Are Gluten-Free Labeled Foods Really Gluten-Free?

Let's face it, a gluten-free label can be confusing and difficult to understand. If you are like me, you need your reader glasses to assist in your food label reading and then struggle to recall exactly what each gluten-free label really means.  How many ppm's (parts per million) does each certification allow?  (And an even bigger issue for me is exactly how many ppm's are really safe for me and you, too?) As if there were not enough certifications to remember, it seems there are new certifications showing up more frequently. This week, "Paleo Certified" was a new label I discovered while grocery shopping.  I needed to research to understand what exactly "Paleo Certified" meant.  Basically, these products tested to 10 ppm's gluten, along with other criteria you may read here at Paleo Foundation.  While researching this newest label, I stumbled across the article, "Are Your Gluten-Free Foods Really Gluten-Free?" that was helpful to me to understand some of the gluten-free labeling challenges that we face when buying packaged foods.

In my opinion, I feel that eating zero gluten is the way to be healthy if you are gluten sensitive or have celiac disease. Not the standard 20 ppm of gluten that is allowed in gluten free packaging.   Eating whole foods that are not in a package is the only way to do that.  Or is it?  Beans are packaged foods that are whole, but the process of growing beans in fields that are rotated with gluten containing foods and transported in a truck that previously contained gluten can be enough cross-contamination for those of us who are more sensitive.  Yes, that's right...beans and that includes green peas, too.

Staying safe from gluten is not always easy.  Gluten is a sneaky thing and can catch me off guard, even though, I eat so carefully,  One night months ago, I awoke feeling nauseous and threw up in the middle of the night.  I wasn't ill.  I thought maybe the frozen sweet peas I had eaten for dinner may have been thawed somewhere along the lines of transportation making me sick.  It took me a very long time to understand that it most likely was a gluten reaction from the sweet green peas!

For the longest time, I wasn't sure what my reactions were anymore, because I eat so clean I had no reactions.  After this episode of green peas, I had been cruising along safely until last week. I added a half tablespoon of whole flaxseed to my breakfast smoothie.  Within an hour my head hurt and became foggy. Throughout the day, I experienced itchy bumps and blisters on my body that had been characteristic to my past gluten reactions. Into the next day I was tired, and extremely bloated with swelling fingers. (Not a pretty sight)  Anyway, my soul was crushed to realize I was reacting to gluten in the flaxseeds that were from a company that tests for gluten to be under 20 ppm.

Obviously, there are some of us who are the MOST sensitive to gluten. I suppose I should be thankful that my body is not hiding any reactions from me.  I often ponder the thought that if I was not eating grain-free whole foods, how would I know the signs of being glutened?  Are there people who have no reactions that they are aware of?  I hear that is the case for the majority of people who are gluten-sensitive. Instead, they are diagnosed with an auto-immune disease before they know they are sensitive to gluten.  I suppose I should be thankful that my body is not hiding any reactions from me.  Okay, I already wrote that didn't I?  I am thankful.  My body is smart and designed perfectly to speak loudly, if just pay attention.