Contadina Tomato Paste Has Extra Added Wheat Gluten

[the sensible celiac]

There were some very loud expletives in the air in our kitchen tonight when I discovered that the Contadina Tomato Paste I had just added to my sauce had freekin wheat gluten added to it by the moron manufacturer.

Of course I should have read the ingredients before I bought it.  I always buy Hunts tomato paste, but someone else suggested we try the Contadina instead, and I let it go into the shopping cart without reading the label:

My Mistake #1  was failing to follow Rule Number One: Always Read The Label!

My Mistake #2 was failing to follow Rule Number Two: Always Read The Label Again Before You Open The Package.

Fortunately for me, as I was spooning the junk into my Cuisinart, I noticed that it did not look like tomato paste, there was some sort of crystalline look to it. Real tomato paste is not crystallized.

Some overpaid executive somewhere at Contadina probably figured out that they could make another 5 tenths of a cent by replacing half of the tomatoes used with highly allergenic proteins.

So I had to throw away my sauce and start over. I was, well, less than completely thrilled about that.

Don't be dumb like I am, Always Read The Label.

And just say NO to Contadina products. They'll never get another dime from me, I promise.

[Sharon]

That sort of thing is a total bummer.

[GwenRN]

This is the sort of thing that gets me in trouble, who would think they'd add gluten to TOMATO PASTE?

So sorry about the sauce... hope you and Terry had a nice dinner despite the big oops.

Gwen (who is going to check what brand of tomato paste I have in the kitchen)

[Steve S]

I see from the date of this last posting that this issue came up a few months ago.  I just bought some Contadina tomato paste the other day and it did not list any ingredients other than tomatoes.  I wanted to confirm that the cans you bought listed wheat as an ingredient.

Same thing for me, I usually buy Hunt's and for some odd reason, I picked up the Contadina brand.  Fortunately, we haven't used it.

[the sensible celiac]

I see from the date of this last posting that this issue came up a few months ago.  I just bought some Contadina tomato paste the other day and it did not list any ingredients other than tomatoes.  I wanted to confirm that the cans you bought listed wheat as an ingredient.

Yes, wheat was explicitly listed on the can I had.  It was not regular tomato paste either, it was "Italian Style" with added this and that, including wheat it would seem.

I doubt Contadina would put out a tomato paste with wheat in it without declaring it on the label.

I still have not seen wheat in any ordinary, plain tomato paste, but I will try to keep reading those labels.

[Sharon]

Thank you all for the discussion about Contadina tomato paste.  In spite of earlier comments, I didn't think I was using the wrong kind.  But after enduring way too many headaches and high blood pressure for the past month, I finally checked, and I too had gotten the cans marked Italian Style, which are clearly labeled as containing gluten. I corrected my error and am happy to report I'm back to a normal BP reading and no imitrex. 

[shiloh]

The Italian style tomato paste from Contadina is their only product with gluten. However, all their products include high fructose corn syrup which is a nasty item. I buy Muir Glen or 365 brand tomato sauces and pastes. They do not have the high fructose corn syrup. Since I started avoiding that my husband's triglycerides dropped over 250 points! Like I said, it's a nasty item....