Healthy Options

Healthy choices can be found campus-wide in every food shop, store and food courts...

• Healthy Options

Food Allergies

• Allergies
• Food Allergies

Nutrition Tips

• Sodium
• Edamame

Wheat/Gluten Allergy

What is Gluten?

The four primary proteins found in wheat, rye, and barley includes albumin, globulin, gliadin, and glutenin, better known as gluten. This rubbery and elastic substance helps to bind dough, which is common with baked breads and other baked foods. It contributes to spongy consistency of the baked products.

What can you eat?

The food items that can be eaten in any amount: corn, potato, rice, soybeans, tapioca, arrowroot, carob, buckwheat, millet, amaranth and quinoa. Some food items that does not contain gluten are Distilled white vinegar, malt vinegar.

What foods need to be avoided?

Do not eat anything that contains the following grains: wheat, rye, and barley. Grains are used in the processing of many ingredients, so it will be necessary to seek out hidden gluten. The following terms found in food labels may mean that there is gluten in the product.

• Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP), unless made from soy or corn
• Flour or Cereal products, unless made with pure rice flour, corn flour, potato flour, or soy flour
• Vegetable Protein unless made from soy or corn
• Malt or Malt Flavoring unless derived from corn
• Modified Starch or Modified Food Starch unless arrowroot, corn, potato, tapioca, waxy maize, or maize is used
• Vegetable Gum unless vegetable gums are carob bean gum, locust bean gum, cellulose gum, guar gum, gum arabic, gum aracia, gum tragacanth, xanthan gum, or vegetable starch
• Soy Sauce or Soy Sauce Solids unless you know they do not contain wheat
• Any of the following words on food labels usually means that a grain containing gluten has been used like stabilizer, starch, flavoring, emulsifier, hydrolyzed plant protein.

 Gluten Intolerance or the Celiac Disease…

Celiac disease is an inherited autoimmune disorder that affects the digestive process of the small intestine. When a person who has celiac disease consumes gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye and barley, the individual’s immune system responds by attacking the small intestine and inhibiting the absorption of important nutrients into the body.

What are the symptoms?

While the symptoms and severity of the symptoms of gluten allergy vary from one person to another, generally a person would experience hives, swelling, abdominal cramps, nausea and vomiting, or asthma. If the person is highly sensitive to gluten allergy, the symptoms could be life-threatening. In adults symptoms include: weight loss with pale, offensive diarrhea, constipation, abdominal bloating with wind. Half of adults with celiac disease do not have any of these bowel symptoms. They approach their doctor because of: extreme tiredness – which is a sign of anemia, psychological problems like depression, bone pain and sometimes even fractures – which are due to thinning of the bones, ulcers in the mouth, a blistering, itchy skin rash mostly on the elbows and knees.

Safety Measures at EMU :

• No contact with any Gluten products.
• Labels checked for possible contaminates/allergies
• Use of clean sanitized area when preparing products.
• Use of fresh clean utensils and equipment when handling food items.
• Avoidance of spills and any possible cause of cross contamination.
• Students are made responsible for all questions relating to food as knowledge is there’s to manage, culinary staff will follow student’s directions to like and dislikes.