Are Kettle Chips and Snack a Jacks gluten free still?

[katiespicer]

They both used to say suitable for Coeliacs but now they don't but yet they don't have any gluten listed in the ingredients either. I am not sure what is safe or not. Sometimes I feel like only eating natural foods or foods that say gluten free rather than checking the ingredients and eating it if it doesn't list gluten. That makes life even more restrictive though but is this how everybody else eats?

[katiespicer]

Oh yes thankfully I am on auto pilot to check labels as the soup I was about to eat for lunch had gluten in!

Do you have any recommended links on where to find out which other ingredients contain gluten in?

[meanioni]

Well, more obvious no-no's are:

Rusk

Modified Starch

Malt

Couscous

Hydrolysed Vegetable Protein

Sometimes - Vegetable Oil, which can be derived from wheat (OK if Rapeseed, Sunflower, Palm)

Soy sauce

Worcestershire sauce

Malt vinegar (spirit, wine or rice vinegar OK)

Less obvious substances which can cause problems in some more sensitive coeliacs:

Codex Wheat Starch

Dextrose (if derived from wheat)

Maltodextrin (if derived from wheat)

Glucose syrup (if derived from wheat)

[sassyl]

I noticed Kettle chips had changed their labels. This is because of the new labelling due in January...

Gluten Free - less than 20ppm, contains ingredient alternatives such as made with rice flour instead of wheat flour

Low Gluten - 100ppm, all the codex foods

No gluten containing ingredients (like Kettle Chips) - no gluten, but they can't or haven't confirmed there is no cross-contamination.

Other foods that previously may have been labelled GF won't be allowed to now (such as lentils, pre-packed veg)

I think everything is just about to get a lot more restrictive and confusing!

[Hidden]

What an interesting comment Sassyl:

I think everything is just about to get a lot more restrictive and confusing!

And I agree with you and even tho' I hated the label: ''suitable for coeliac'' because it usually meant there was malt vinegar in it or with Walkers and Pringles crisps, wheat!

I also find it odd that ''pure'' oats are labelled gf when there's a whole bunch of coeliac who can not tolerate oats and then foods made by Heinz which are made with just gf ingredients now no longer say Gluten free on them.

Ironically the new labelling laws of 20ppm as gf and up to 100ppm for very low gluten foods was meant to help coeliac and by lowering the allowed level of gluten from 200ppm to 20ppm to be of benefit to coeliac. And was aimed at making gf food even safer for coeliac.

Also what I do not like is wheat derivatives do not have to be labelled as derived from wheat for the benefit of the food manufacturer so if they change the source of their derivative from say corn to wheat they do not have to change the label?

It's a topsy turvy world,

Jerry

[Sappho]

I live in Greece and ordered some Snack a jack chocolate chip flavour rice cakes as a treat.They are still listed as gluten free but it does not say so on the label...and they no longer say suitable for coeliacs on the pack.

I had one rice cake and the reaction I had was horrendous. I cannot have had gluten or something to react to at all that day besides the rice cake. It took me three days to get over it and I have sent a letter asking them if they have changed the recipe or the source factory.

Just to make sure I had nothing at all before the rice cake yesterday...I took one bite and it felt like I had bitten into chilli....tongue burning and lips and mouth...I went and rinsed my mouth out immediately and did not swallow the rice cake. I gave them to the dog and he would not eat them either so they are now sealed up ready to send to snack a jack!

[katiespicer]

Wow that is an extreme reaction, how awful. Well it would be interesting to know what Snack a Jacks come back to you with!

[Jacks]

I really miss a bag of salt and shake crisps, they were a lifeline at the 'out of the house and desperately need a munch' time. I wrote to Walkers asking if they'd changed the production and all they said was they were no longer allowed to use the words "suitable for coeliacs" and replaced them with produced in a factory which handles ......" If they really are >20ppm through the factory, then I'm truly shocked.