We get a lot of inquries about whether our beans are gluten-free or not. Apparently, if you have the allergy, consumption of even the smallest amount of gluten is not pretty. I have a lot of friends who have passed many nasty hours suffering after an encounter.
While no New World products contain gluten naturally, I was still concerned enough to contact Shauna from Gluten Free Girl and the Chef. She wisely told me that beans need to be rinsed thoroughly before cooking and any traces of gluten would be flushed down the sink.
In the photo, you can see me rinsing Ayocote Negros.
I don't believe you need to rinse beans to make them gluten free any more than you'd need to rinse them to make them cholesterol- free. They don't contain gluten and if they did rinsing wouldn't help.
Posted by: Daniel Osborn | October 12, 2011 at 07:17 PM
I think the issue is in the processing. Some places clean and pack gluten-free foods with wheat products and apparently even the smallest amount can give them pain.
It all seems very dubious to those that don't suffer and there are "special needs" types who seemed to have flocked to this but I have been with friends during an attack and it isn't pretty. I'm sympathetic to the cause.
Posted by: Steve Sando | October 13, 2011 at 08:27 AM
Daniel, beans are absolutely gluten-free! We eat them all the time in our house. Some companies process beans on conveyor belts lined with flour. That's why the rinsing tip. However, we eat Rancho Gordo beans almost exclusively and I have never gotten sick from them. Thanks, Steve!
Posted by: shauna | October 21, 2011 at 09:59 AM
Thank you for addressing this issue. It is possible to be allergic to gluten (and even more common to be allergic to wheat) but celiac disease, and similar forms of gluten intolerance, are not allergies.
As Steve points out, the issue isn't the beans themselves, because only gluten grains (wheat, barley, rye, etc) have gluten, but cross contamination. Since the equipment to harvest, clean, process, and pack grains and legumes is expensive, it is almost always used for more than one purpose.
My daughter and I are lucky because our gluten sensitivity is mild and traces don't bother us. But we have friends who are indeed that sensitive.
Washing can help but it's not always the solution. If there is a lot of contamination (often packaged or bulk legumes/grains will have gluten grains mixed in with them...I hand cleaned 5 lbs of lentils a few months ago and found several dozen grains that appeared to be barley) then washing may not be enough to get it all off.
If there are gluten grains present, you may simply wash them without removing them (hand cleaning is tedious and prone to error). Not to mention that bringing contaminated foods into your home means that gluten dust can escape which can be very dangerous for some. I have a friend who, along with her children, react to tiny amounts of gluten dust with anaphalaxis and other symptoms so severe they have required hospitalization.
It also depends on the product. Large dried beans with smooth intact skins should be safe after washing for just about everybody. But smaller beans, or beans with nooks and crannies where dust can hide, may never be safe no matter how well they're washed. And I'm just thinking about equipment that was used previously for barley, for example. I didn't even know about the conveyor belts lined with flour, sheesh!
Posted by: Cyndi Norwitz | October 25, 2011 at 09:41 PM