Thanks for answering, Gillian. I can empathize with you and your soda.
When I learned how many processed food items have gluten in them (that I
wouldn't have thought had gluten in them), I was shocked, and the task of
eliminating all this stuff from my diet seemed daunting, to say the least.
But in the last 10 years (which is how long I've known I have CD), there
have been so many improvements in GF foods available, better labeling,
better information, etc. It's much easier now. Again, maybe that's why
this list is slowing down - people aren't having such a hard time any more?
If so, that's a good thing.



But I still get frustrated with trying to dine out. There are pitifully few
decent restaurants in this area (Cleveland, OH) with GF menu items. On my
side of town there is only one that isn't fast food - and that's Outback
Steakhouse. I've heard people say that they can talk with the chef in a non
gluten-friendly restaurant and that it works out. But the last time I tried
that I got deathly ill. We talked to the head chef. I watched her grill my
salmon on foil, I requested an absolutely plain baked potato unopened with
nothing on it, and plain steamed vegetables. And I still had a reaction.
Who knows - maybe one of the other chefs put seasoning mix on my veggies or
someone used a utensil that wasn't GF. I'll never know. But I'm not doing
that again. If anyone has any suggestions about this type of situation, I'd
love to hear them. Never dining out and having to bring my own food to
banquets/other social occasions is getting very old.



On a more positive note, I did do an Internet search on "gluten-free menu"
the other day, and found that more fast food places do have GF items, such
as Wendy's, Arby's, Denny's, and Chick-fil-et. I've tried several items at
Wendy's, such as the baked potatoes, chili and taco salad, and they were
fine.



Best,

Valerie



_____

From: celiacspruedisease@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:celiacspruedisease@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Gillian Nance
Sent: Saturday, February 03, 2007 1:33 PM
To: celiacspruedisease@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Celiac Sprue Disease] Re:GF beans (and orange soda)



Valerie,
Thanks for the recipe! I haven't made split pea soup in a while, and
the cold does make it sound very appealing!

You're so right about the ingredient list not necessarily being all
the information you need in order to determine if you'll have a
reaction to certain products. Before my celiac kicked in strongly, I
occasionally used to drink a "natural" brand of soda that they sold
at the health food store. When I had it again after a long time, I
actually drank it three separate times before I realized that it was
the soda and not some other new allergy that was causing the
reaction, because who would have thought there'd by gluten in soda,
of all things? Turned out that it's something they put only in orange
soda, not other flavors, and it's common to many brands. I never
would've thought to suspect it if I hadn't read it here, on the
celiac mailing list!

This did used to be a very busy place (and with no spam, either, like
the one I wrote about the other day). Maybe we lost a moderator? I
finally got a new computer which makes my email easily accessible
instead of a howling nightmare, and I was excited to be able to start
reading the digest again. But I'm finding that it's pretty much ads
for online gambling, etc. or nothing at all. How sad! So anyway,
thanks for posting. Maybe if we keep posting, other people will see
that it's not just ads and come back? Helloooooo out there? Come
back, everyone!

Take care,
Gillian





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