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Hello all...thanks for the response..I feel alot better and am not angry
anymore. What a waste of energy! Right? here are the responses....I recieved
quite a few and am short on time...so here are the highlights. Best of Luck.
Pete:
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I finally got to talk to someone at Arrowhead. She tried to tell me
that they had told their supplier of the corn puffs to be extra careful
when they produced the product, but have no idea if the supplier is being
careful. I basically kept repeating that if we couldn't trust the labelling
on one of their products, then whatever product the Arrowhead Mills name
was on would be suspect to celiacs. She also said that no company that
makes numerous products is able to guarantee 100% that the products haven't
been cross-contaminated & I told her that I was convinced that Lifestream
was totally aware of cross-contamination and took exceptional measures to
ensure gluten free products were gluten-free. Anyway, I left her my name,
address & phone number and basically said that I was at least deserving of
some kind of response from the company after having eliminated corn from my
diet for the past 4 1/2 years unnecessarily.
I feel all the same anger & frustration that you do 'cause the battle to
eat safely looks like it is never going to end.
..........................................................
I'm still burning with anger that the seltzer bottle labled
ingredients: water, carbonation is not GF ... what the hell is
with that? ARGH ...
When I mentioned the Peanut People, I had hoped that the list
could have a good hearty debate about what we should do and
what's the best way to go forward. I'd hate to sue, because my
concern over the long haul is that I don't want to go down the
peanut path and have companies running scared, stamping
"may contain gluten" on aluminum foil just to cover their
profit-fattened hynies ...
On the other hand, this lawsuit-happy country seems to respond
only to lawsuits ... I have considered over and over again suing Kraft
for their false advertising of "100% pure mozarella" ... and for
their "medical emergency hotline" telling me that they are
"not allowed" to read ingredients over the phone ..... I'm sure
some legal beagle thought up that idea ...
And, just recently , my anger has really boiled over as I cannot
get my anit-convulsant medicine compounded ... the company
will not release the powder to the compounders .. UNLESS
I were a dog. They will release the ingredients for veterinary
cases, not human cases. What's with that? Why is my
poodle entitled to better GF living than me?
So, I dn't know what the answer is ..... I had asked the
Sully's Living Without folks -- I'm their travel writer -- if I
could have a 'bully pulpit' kind of hall-of-shame sidebar ...
to publically give a heads-up on those companies that
are unresponsive to *all* food allergy requests ... I think
since Sully's is new, they don't want to go that route ...
Don't blame them. I'm sure I'd say that Krapt was an
agent of satan and then Krapt woud sue Sully's and
then we'd still lose ...
I personally think the only answer/way out is some
celebrity poster child. Seems like organizations with
celebrities on board -- Liz + AIDS, Mary Tyler Moore +
diabetes, to name a few -- do really well in terms of
public awareness ....
Bill Clinton allegedly has a wheat allergy, but, ah,
I'm not sure he's the poster boy we are looking for ... :)
Sorry to rant/vent back at ya, you probably have a mailbox
full of angst and anger .....
Tracey in Connecticut GF lodging: http://www.innseekers.com/feature.htm
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I have been eating Arrowhead Rice n'Shine almost daily for two years or so.
My followup biopsy is in March of 99 so I'll find out then what shape my villi
are in. My symptoms are not very obvious either so I have to trust the labels
as far as what to eat as my symptoms take so long to develop. I have been in
good shape on the diet so I'm hoping the Rice n Shine is okay.
Barb from NE Ohio
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Right on, Peter. Perhaps the most effective thing we can do is to boycott
ALL Arrowhead products, along with strong letters to the manufacturer. Damn
them, anyway. There is really something terribly wrong with our labeling
laws to allow this injustice. And that's not to mention the lack of
integrity of Arrowhead.
Diane
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I would be angry also. Although I don't eat that cereal it did happen to me
with another, Natures Path Honey'd corn flakes. Natures Path did do something
about it, they took the vanilla out of the cereal, which then made it GF.
I think that it should be brought to the attention to the company so they can
correct the problem. Does that cereal say on the package that it is GF?
...............................
I am the one who originally blew the whistle on the Arrowhead
corn pops, listed as GF in the CSA guide book, by the way. I threw away my
Rice n Shine today. I would take the other box back, but I'll give it to
the food bank. I have purchased their flours also at times at my health
food store. A poster posted me the other day and said if I had been
following the list for a while, I have been for way over a year now and
don't remember hearing about them, and he said that they are notorious for
cross contamination. I get more frustrated each day, too, trying to decide
what to eat. I make everything myself, just about never eat out and
thought that I have been GF even though my stomach seems to be upset quite
a bit. I have been diagnosed with IBS due to stress, severe personal
problems. I wonder how much of this is gluten? I have been eating their
Rice n Shine almost every day for breakfast for a year and a half now.
GRRRRRR! I had someone suggest that my problems may be because I eat the
same thing and should follow a rotation diet. There isn't too much else
out their but rice for us. Boy, this thing is tough, isn't it? I have
also heard several times on the list that Bob's Red Mills is notorious for
cross contamination so I stay away from their products. If I can be of any
help to you in the future, please let me know. I also had someone else
post me stating that he had been eating their puffed rice for quite some
time and felt sick constantly. A poster from Canada, she is the one who
posted that she thought she was allergic to corn, said that Arrowhead Mills
rep. was not very cooperative and said that no company can guarantee that
there is no cross contamination in their products. Take care, Karen
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I called Arrowhead Mills and spoke to Lynda there,after learning that their
Puffed Corn cereal "might" be contaminated due to dusting by the manufacturing
process performed by a firm they contract the product out to.I use d the word
"might",in italics since I heard of this on the list and do not take
everything written as "truth".
She was exceptionally helpful and understanding.Now hear this clearly:She
indicated that they use the expression "we can not guarantee that the product
is GF" since it is manufactured elsewhere.She indicated to the best of my
recollection that all of their suppliers are aware of the need to be GF.
With that said I do not have a sense of dread over eating this product .I feel
fine on my GF diet and do not intend to spend the rest of my life fretting
over this issue.
Elevated blood pressure can cause me as much if not more harm thana
potentially small amount of gluten.
This is shared with you in brotherhood as a fellow celiac.
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I guess that I am the one who started this mess. I expect to call Arrowhead
some time today. To date I have about a dozen replies and expect to sumarize
before the week is out.
I have been off of Arrowhead products for about five days, and have only had
one major bout of diarreha since.
I am a 57 year old "athlete" and need my endurance. In July I was able to do
a hilly 100 mile bike ride, a first for me. (I was diagnosed in early June.)
This comming weekend, I hope to ride 120 miles around Lake Okkchobee. I hope
that my endurance will be up to about eight hours, more or less, in the saddle
by Saturday.
Thanks for joining my battle against those companies who are insensitive to
the needs of our celiac community.
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I would be very tempted to call the FDA & complain. That's how the Coleman's
mustard thing got started & resolved. Some companies now add " this product
made in a facility that also make wheat products and may be contaminated."
There is only brand of rice thins--is the snack food section--that has this.
Don't want to make the FDA angry w/ you. (Might also get what we got w/
Kraft, too, "eat none of our products because we can't tell you what's in it."
Can't believe they can market stuff w/out knowing what's in it.
Bev in Milwaukee
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Thanks all!!!! Pete
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