale
  • Sprouted wheat
  • Udon
  • Seitan
  • Malt, malt flavoring, or malt vinegar

Easy enough, right?  Unfortunately, there are also many situations where the source of gluten is not so obvious. Many other types of foods and food additives contain gluten.

Hidden sources of gluten include:

  • Soy sauce
  • Hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP)
  • Breading
  • Imitation meat, bacon, and seafood
  • Processed lunch meats
  • Gravies and marinades
  • Some salad dressings
  • Stuffing, dressings
  • Thickeners
  • Some drugs, over-the-counter medications, and vitamins
  • Broth, soup bases
  • Communion wafers
  • Ketchup
  • Mustard
  • Vinegar
  • Horseradish
  • Some peanut butter and “dry roasted” peanuts
  • Modified food starch
  • Artificial flavoring or coloring

Now this list was not designed to be “all-inclusive”, but it should serve as a starting guide to reading grocery labels and finding all those pesky glutens.

If you have anything to add, feel free to do so in the comments below!

Tell the USDA We Want Gluten-Free Lunches

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 5 Comments

Unless you have a child with Celiac Disease, you probably aren’t aware of the difficulty involved with helping a child to stay gluten-free while in school. This is especially true when lunch rolls around and all the other kids are enjoying their hot lunches.

Vanessa of Beyond Rice Cakes has been a vocal leader of sorts when it comes to this area and is leading a campaign urging people to tell the USDA to provide gluten-free options. This is a no-brainer for people who have children with Celiac Disease, but others may not think of it, so I wanted to draw everyone’s attention to Vanessa’s post.

According to Vanessa:

Currently the National School Lunch Program does not include any provisions for gluten-free food. The good news is that the U.S. Department of Agriculture is revising the Child Nutrition Act and wants to hear from you to help guide the revision process!

To give you a little background, the Child Nutrition Act includes legislation for the National School Lunch Program. This is the program that provides schools with federal assistance for school lunches. In 2009, the act will be reauthorized and, to help ensure the needs of all Americans are met, the USDA is accepting input on what needs to be changed to improve the program.

Please help improve the lives of children with celiac disease by sending your comments to the USDA. You can fax comments to 703-305-2879 or submit comments online.

The deadline for submission is October 15, 2008.

Vanessa goes on to provide some key points to remember as you submit your request to the USDA, so you’ll want to check out her post.

Remember, everyone with Celiac Disease needs to stick together and someone needs to speak up for the children who are going through school without gluten-free options.   Here is your chance!

Gluten-Free Hairspray from Paul Mitchell

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff Leave a Comment

Even though it has long been proven that gluten can not be absorbed through the skin, do you make sure your hairspray is gluten-free? Crystal of gluten-free Hub recently wrote about her favorite gluten-free hairspray, where she pointed out that sometimes hairspray can easily be inhaled on accident.

As a precaution, she recommends using a gluten-free hairspray from Paul Mitchell just to be safe:

I had some difficulty finding gluten-free hairspray, although this is clearly important given that it’s nearly impossible to avoid inhaling at least a little, and it can sometimes get in your mouth. I have tried a few gluten-free hairsprays, but Paul Mitchell Soft Spray is definitely my favorite. You can find it in many salons, some drug stores, and online. It has a nice, flexible hold without being crunchy. It also has a light, pleasant scent.

Do you make sure your hairspray is gluten-free?