Are Spectrum Organics Products Gluten Free?

[menomena]

Per their own website FAQ:

Spectrum’s culinary and essential oils share common filler equipment with our Wheat Germ Oil. Although gluten is found in seed fiber and not in seed oil, Spectrum’s Wheat Germ Oil is raw and unrefined, and thus carries with it the possibility of minute or trace amounts of gluten in the oil. We take every precaution to prevent cross-contamination between oils, including comprehensive cleaning between the processing of each product.

What do you guys think?

I used spectrum canola today for dinner. I've used it before, but in small, small quantities. Tonight, I filled the brand new deep fryer and made chicken fingers & sweet potato fries. Within 20 minutes DD1 had HIVES on top of her hand and I had dermographia and itchy spots on my arms. It has since died down, but we're both still rashy.

Cross-contamination? Canola sensitivity that just reached a threshold?

[kjbrown92]

Yikes. Scary. I use canola in my deep fryer too, but it wasn't Spectrum (it was from Costco).

[changingseasons]

The Spectrum oils are also bottled in a facility, or on shared equip (I don't remember which), with nut oils. Can you guys do nuts?

On a side note- I totally get dermographia from time to time, and had no idea there was a name for it. I always noticed it on days that my allergies seemed worse, although at the time I thought it was all environmental.

[lil_miss_understood]

I would call it's gf status questionable and it's wheat free status not at all- so if it's *only* the gluten of the wheat to which you react, then I'd say that may be the cause however, if it's wheat in general to which you react, I'd say it's pretty definite.

[menomena]

I'm thinking I'm glad I emptied the whole big bottle into the fryer. At least it was on sale and I only paid $6 for 32oz.

Are there other organic brands (i.e. non-GMO)? I'm so missing my whole foods right now (we used to live in a town with a trader joes & a whole foods. now, we've got the coop, which is fabulous, but limited).

No, we can't do nuts. I'm seriously allergic to cashews & pistachios, but I seem to only have cross-reactions to other nuts (due to processing all together). So, I'm not sure that's the problem. Although, we haven't clarified our peanut status (we are avoiding just in case right now), so that could be an issue since they do peanut oil.

I'm not sure if we're gluten-specifically intolerant or wheat in general. It didn't seem to matter because it wasn't that much harder to avoid gluten after wheat (although I would love to have barley and oats back).

We were 100% symptom free on the failsafe diet for a couple of months. And then we did our amine challenge and had a hard time getting back to baseline. And then I started experimenting with different meats and we're back to full blown reaction mode in the skin (thankfully the sleep seems to be okay *knock wood*). And then the holiday cross-contamination parade started... Oy.

I would pay so much money to be able to eat a "normal", whole foods, "healthy" diet.

I feel like in the past few weeks my teeth have started to hurt. I know that I am not getting the proper nutrition. I fear supplements because of reactions... I don't know what the answer is anymore. She is 3yrs 8m. I find myself contemplating weaning. Yet she still nurses at least once or twice a day. This post is starting to ramble. I'm just tired and sad.

[lil_miss_understood]

[changingseasons]

[menomena]

Thanks mamas.

[springmum]

Well crap.... that's the brand I use

thank you for posting! I knew the nut thing which isn't a problem for us, never even thought about gluten!! Hmm, but we've made it to baseline even with the oil.... don't think I'll toss it just yet.

Between the "fake" olive oil and x-contamination, are there any good organic olive oils out there?

Hope you guys heal quickly!!