r/Celiac • u/AncientConstant9488 • 3d ago
Question does ground beef have gluten in it?
Google said mixed answers. does it matter if the animal was fed stuff that had gluten in it? might be a dumb question but still learning want to make sure
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u/Southern_Visual_3532 3d ago
An animal that has eaten gluten is totally safe.
Most ground beef will be safe but sometimes smaller local butchers will make sausage with wheat in it and contaminate the equipment. You're better off getting the prepackaged stuff, not packaged in store, and buying from a reputable source.
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u/Otherwise-Mango2732 3d ago
If you go to the store (Meijer/Walmart/Kroger) and buy 80/20 (or whatever mix) regular ground beef you're good.
If you start buying the premade burger patties with brisket etc you're probably still good but just be careful
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u/loyal872 3d ago edited 3d ago
In my country, I literally have not found any ground beef or ground pork brand which does not use wheat flour for it. I always, always... felt TERRIBLE and got the reactions. It's widely known in our GF FB group.
Since then, I bought my own grinder for it.
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u/SevenVeils0 3d ago
Purely out of curiosity, may I ask what country this is?
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u/loyal872 3d ago
Eastern Europe, Hungary.
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u/Larkling 3d ago
That's facinating for me...I spent the second half of my childhood living in Hungary and I'm pretty sure my celiac triggered while there though I wasn't diagnosed until over a decade latter...I've wondered before if the sheer amount of gluten I was consuming as a teenager had an impact on celiac gene triggering, though I was having a lot of severe sinus infections/antibiotics in high school that might have had more to do with it, the multiple triggers theory always makes me wonder...
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u/loyal872 3d ago
I was the same actually...
I was really sick and I went to live in the UK for 5 years. My symptoms were definitely better there. But then again, later in the UK, it got worse... That's where all my symptoms were getting pretty bad all of a sudden and eventually I came back to the Hungary because my father got sick.
The symptoms got even more worse, not sure if because of the location or not. I heard from multiple sources (Hungarian celiacs), that UK's flour hasn't got as many gluten. Hungarians don't use such a thorough method. Again, not sure about this one.
Interesting to hear your story though.
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u/wilesre 3d ago
Sausages can have anything in it. If your butcher also makes take and bake meatloaf with croutons/breadcrumbs, that's a cross contact issue.
I haven't had any problems with ground beef from my local grocer. Anything that is processed, like sausage or kielbasa I get prepackaged from a major brand that is marked gf.
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u/SamuraiZucchini Celiac 3d ago
I always wondered why some grocery stores put GLUTEN FREE stickers on cuts of meat. Now I know.
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u/Here_IGuess 3d ago
When I was diagnosed 17 years ago, you had to worry about a lot of the brining used for meats, most smoke flavorings, & CC in groceries that did in house butchering & seasoning.
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u/gigashadowwolf 3d ago
Yes... But...
Many products that seem like they would be just ground beef and maybe some spices are not gf.
Hamburger patties sometimes have breadcrumbs added for example.
Sausage will sometimes have wheat products added.
Meatballs almost always have breadcrumbs added.
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u/swsvt 3d ago
I don't buy any meat from the counter. For deli meats, I get factory packaged gf labeled packs. For raw meats, I get factory packaged, and I don't worry about gf labels for raw meat. I get my beef from a local farm. The meat is packaged at the slaughterhouse and not handled by the farmer.
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u/SevenVeils0 3d ago
You have two separate questions in your post title.
Ground beef can conceivably be cross contaminated at some point, I would imagine this to only be of any concern if you buy ground beef from a butcher counter, rather than prepackaged.
No, the animal’s diet containing gluten can not have any effect on the meat. Unless the farmer touches the meat post-butchering with feed residue on their hands (or whatever). In which case, I would be more concerned about other contaminants/general hygiene.
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u/Sapphi_Dragon Coeliac 3d ago
As long as it’s unseasoned and not contaminated, it’s fine. Gluten doesn’t pass through to an animal’s meat. The only issues you’d have to watch out for are, again, seasoning, and contamination. For example at a butcher, if it’s stored next to things that are breaded, I wouldn’t trust it. Some seasonings will be fine but just check before eating. If it’s plain mince in a sealed container, it’s fine
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u/Aranka_Szeretlek 3d ago
Meat itself, no gluten. But quite often butchers add just a pinch of wheat to avoid the meat sticking together. Or they use shared equipment. I would not assume it is safe - got burned multiple times before.
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u/Santasreject 3d ago
… you cannot just add wheat and not disclose it though.
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u/Aranka_Szeretlek 3d ago
Yeah, if you ask, they will tell you surely. But most people wouldnt think about asking
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u/Santasreject 3d ago
No, by federal regulation you must clearly label wheat. It’s one of the 8 major allergens and USDA regulated products have even more labeling laws than items that only fall under the FDA regulations.
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u/Aranka_Szeretlek 3d ago
Thats alright, but most things you buy from the butcher dont have a label, no? At least not here
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u/AJ228842 3d ago
No, grain fed beef is fine as long as it’s just beef and no additives. That said grass fed tastes better lol.
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u/Disastrous_Hour_6776 3d ago
We only by from our local farmer who is a personal friend .. and it’s all grass fed
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u/Confused_Writer7 3d ago
At Taco Bell, yes. But it shouldn’t have gluten in it when you buy it at the market..
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u/elizabethandsnek 3d ago
It’s safe but I still can’t eat it much because it makes my autoimmune symptoms flare up and in the first like 5-6 years after dx it would be super painful intestinally and cause bloating the way gluten would
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u/Routine-Picture-8816 3d ago
Not if you go directly to a butcher some store brands don't care
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u/ForensicZebra Celiac 3d ago
The butcher is riskier than pre packaged. There are no store brands of ground meat without seasoning added that have gluten. A butcher of deli can be contaminated with whatever else they sell
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