Today I was glutenated! The culprit was a Lindt chocolate for which I didn’t bother to read the ingredient list. After a whole day of trying to figure out if and from where I might have accidentally ingested gluten, it says right on the box under the list of ingredients towards the bottom, “Weizenmehl,” translated as “white flour.”
Here’s how I knew…
- I tossed and turned all night, groaning at times and waking up Mandi.
- I felt as though I had dreamed all night in one long dream.
- I had trouble concentrating in class today.
- I had a strange and insatiable hunger that manifested itself in eating a bag of chips, which I haven’t eaten nor had any kind of craving for in probably at least a month.
- I was generally in a poor mood all day, finding myself getting upset and things that normally wouldn’t otherwise upset me. This includes some spontaneous feelings of sadness.
When I got back to my room, I started looking. Outside of those chips (and some curry wurst, and sweets…), I haven’t eaten anything processed this side of the ocean. I checked the vinegar out from my pickles, but it was distilled and couldn’t be the source. Then I realized that I had eaten something for the first time yesterday, one of the Lindt chocolates that I got Mandi for her birthday. Quickly after this realization, I found a sad statement on their website FAQ section:
we cannot make the statement that any of our premium chocolate products are purely “gluten free.” We are sensitive to the fact that there are consumers who are unable to enjoy our chocolate at this time
What a shame. I’ll have to stick to Ritter Sport and Haribo.