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Subject:
From:
Jerry Andrews <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Jerry Andrews <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 8 Jul 2002 00:15:44 -0700
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<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Hi, I live in the Bay Area in California. There is a company in this state
named Pappy’s Choice that makes seasonings. They have a site here:
http://www.pappyschoice.com <http://www.pappyschoice.com/>

I found their seasonings at a local Albertson’s supermarket. The product is
a seasoning rub for meats for grilling and cooking. The packaging claims “No
MSG” and “No preservatives”. Ingredients are: “Spices (Including paprika,
pepper, coriander, mustard, celery seed, garlic, onion), kosher salt flakes,
fine herbs”. It says nowhere on the label about any of the bad grains,
nothing about gluten. The stuff tastes good when you cook or bar-b-q meats
using it, has a great flavor, however my gut is telling me it contains
gluten. I am getting a gluten reaction from it.

I called the manufacturer on Friday about the product, and spoke with the
owner of the company for about 20 minutes. He suffers from IBS, and told me
of the problems he has suffered with over the years. I told him of my
10-year odyssey towards my Celiac Sprue diagnosis. He was amazed at what I
told him, and had never heard of Celiac Sprue before in his life. He also
claimed his plant adds no gluten, no wheat, no oats, no barley, no rye to
his seasonings. So why is my gut telling me different?

I told him of Frito’s corn chips containing gluten because they are produced
on lines where flour is also used, and the contamination that can take place
between different lines in a food plant. I didn’t ask him if they produced
any products that contain flour in them. I told him the story of the Frito’s
chips contamination in the hope it would trigger a memory that he was doing
something similar at his plant. But I got no response confirming a similar
manufacturing situation as Frito’s from him. He did admit that he is buying
and using bulk seasonings, 50 pound bags of seasonings, and does not know
the gluten status of the seasonings he is using.

I have used this Pappy’s Choice seasonings now for about a week, in various
recipes. I have tried using it with tofu, meats, soups, sauces, veggies,
etc. From his label on the product it says “Pappy says, “Use this source of
juice trapping flavor on all; beef (ribs, steaks roasts), prime rib, pork,
chicken, turkey, lamb, fish, stews, soups, salads, eggs, vegetables, and
Bloody Marys. Excellent for roasting and barbecuing.” “

To be honest, it has a wonderful flavor, and I was amazed at the number of
foods I could produce using it that it seemed to enhance the flavors of. But
there’s this nagging pain in my abdomen now that I’ve had for about a week
now, knife pains in the lower right abdomen, and the stools have all gone to
heck on me, and I feel like I’m sick now. So I’m going – WHY? Why did it
have to taste so good, cook so well with everything, and yet guess what it
is doing to me! WHY? Why did this owner of this business who has suffered
from IBS for so many years (he’s 39), why does he go “Get out of here! There
’s a disease like that where gluten destroys your intestines? No way!” WHY?
Why is he not required by our government to label his product “Contains
GLUTEN”? Why is the maker of the seasonings he buys in bulk also not
required to put that same two words “Contains GLUTEN” on their packaging?
WHY?

Given that doctors look at me now and go, “Wow, Celiac Sprue? Get out of
here! You have it?”, why 30 doctors over the last decade didn’t even do that
much as I got sicker and sicker as time went on, IOW doctors are as ill
informed about Celiac Sprue as the food industry is, why doesn’t our
government require our food manufacturers label the foods they produce that
contain gluten with a label of three simple words, in two different
arrangements: “Contains GLUTEN” or “GLUTEN free”? Why not? Why is it so
screwed up in our country!!!!

OK, I’m done now, the rant is finished.

I need help with this Pappy’s Choice stuff. I know this stuff has gluten in
it, my gut is telling me this, but I need it verified by another Celiac who
has tried it. Pappy’s Choice is out of Fresno, California, and he says he
sells to supermarkets and restaurants on the West Coast primarily. Are there
any Celiacs on the West Coast who might have tried this stuff and had a
similar reaction? Is it possible I am getting this reaction from some of the
other seasonings in the rub? The owner was well aware of the practice of
some spice manufacturers adding wheat flour to their products to thicken,
stabilize, and extend their product. He is not consciously adding gluten to
his product. I think somebody he is buying from is using it in their
manufacturing, and he is passing it along the line to everybody else
unknowingly.

Please, I really am trying to verify if this is just me, if this is just
some seasonings I am having problems with, or if it is indeed gluten. If you
have any suggestions or have had experience with this stuff, please message
me. Thanks.

Jerry
San Jose, CA

* Visit the Celiac Web Page at www.enabling.org/ia/celiac/index.html *

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