I don't know why I never blogged about this, but I have known it for some time. And was just reminded of this the other day while I was at CVS and felt the need to spread the gluten-free word. I also tweeted it.
Did you know that certain Gatorade flavors like the fruit punch (red) flavor has caramel coloring in it? Yup! It totally does.
In the U.S. a processed product considered gluten-free has 20 or below 20ppm (parts per million). Therefore products can seem gluten-free and even say gluten-free, even if they are not 100% gluten-free because our standards allow that and consider it Gluten-Free.
And different processed foods contain different levels of gluten-some contain less then 10ppm or even 5 parts per million. That's lower but still...no cigar. The less you consume the better and the article I just found on Celiacdisease.about.com points that the more under 20ppm/10/5ppm products you consume, the more gluten in your system. Meaning, it builds up! And that means that the average person on a gluten-free diet eating many processed under 20ppm products might even consume small amounts of gluten on a daily basis! That's cray cray! I never thought about it that way before. Eek! As they say it only takes an 1/8 of a teaspoon...that 1/8th will come mighty quickly if you over consume these processed products. Double eek!!
Therefore if you are as sensitive as I am, caramel coloring (not to be confused with caramel candy) an ingredient that has hidden gluten, that can be found in red Gatorade will not be gluten-free to your standards.
As we all know there are many, MANY flavors of Gatorade. I do not have a complete list of the ones that have caramel coloring and the ones that don't. So in the meantime, while I compile this list, check the ingredients of Gatorade bottles before purchase to make sure there is no caramel coloring. You can find this information on the back of every Gatorade bottle under the Ingredients List.
Have you ever wondered the meaning of hidden gluten? It can be as easy as an ingredient of which you do not recognize and therefore is actual gluten just with a different name. So simple.
There are a lot of products out there like this.
And there are some people out there that can tolerate under 20/10/5ppm as gluten-free-but if you are not one of them, you should know about Gatorade and caramel coloring. And you should also just be in the know about this topic in general.
I stick with Glacier Freeze-Gatorade Frost and Lemon-Lime.
Enjoy!! xoxo Julie
Thank you sooooooo much for writing about this. I didn't realize that hidden gluten was so prevalent, and keep wondering, "Why in the world am I purging? I NEVER cheat on my diet!" I was getting really annoyed at my digestive tract and feeling kind of hopeless. But now I know... look for the hidden gluten!
ReplyDeleteVery, very welcome!! It's certainly going to make me think twice as well. Good luck! : )
DeleteIt is crazy to think that there is so much hidden gluten in many foods and beverages. If you are looking for a truly gluten free sports drink, try hoist. It has no HFCS, is all natural, no artificial coloring, and is isotonic.
ReplyDeletewww.drinkhoist.com
Hope this helps!
If you fancy herbal teas and such, they use gluten to seal the teabags shut.
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ReplyDeleteNot all teas use gluten to seal the bag shut. That is old school, and is not accurate. If you are concerned call the manufacturer for each tea and ask. All the teas I use are 100% gluten-free and safe.
ReplyDelete