Have ya’ll heard about the study published in the June 2010 Journal of the American Dietetic Association? You can read the abstract here - OR keep reading & I’ll fill you in. 
First though, see that picture over there? It’s a bag of lentils that came from Wally World. Normally, I read every label, but sometime earlier this year, in a state of shopping frenzy, this got deposited in my cart & thus my pantry. Before I pass along this little bag of lentils to gluten eatin’ folks, I my daughter took a picture of the label just to show ya’ something… See that allergy warning on this (supposedly) single ingredient food product? While I’m not a fan of big box stores, I do really, really appreciate Wal-Mart’s policy of allergen content labeling. Just wanted to show ya how Wal-Mart helped me stay healthy. I just love that!!
So, anyhoo…the gist of this report is this:
- A survey was done by nutrition specialists and they found some naturally gluten free foods had traces of gluten in them. (This is thought to be from being grown or processed near and/or with gluten containing grains, such as wheat, barley or rye.)
- The lead researcher, Tricia Thompson, and her colleagues analyzed 22 grains, seeds and flours that were naturally gluten free.
- They specifically chose products that were not advertised as being gluten free.
- Their tests used a standard limit proposed by the FDA. That proposed limit for any product labeled gluten-free is twenty parts gluten per million parts product.
- 7 out of the 22 products did not pass the test. One product in particular (a soy flour) had a gluten content of almost 3,000 parts per million.
- Other troublesome products they found were millet flour & grain.
While this study was really, really small, I found it to be quite liberating & validating. Liberating? Well, I am especially careful about what food I bring into my gluten-free kitchen – you know how it is, don’t ya? – So, when I buy any packaged food it is still a whole food, such as canned tomatoes, brown rice pasta, dried herbs, dried beans, whole milk cheeses (preferably raw) with some exceptions for chocolate (for medicinal use, of course) & an occasional package of K-Toos for dunking in a glass of Jersey milk. Yum! I digress…Sorry… So, there was a time when I never thought twice about whether or not dried beans or millet were gluten free…until about 2 years ago. I was glutened by naturally gluten free food. It was a complete shock! That’s not how it’s supposed to work. Obviously, gluten cross contamination is a serious threat to our health & possible even when we choose “single” ingredient, naturally gluten free foods. So, I’m not crazy or imagining things & obviously NOT the only one that has had this horrible experience. That’s the long-winded reason for this study being so liberating & validating for me.
So, once upon a time, I slaved over made a BIG pot of pinto beans…big as in 5# of dried beans. After our dinner, the rest of the beans were going to be divvied up for the freezer for quick meals. BUT, during the meal I began to notice symptoms I get from gluten. At first, I thought I must be crazy, because there was nothing new I used in our meal…pinto beans were not a new item to our menu…spices were not new, etc…Those beans made me so sick that the entire pot – 5 stinkin’ pounds of beans minus our dinner portions – were fed to the trash can. 
Boo, hoo!
So, what do you think I did next? But, I have to tell you in the next post, since this one is already 555 616 words long…
