There is wheat in flour?? :-)

March 4, 2009

Yah, I've run into that one OFTEN. Ethnicity is no barrier to the lack of

understanding that conventional flour is made from wheat. I would say that

probably 3 out of 4 people to whom I have mentioned my need to avoid wheat have

nodded sympathetically and then asked " But you can eat flour, right? " or when I

have politely and reluctantly declined to accept their home-made cookies, they

defensively assert " There's no wheat in them, only flour! "

Over the years, my expectations of food awareness of the general public has

dropped to the point that I've often felt like putting a gold star on the

foreheads of those who have asked " Does that mean you can't have flour? " When

possible, I take the opportunity to do a little ad hoc nutrition education and

answer something to the effect of " Actually, I can have gluten-free fllour, just

not flour made from wheat, rye, barley, rye or oats. " That statement is

typically greeted with silence and blinking incomprehension. The implication

that flour can be made from grains other than wheat baffles as many people as

those who have no idea that conventional flour is wheat.

It seems that many people don't think about what they eat, they just eat what is

handy, tastes good and resembles what Mom put in front of them. It reminds me of

a non-vegetarian joke about a young bride making her first roast of beef. Her

new husband watches her slice off the end of the roast and place the raw meat

into a large pan. " Why did you cut off the end like that? " he asks. She thinks

for a minute. " I don't know " she says. " It's just what my Mom always did. " It

turns out that the mother's roasting pan was a little too small for the size of

roast she always bought, so she'd sliced off a chunk to make it fit. :-)

Deborah

A few years ago I went into a healthy mexican food chain restaurant,

hoping to get some veggies in a corn something or other.

A very pleasant and sincere young man asked to take my order and I

began by telling him I would be very ill if I happened to eat any

wheat. He interrupted me with a big smile on his face and assured me

there would be no problem because all of their tortillas were made

with flour.

This young man spoke English perfectly well, with no accent or

anything else that might suggest that English was not his first

language. I was so startled I was actually speechless for a

moment. I ended up learning that their taco shells did not have any

wheat OR flour

Steve Rider

March 4, 2009

My husband had real problems with that too. The first few months were

a constant repetition of " so is white flour okay? " " is 100% whole

wheat okay? "

I am finding that most people with a passing understanding of

gluten-free now know about rice flour, but that is about the only

non-wheat flour that they " get " .

Some think you have to avoid all grains, and some think you only have

to avoid wheat.

Pam

On Wed, Mar 4, 2009 at 12:27 PM, Deborah Pageau <dpageau wrote:

> Yah, I've run into that one OFTEN. Ethnicity is no barrier to the lack of

> understanding that conventional flour is made from wheat. I would say that

> probably 3 out of 4 people to whom I have mentioned my need to avoid wheat

> have nodded sympathetically and then asked " But you can eat flour, right? "

> or when I have politely and reluctantly declined to accept their home-made

> cookies, they defensively assert " There's no wheat in them, only flour! "

>

> Over the years, my expectations of food awareness of the general public has

> dropped to the point that I've often felt like putting a gold star on the

> foreheads of those who have asked " Does that mean you can't have flour? "

> When possible, I take the opportunity to do a little ad hoc nutrition

> education and answer something to the effect of " Actually, I can have

> gluten-free fllour, just not flour made from wheat, rye, barley, rye or

> oats. " That statement is typically greeted with silence and blinking

> incomprehension. The implication that flour can be made from grains other

> than wheat baffles as many people as those who have no idea that

> conventional flour is wheat.

>

> It seems that many people don't think about what they eat, they just eat

> what is handy, tastes good and resembles what Mom put in front of them. It

> reminds me of a non-vegetarian joke about a young bride making her first

> roast of beef. Her new husband watches her slice off the end of the roast

> and place the raw meat into a large pan. " Why did you cut off the end like

> that? " he asks. She thinks for a minute. " I don't know " she says. " It's just

> what my Mom always did. " It turns out that the mother's roasting pan was a

> little too small for the size of roast she always bought, so she'd sliced

> off a chunk to make it fit. :-)

>

> Deborah

>

> A few years ago I went into a healthy mexican food chain restaurant,

> hoping to get some veggies in a corn something or other.

>

> A very pleasant and sincere young man asked to take my order and I

> began by telling him I would be very ill if I happened to eat any

> wheat. He interrupted me with a big smile on his face and assured me

> there would be no problem because all of their tortillas were made

> with flour.

>

> This young man spoke English perfectly well, with no accent or

> anything else that might suggest that English was not his first

> language. I was so startled I was actually speechless for a

> moment. I ended up learning that their taco shells did not have any

> wheat OR flour

>

> Steve Rider

>

March 4, 2009

And with multiple food restrictions, restaurants will often assume you can't

have seasonings, too! Just because I don't want butter doesn't mean you

can't use olive oil. I really appreciate restaurants that are chef-driven,

because the chefs tend to actually understand that the food restrictions

mean there's a lot left that I can have.

On Wed, Mar 4, 2009 at 3:13 PM, pdw <pdworkman wrote:

> My husband had real problems with that too. The first few months were

> a constant repetition of " so is white flour okay? " " is 100% whole

> wheat okay? "

>

> I am finding that most people with a passing understanding of

> gluten-free now know about rice flour, but that is about the only

> non-wheat flour that they " get " .

>

> Some think you have to avoid all grains, and some think you only have

> to avoid wheat.

>

> Pam

>

> On Wed, Mar 4, 2009 at 12:27 PM, Deborah Pageau

<dpageau<dpageau%40dccnet.com>>

> wrote:

> > Yah, I've run into that one OFTEN. Ethnicity is no barrier to the lack of

> > understanding that conventional flour is made from wheat. I would say

> that

> > probably 3 out of 4 people to whom I have mentioned my need to avoid

> wheat

> > have nodded sympathetically and then asked " But you can eat flour,

> right? "

> > or when I have politely and reluctantly declined to accept their

> home-made

> > cookies, they defensively assert " There's no wheat in them, only flour! "

> >

> > Over the years, my expectations of food awareness of the general public

> has

> > dropped to the point that I've often felt like putting a gold star on the

> > foreheads of those who have asked " Does that mean you can't have flour? "

> > When possible, I take the opportunity to do a little ad hoc nutrition

> > education and answer something to the effect of " Actually, I can have

> > gluten-free fllour, just not flour made from wheat, rye, barley, rye or

> > oats. " That statement is typically greeted with silence and blinking

> > incomprehension. The implication that flour can be made from grains other

> > than wheat baffles as many people as those who have no idea that

> > conventional flour is wheat.

> >

> > It seems that many people don't think about what they eat, they just eat

> > what is handy, tastes good and resembles what Mom put in front of them.

> It

> > reminds me of a non-vegetarian joke about a young bride making her first

> > roast of beef. Her new husband watches her slice off the end of the roast

> > and place the raw meat into a large pan. " Why did you cut off the end

> like

> > that? " he asks. She thinks for a minute. " I don't know " she says. " It's

> just

> > what my Mom always did. " It turns out that the mother's roasting pan was

> a

> > little too small for the size of roast she always bought, so she'd sliced

> > off a chunk to make it fit. :-)

> >

> > Deborah

> >

> > A few years ago I went into a healthy mexican food chain restaurant,

> > hoping to get some veggies in a corn something or other.

> >

> > A very pleasant and sincere young man asked to take my order and I

> > began by telling him I would be very ill if I happened to eat any

> > wheat. He interrupted me with a big smile on his face and assured me

> > there would be no problem because all of their tortillas were made

> > with flour.

> >

> > This young man spoke English perfectly well, with no accent or

> > anything else that might suggest that English was not his first

> > language. I was so startled I was actually speechless for a

> > moment. I ended up learning that their taco shells did not have any

> > wheat OR flour

> >

> > Steve Rider

> >

March 4, 2009

Have you ever gotten, " it's made with whole wheat flour so there's no gluten

and it's healthy for you! " ? I got that from a woman passing out samples in a

store once. She was under the impression that celiac only meant gluten and

somehow there was no gluten in whole wheat! How could there not be? I'm

thinking about making up little booklets I can just politely offer to people

explaining it all quickly and simply!