OK, so what's the deal with vinegar??

Last night, I had a reaction, which I had initially attributed to an apple (they have given my indigestion in the past); but, in all fairness, I had eaten one that morning as well, with no such drama.

One thing I DID eat last night was a sweet thai chilli sauce, which I had scrutinized for any trace of gluten - and, honestly, the only suspect thing on the label seemed to me to be vinegar. It didn't state what type. After some research, I found this:

“In the past, distilled vinegar (or white vinegar) has been listed as unsafe for people with celiac disease by the major organizations in the United States, but not by organizations in any other countries. This position changed in 2001. The Gluten Intolerance Group® and the Celiac Disease Foundation now state that all vinegar (except malt vinegar) is safe for people with celiac disease to consume. The American Dietetic Association has also stated…that distilled vinegar is gluten free.
The key discovery was that the distillation process removes the gluten-toxic proteins, meaning that malt vinegar is outlawed (since it is not distilled) but that other types of vinegar are fine. The only mild dissent comes from the Celiac Sprue Association. They have a point, since their “Low Gluten Foods to Avoid” list addresses newly-diagnosed celiacs who should be extra careful."

Has anyone else had probs with vinegar? Or am I grasping at straws here?

a few people find they are bothered by vinegar - you may find that it is vinegar itself, even, not gluten in it, that bothers you.

Or it could have been the chillies? It might be a good idea to eat a blander diet for a while if your system is still very sensitive.

Pauliina

Some of us do react to distilled gluten grains. My family is in that group. I had a lot of mystery glutening until we figured that out because of course almost everywhere you are told that we can tolerate. You may also be someone who does not tolerate gltuen grains in any form. There are some companies that use only corn or wood derived distilled vinager. If you live near a Wegmans they are very cognizant of this and only use non gluten grain distilled vinager in the stuff they label gluten-free. When I was first diagnosed I wondered why some pickles, for example, had the gluten-free label and some didn't. That was why.

Like ravenwoodglass I have reacted to "distilled" grain products... and as far as the vinegar part I seem to be fine with cider and wine vinegar (so long as its not got coloring) so this doesn't seem to be the acetic acid part, at least for me ...

But the bottom line lie others have said, it could have been chillies ?? it could be the acetic acid like tarnelberry say's .... it could be something else... like someone eating a sandwich touched your hands... etc. etc. ... so sometimes these things just remain mysteries... for instance the bottle may have got flour on it in the supermarket/transit/warehouse etc. or any other can/bottle etc.

Really its a bit like trying not to catch a cold... you can take reasonable precautions, limit public transport etc. but short of living in a bubble there are no guarantees. My perspective is that "reasonable" precautions probably do 90% ... and that last 10% is impossible so even the last 9% ... means changing things really fundamental...
I do have a friend who has seizures triggered by gluten and she has to do the extra 9%.... she wears gloves always to prevent getting it on her hands from door handles etc. and then onto her clothes etc. .. and wears a mask in the supermarket in case someone drops a bag of flour ... it might seem excessive but her reaction can be life threatening ...

So for me I find that I can get the 90%+ and still have a life

clutching at straws ?? No I don't think so.... this is really the only way we learn.... perhaps not this time but next time you feel up to testing the sweet chilli sauce you'll find out if it was that or not...

No matter what you feel about the distillation thing, in the U.S. if vinegar has wheat it MUST be listed now.

richard

I cannot eat vinegar (gives me D the day after) for me it's from Leaky Gut associated with my Systemic Candida that I am sufering from.

Are you aware of any Candida issues you might have?

lovelove
sickchick

Thanks, guys :-)

Am feeling better today, which is nice.

I's difficult when you're just starting out, because you don't really know what to attribute a sudden "attack" to - particularly when there tend to be other, non-gluten related things going on...(eg my apple intolerance - of all things!)

I think I will give it a month before trying the sauce again. As you say, it could be the chillis, or the fact that I cannot tolerate distilled gluten grains...it's quite an adventure figuring all this out! Frustrating, at times, but an adventure nonetheless...