This is a quick question. Do you all feel comfortable ordering restaurant Balsamic Dressing on your salads?

I think this is glutening me. Sometimes I bring you own dressing, but today I ordered the restaurants dressing.

Last nights dinner was ribs with Emeril's Original and Lindberg wild rice blend (both gluten-free according to Delfi)

"D" issues today after salad at lunch.

Whacha think?

Lisa B

I only feel comfortable having oil/vinegar at restaurants b/c I too have had problems w/ dressings. One place everytime i go i ask for oil and vinegar and instead i get balsamic vinagrette- there is def gluten in it b/c i get sick everytime! needless to say i stopped eating lunch there!

Depends on the restaurant... Sometimes, no. Balsamic *can* be made with caramel coloring (then it's not balsamico any more, but balsamic vinegar - slight differences), and caramel coloring *can* be made with gluten. It doesn't happen often, but it can happen. Additionally, additives may be added to vinaigrettes to get them to be a bit "creamy" or "thicker", and while I've never heard of anyone using wheat, there could be something that's contaminated that gets used. (I use garlic or mustard powder, myself.)

I was just taken out to a five star restaurant the other week. The chef was aware that I was gfcf. So the salad on the menu stated balsamic dressing, but the chef only put oil and some cracked salt and pepper on the salad. He must have thought the balsamic was unsafe. I left everything in his hands and I did not get sick. I think he was more informed than I was.

Thanks Tiffany, major glutened today, can't spell, can't walk straight, don't want to do anything and feels like a zombie.......I don't know what else to say, be I think this a good thing that I am going to bed, Good night, and happy Thankgiving to all in the US and also wishes for those in Canada.

Balsamic vinegar itself is always gluten-free, but dressing that includes balsamic isn't necessarily. You need to ask.

richard

Oh I don't think you should say that balsamic vinegar is always gluten free. I've read that some inexpensive ones are not aged very long so they don't get the nice dark color that they should have from aging so they add coloring to it to make it appear aged. And who knows if the coloring is gluten-free.

When I buy it at the store I buy one of the more expensive brands that has been aged for years and who's ingredients specifically only says: vinegar.

Susan

Lisa,
I love balsamic dressing as well. I purchased a case of Annie's Balsamic Vinaigrette packs. I keep some in my purse when I dine out. The dressing is pretty good. Not exactly what you would get when it's prepared by a chef or what I make at home but I know it safe, when I dine out.

Sometimes I get a plain baked potato and put the salad dressing on it.

Another option, if you are unsure or not comfortable with the vinegar, ask for oil and lemon wedges and use those instead.

Thanks all of you. I guess I need a bigger purse.

Lisa-hope you feel better soon!

Lol... us purists would say, then, that the cheap stuff isn't actually balsamic vinegar at all. (the italians wouldn't let them call it that either. ;-) )

Hope you feel better soon, I've had problems with it too. I would NEVER say anything is always gluten-free, that's for sure. Having found gluten in an Amy's gluten free meal, nothing is always anything!

OK, I'll change what I said. In four years I've never found a balsamic vinegar that isn't gluten-free and I've never heard of anybody else who has found one. If anybody has found one, please post the brand name here so we'll know.

richard

Here's some info I found:
So Legal Sea Foods worked on making substitutes — chick pea croutons for salads; corn meal for frying and chick pea crumbs for baking instead of flour. Many items, they found, unexpectedly contained gluten and had to be excluded from the celiac-safe menu, including cocktail sauce, balsamic vinegar and blue cheese. Gluten is often added to foods as a stabilizing agent.
from: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9144025/

I noticed that when I was at Legal Seafoods, their gluten-free menu said specifically no balsamic vinegar.

The other thing is that you could possibly be intolerant of distilled products. I go back and forth with this- sometimes I do OK with them and sometimes I don't.

Oh and I hope you feel better and are able to enjoy the holiday! Best, B

If you like I can go to my grocery store and get the brand names of balsamic vinegars that I don't trust Richard however they don't say gluten they say the have added color, some say carmel color. I'm not saying they contain gluten I'm just making the point that they are not just vinegar, they have other stuff added to make them dark due to the lack of aging (these most always are inexpensive brands).

I tend to think, not only for my gluten issues, but also just for general health, the fewer ingredients the better and in my book, vinegar should just be vinegar, not have added color and flavor.

Susan

balsamic vinegar IS gluten free.
the problem with balsamic vinaiGRETTE dressing is that often other things that are not gluten-free are included. for example, quite often soy sauce is used in that dressing, and soy sauces often have wheat in them. stick to plain vinegar, and you should be fine.

I have two bottles of balsamic vinegar at home. Bertolli brand has no ingredients, but contains sulphites so I assume it is 100% balsamic vinegar. The Sammarelli brand lists the following ingredients: wine vinegar, concentrated grape must, colouring agent E 150 d, antioxidant E 224. I just wanted to add my two cents.

I also just wanted to say that some people, regardless of whether or not the vinegar is gluten-free, have a similar reaction to it that they have to gluten (I am one of them) so that's a a possibility too. There's also the cross-contaminatiopn problem to which I find I am very sensitive. End result- if it doesn't make you feel good, try like heck to find out if it's gluten free but regardless, stop eating it for a bit and then try it again later.

An Italian chef I know said to be a true Balsamic vinegar it must say "Modena" on the label. There are Balsamic vinegrette mixes out there, and of course you must avoid those. My favorite salad dressing is extra virgin olive oil and Balsamic vinegar, nothing else. Yum!

By the way, Cosco sells a HUGE bottle of Balsamic that is great...it lasts forever, and although the bottle is bigger than what you'd see in a supermarket, it's a good price (maybe $10 or so) and it lasts for ages.

I, like Richard, have never seen a balsamic vinegar that contained gluten (7 years).

It is normally derived from grapes.

The cheap stuff will have additives - the more expensive (normally the better) will not.

Soy sauce is used commonly in salad dressing (even in non-asian restaurants).

It is best to ask anyway (or bring your own)

Thanks for all your replies. I have no issue with Balsamic Vineg., just the dressing in restaurants. I have found out that many use soy sauce in their sauces/dressings. I will stop ordering this in the place that I go to lunch.


I now bring my own dressing. I can make a better dressing than I can get in a restaurant anyways.

Lisa B.

Most of the time for dressing I use extra virgin olive oil and fresh squeezed lemon juice with ground pepper.