<<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 *