Bob's Red Mill GF and nut CC

[scsigrl]

So I have read a few times that Bob's is cc'd with tree nuts. How is this known? Is it that they just share lines? Do they clean between processing? Do you know because you/your child had a reaction after eating it?

We are now GF and I have not had much luck other than Bob's. I am wondering if I am playing with fire here or what.

TIA

[rhesp1212]

I definitely think it's contaminated somehow. It says it's processed in the same plant as nuts, etc. My son can eat any other kind of oats....if he gets bob's redmill gluten free oats and ALWAYS has a reaction to them!! Not sure about the other flours and such, but those he always has a problem with for some reason.

[mamafish9]

All BRM GF flours are produced in the same part of their facility. It's very well done, I've toured their plant. They are very careful to avoid gluten cross contamination in their GF production area, but nut flours are produced in the GF side (e.g. almond flour).

[sbgrace]

I called the company directly. They told me their gluten free flours are produced on shared equipment with tree nuts and are not safe for nut allergic consumers. To their credit, I believe they put a warning on their gluten free products? Not all companies do for cross contamination but I think they had one if I remember right.

My son was reacting, yes. Further, I believe this is how he became sensitized to nuts in the first place.

The safest thing to do is call companies yourself and ask about shared equipment, cleaning, etc. Comfort levels vary of course. Given the nature of nut contamination (hard to clean), the minute quantities required for reaction, and the seriousness of potential reactions I'm avoiding shared equipment. A dry (vs. wet) clean would certainly be outside my comfort zone. But with particular procedures in place I have used "same facility" products with comfort myself--particularly Amy's products because they were very clear about and aware of contamination potential it seemed. So for them facility (not equipment) feels safe for me if I've recently called about the product.

Are there nut allergies in the child? There are other sources of GF staples outside of Rob's Red Mill without the nut contamination. But gluten free and nut allergy combos are tough it seems.

[scsigrl]

Yes, my DS is peanut and tree nut allergic as well as having Celiacs.

Now what am I to do?

[sbgrace]

Originally Posted by scsigrl

Yes, my DS is peanut and tree nut allergic as well as having Celiacs.

Now what am I to do?

You're likely going to have do online ordering.
But for now likely wherever you get the Rob's will often carry the following:
Tinkyada rice pasta is gluten, peanut, tree nut safe.
Lundberg rice is tree nut, gluten, peanut safe.
Birkett Mills Pocono (likely all their lines...call) Buckwheat products are safe.
Perky Rice Cereal (and anything from Enjoy Life foods) is safe.

Remember. you have lots of things that are naturally gluten free--all your meats, dairy (if he's not dairy allergic), soy (if soy isn't an issue), egg, beans for protein.
Your vegetables and fruits are safe.
For non-grain carbs in addition to the carb content of the above foods don't forget potato, sweet potato, squash.

You can do this.
I'll post my full list when I dig it up.

[sbgrace]

Gluten and nut free (and sesame) free when I called. You'll need to call and ask about peanut. That said, the only gluten and nut free things could find in most cases are either the only thing the manufacturer produces or produced in a facility that is entirely nut free. So if there is peanut I'd be entirely shocked. I always encourage people to call for themselves though as things can change and we've not got peanut (and do have sesame which knocks some gf stuff out for us) so:

Buckwheat (whole, Kasha, etc.) Birkett Mills Pocono line (other lines from the company are likely safe too but I only asked about the Pocono line)

rice (whole, not their rice products though their flour is safe if you can find it)--lundberg. I think their other rice products were an issue with sesame rather than nuts but I can't remember for sure.

rice flour--lundberg though I can't find it and Ms. Robens (pricey but will be safe for you).
Other baking flours and products--Ms. Robens for sorghum, starches, etc. Expensive but the only safe ones I could find.
Someone on a recent thread said King Arthur Gluten Free flours are safe but I've not called on it to check.

coconut oil --tropical traditions coconut oil and some of their other coconut products are safe. This is the only tree nut safe coconut oil--I called every single manufacturer. They do make a peanut product but when I called it was made in another facility. You'll want to make sure this is still true.


millet--I couldn't find a reasonable source for Millet. Montana Mills was safe with nuts but may have had gluten contamination and when it was packaged down by, say Azure Standard, it is packaged with tree nut products anyway. If you got 25 pounds it would be safe but I'm not sure it's gluten safe because I wasn't interested at that point. Azure Standard Millet Flour I have listed as safe but I didn't question much about it so it may not be gluten safe.

teff--all products safe--The Teff Co.

ghee--purity farms

I think I found some gluten and nut safe oats but I forgot to write down the company as we decided against it. I wouldn't do oats with a new celiac dx. anyway.

Rice Pasta Tinkyada is safe. (get this brand of pasta to try--it's really good!)

Rice Syrup--lundberg

Spices only McCormick but it was sesame that knocked out most companies if I remember correctly.

olive oil--Bionaturae. Their Balsamic Vinegar is safe too but their other products are not.

Cherrybrook Kitchen mixes and products are (were when I checked) safe. I used this for his brithday cake last year because I was so overwhelmed with losing all my flours and stuff. Enjoy Life foods are safe.

There are other specialty allergy free lines like these which are nut and gluten safe but we don't use that type of food stuff regularly and I didn't keep track. I found some cookies for a special treat once, some vacation prepackaged foods that traveled well (pricey but he liked them and they were safe), and also chocolate for Christmas for example.


We basically just eat naturally gluten free stuff. It's healthier than gluten free baking anyway and gluten free stuff doesn't seem the same especially at first anyway. So I'd recommend you take that track at least for a while.

[JaneS]

BRM has hazelnut flour produced in their plant as well.

Authentic Foods superfine brown rice flour is terrific and nut and gluten free. They have other flours too like tapioca. I emailed and their almond flour is done in totally different plant.
http://authenticfoods.com/

Ditto Twin Valley Mills sorghum flour is very finely ground, waaaay better than BRM sorghum which is gritty ... and sorghum is only grain or product that TVM does, no x contamination.
http://www.twinvalleymills.com/

[deminc]

Originally Posted by mamafish9

All BRM GF flours are produced in the same part of their facility. It's very well done, I've toured their plant. They are very careful to avoid gluten cross contamination in their GF production area, but nut flours are produced in the GF side (e.g. almond flour).

OMG! How did I miss that?? Thanks for this thread, mamas! This may explain why DS2 seems to flare up whenever I try to bake him some treats despite sticking to his ok list! No more BRM GF flours for now!

[scsigrl]

So what do you all make of this response from Aarowhead Mills???

********
Thank you for taking the time to contact us regarding our Arrowhead Mills Flours. We strive to maintain the highest quality products and appreciate your patronage.

The Hain Celestial Group's labeling declares major allergens (peanuts, soybeans, milk, eggs, fish, crustaceans, tree nuts, and wheat) and we follow the U.S. FDA's regulations. We recognize the serious nature of the allergen issue and we strive to minimize risk.

Both major and minor ingredients of all products, as well as all processing procedures and equipment, are closely scrutinized and all potential allergen issues as determined by the Hain Celestial Group are declared on our labeling.

If a product contains gluten (ie. wheat, oats, barley, etc...) as a major component, we will include it in the ingredient list. For consumers concerned about the presence of trace amounts of gluten, we suggest avoiding products that include natural flavors or spices.

We assure you that strict manufacturing processes and procedures are in place and that all of our manufacturing facilities follow rigid allergen control programs that include staff training, segregation of allergen ingredients, production scheduling, and thorough cleaning and sanitation.
*********


Safe or not?

[sbgrace]

I wouldn't trust Hain products based on mine and other's experiences and the lack of concrete information they will give about shared equipment. The problem with :following FDA regulations" is that all they have to do is label is a product contains the allergen of course. From talking with them I don't believe they even keep track of cross contamination. I know they won't tell you whether a particular product shares equipment let alone what their standard for thorough cleaning procedures would be. Essentially, they have been completely unhelpful when I've asked for any sort of specific information about any of their products or product lines. Further, people have had serious reactions to their products with undeclared cross contamination.

I don't consider them safe for us.

[scsigrl]

Thanks Rachelle. I agree that those who are not helpful in figuring this stuff out are less than trustworthy.

[2rubies]

Originally Posted by sbgrace

Someone on a recent thread said King Arthur Gluten Free flours are safe but I've not called on it to check.

That was me. KAF gluten-free flours are made in a dedicated facility that is free from the top 8 allergens. The mixes are too, but the directions call for dairy and eggs usually. They wouldn't verify sesame for me on the phone Rachelle, but if you email them they will research that for you-
www.kingarthurflour.com

[lil_miss_understood]

Kathy (kjbrown) uses products from Barry Farm, I think it is. Has anyone called to ask about nut cc for them? They do have some nut flours so I'm not sure.

[scsigrl]

Originally Posted by JacquelineR

Kathy (kjbrown) uses products from Barry Farm, I think it is. Has anyone called to ask about nut cc for them? They do have some nut flours so I'm not sure.

They get the stuff from other suppliers and have no idea if they are processed with nuts.

[jfkappler]

I am one of those people who has always had an anaphylactic reaction to peanuts since I was born.  I AM NOT NOT NOT allergic to tree nuts.  As you know, peanuts are legumes, not tree nuts.

Bob's used to have peanut-specific products they sold but stopped approximately in 2005.  The warning labels on the flour only mention the possibility of tree nuts AS OPPOSED TO peanuts.  The problem is both in late 2011 and 2012 I have use the Bob's Red Mill flour (along with some other products of theirs) and had a reaction.

Having researched the issue online, one of the possibilities is that there might still be some cross-contamination on machinery at the Bob's Red Mill plant between tree nuts and old vestigial peanut traces.  Somehow I think this is unlikely because after stopping peanut products as of 2005, that means 6 years have gone by and I have to believe the machines have been repaired, changed, cleaned, etc. over that time such that peanut traces would be miniscule if not nonexistent.

But it could be that there is a third party supplier of nuts to Red Mill which they then grind into flour, and that third party nut supplier and their machines (probably some kind of collection machines out by the crops themselves) have some peanut contaminants.  Having had this allergy my entire life, one thing I have realized is that most nut companies, farm collectives, etc. don't exclusively work with one nut -- the exception seems to be Blue Diamond almonds which I have NEVER NEVER NEVER had a problem with.  But go buy a pack of shelled nuts anyway in any grocery store and on the warning labels you can see cross contamination of every nut under the sun.

I cannot think of another explanation but of course that doesn't mean there isn't another.  I have stopped using Bob's Red Mill products in part because I have found I NEVER  have trouble with King Arthur Flour and the King Arthur products. 

[mytwomonkies]

I know OP said that oats are ok for them but just wanted to add this for anyone else who might find this info useful...bob's red mill process their gluten free oats on the same lines as their gluten free products. So, if you are sensitive to oats then you would most likely have problems with their flours, we did.

I've heard 1-2-3 Gluten Free recommended and is a allergen free facility so you may want to check them out. We don't eat grains anymore and it's a lot easier to avoid cc that way. Hope you find something that works!

[scsigrl]

I'm the OP :)  This is a really old thread.  

1)  I never said anything about oats.  We still aren't doing oats. Haven't found a co. I am comfortable with.

2)  I have contacted Bob's several times.  The GF line processes nut products and they said the GF line is NOT safe for nut allergic people.

[mytwomonkies]

Oops, didn't realize this was an old thread just saw that there was recent activity :p And, I confused you with the second post down which talked about oats...that's what I get for being online late at night LOL

[mytwomonkies]

Oops, didn't realize this was an old thread just saw that there was recent activity :p And, I confused you with the second post down which talked about oats...that's what I get for being online late at night LOL