Tips for Celiacs – Is This Food Safe?
“Don't eat anything containing barley, rye, oats, or wheat,” my dermatologist told me simply after diagnosing me with dermatitis herpetiformis.
“Barley, rye, and what?” I asked, writing his instructions as quickly as I could.
“Barley, rye, oats, and wheat. I call it the 'BROW' diet,” he responded tersely.
A cute mnemonic device, I thought, but somehow I knew, even at that moment, that following this diet was not going to be as easy as looking for those four words on labels.
My hunch proved correct as I soon learned that the four taboo grains were bases for many ingredients whose names bore no trace of their origins. Moreover, not only did I have to concern myself with every ingredient listed on every food label, but I also had to investigate possibilities of unnamed ingredients and cross-contamination.
How was I ever to determine what foods were safe to eat? Over time, I developed the following strategy.
1. Begin with general lists of acceptable foods, taboo foods, and questionable foods. This provides the first “cut” in food examinations. The Alamo Celiac new member packet includes lists of foods to eat and foods to avoid. Other celiac groups also provide similar lists on the Internet. Of the many available, two are
- Gluten Intolerance Group (GIG) list: www.gluten.net/diet.htm
- Celiac Sprue Association (CSA) list: www.csaceliacs.org/gluten_choices.php
Additionally, many gluten-free diet cookbooks have such lists in introductory sections. Cookbooks for celiacs are often available at larger bookstores, such as Borders and Barnes & Noble, and gluten-free cookbooks abound on the Internet (search using the words “gluten-free cookbook”).
While lists of food types and ingredients are invaluable for weeding out obvious foods to eliminate, they do not list specific brands, and they provide only general guidelines. If a food label shows questionable ingredients such as modified food starch or natural flavors, or if there is the possibility of cross-contamination, as in the case of rice cakes made by a company that also produces wheat or oat products, further investigation is needed.
2. Call toll-free numbers on food labels. Before I had Internet access, this was my favorite resource for determining the safety of a specific food product. This had, and still has, distinct advantages. By calling a food manufacturer, I know I am receiving current information, an important point since food manufacturers can and do change the ingredients they use.
As an additional bonus, sometimes the customer service representative offers to send me recipes and/or coupons for their products. The primary disadvantage is that customer service representatives are not usually available at night or on weekends, nor are phone numbers useful when I happen to be in the grocery store without my cell phone.
With the acquisition of Internet access, at least getting information on nights and weekends has become less of a problem.
3. Explore food manufacturer Web sites. Many food manufacturers now have Web sites on which they list product information, sometimes including gluten information in an “Allergy information” section or in “FAQs.”
Companies that do not print a Web address on their labels may still have Web sites that can be found with an Internet search engine using the company name as a search word. If a food company Web site does not have gluten information, I look for a link labeled “Contact Us,“ which will supply an e-mail address, a phone number, or a form for requesting information.
Many times, the response to my query will include information on all of that manufacturer's products, and I have the assurance that the information I receive is up-to-date.
Unfortunately, I can't carry my desktop computer with me to the grocery store, nor does Internet access always insure an immediate answer to my questions. Happily, there is yet another available resource that doesn't require a computer or a phone.
4. Consult a gluten-free shopping guide that lists foods by brand or manufacturer. There are a number of places to find shopping guides.
The book Gluten-Free Diet – A Comprehensive Resource Guide, by Shelley Case, a registered dietitian, has a shopping guide listing specific brands and manufacturers, as well as having other useful information and recipes.
In addition to other books by individual authors, there are shopping guides produced and offered for sale by celiac groups. Two of these group-produced guides are
- The CSA Gluten-Free Product Listing. See www.csaceliacs.org/ProductListing.php for information.
- Tri-County Celiac Support Group Shopping Guide. Order forms are online at www.tccsg.com/TCCSGShoppingGuide.htm.
Furthermore, Clan Thompson not only has printed materials for sale but also sells a guide that can be downloaded to a computer or to a palm handheld device. (See www.clanthompson.com/prod_catalog.php3 for information.)
There are even free shopping lists available on the Internet. One such list is at http://homepage.mac.com/sholland/celiac/GFfoodlist.pdf. All of these shopping guides have the advantage of being easily portable references, but users of them must remember that printed information may become outdated and should be verified periodically.
This strategy – choosing foods that appear to be acceptable and refining my choices through phone calls to manufacturers, perusal of manufacturers' Web sites, or looking items up in a gluten-free shopping list – has been quite effective in helping me to determine what foods I can safely eat.
I also keep myself updated with other resources. Alamo Celiac newsletters have a Product News section that contains current information that members have submitted to the editor. Newsletters from other groups also print product news. I subscribe to the Celiac List, an Internet discussion group that often involves product news and has searchable archives. (For information, go to www.enabling.org/ia/celiac/)
With so much information available, I feel quite comfortable in determining for myself, “Is this food safe to eat?”
