Warning: The Turkey burger patties from Fresh & Easy are NOT Gluten free!
I went to Fresh & Easy last Sunday to pick up a few things as I was on my way to my friends house to watch the Super Bowl. She was having a BBQ & I did not want to get sick, so I figured I would bring my own food. I was so careful as not to cross contaminate that I even cooked my food in my own pan. Later that night I started feeling bad & the next morning was even worse. I got really sick & couldn't figure out why.
A few days past & I went back to Fresh & Easy to get some veggies & Chicken to make some soup. While I was in the meat section I saw the turkey burgers I had a few days before. For some reason I picked them up and looked on the back for the ingredients which I assumed would just say ground turkey meat. I was SHOCKED to see that there was WHEAT CEREAL mixed in with the turkey burger!
Now I know being a Celiac we are supposed to read EVERY LABEL but I assumed raw meat, veggies, & fruit would be safe. I could see if the package was labeled "seasoned turkey burger" or something to that effect, but it wasn't. It just said "ground turkey patties". Also I could see no seasonings or anything that would catch my attention to make me think to read the back.
I told two of the staff members that were working about this and they both looked at me like I was from Mars. They both just looked at each other and told me, "well if you know you have a food allergy its up to you to make sure you don't buy anything with the allergen in it" basically blaming me for being dumb. I told them that it was only logical for me to assume raw meat wouldn't have WHEAT CEREAL mixed in with it & also asked them if I should be expected to read the back of a package of fresh chicken breasts as well? They both kind of gave me a look and just waled away.
I was upset but continued to shop because I wanted to make my soup. Just then a friend called me on the phone & I was telling her all about what just happened. When I got off the phone, a woman came up to me & told me she overheard my conversation & was very sorry about the turkey burger & the rudeness of the staff. It turns out she was the manager of the store. She told me that she totally understands my situation as she has food allergies as well. She herself was shocked to find out that the turkey burger had wheat in it. She told me to wait where I was while she refunded me my money for the item.
While I was happy that I found someone who understood my situation & also refunded the cost of the item, I was still upset about the unclear labeling. This is why I wanted to let you all know about it. Not so much to come down on Fresh & Easy because I still love that store, just to let you all know that you really do need to read EVERYTHING even if its a block of cheese or a slab of meat. You never know what they put in things these days!
Thanks for the warning Sophia. I use Jennie-o Lean Turkey Burgers, the plain variety. They are available frozen in Wal-mart and are pretty tasty.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I will check that out. :)
ReplyDeleteSophia
Thanks for taking one for the team! Your speaking up may change things for consumers everywhere. I would never have looked at a label in the meat section either! I'm wondering about the feed the animals are raised on as well. Maybe we need to be sure the meat is organic and grass fed or something (not sure if turkeys eat grass). Could the allergens pass on to us if the meat animal ate it?
ReplyDeleteSophia
ReplyDeleteI got into trouble this week with a bag of dried chickpeas. Never even thought about dry beans being contaminated by wheat in processing. At least it was on the label. If only I had read it before I got them home.
Wendy
D'oh! Lesson to be learned - READ! Don't assume unless you made it yourself from scratch. Everything is so over processed with shared manufacturing facilities that it makes it even more critical to read labels. Food formulations can change at any given time, meaning that if one of your favorite items never had gluten-containing ingredients, it can change! You just never know unless you experience the consequences like poor Sofia, or be neurotic and read the ingredient label everytime. Better safe than sorry (as we all have experienced)!
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