Citrus-Free Glucose Tabs

I am allergic to citrus.

Since Glucolift is currently off the market, I am searching for glucose tabs (or other forms of stable glucose) that DO NOT contain orange, lemon, lime, etc. Their wildberry and cherry flavors have been the only ones I could find that don’t contain citrus.

I need something I can carry in my purse, backpack, leave in my car, etc, that won’t melt, freeze, or otherwise become unusable. The stable candies all also contain citrus to my knowledge (it’s usually in the “natural flavors”).

Can anyone recommend something? Thank you.

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These aren’t Glucose tabs. I use them all the time. Crystallized ginger candy. There have regular sugar in them, but it’s just ginger and sugar. They never mush or melt, eventually they get harder, but still completely usable.

The glucose tabs would be hard because they just label natural flavors a lot.
Up & Up have a raspberry flavored one, maybe you could call and find out if there is any citrus. EDIT, they do have citric acid in them sorry, so back to the ginger candy, but you also need to like ginger, they can be strong!

I find a lot of these companies who make processed products are not good about answering allergy-related questions clearly when they’re regarding rare allergies. I contacted Dex4 once and got no answer. Contacted them again and was told that they didn’t know. I was asking if the maltodextrin was derived from potatoes (I’m anaphylactic) because the tablets often make my mouth itchy or throat irritated, but other times don’t. My guess is that maybe they get their maltodextrin from multiple sources.

I still use the glucose tablets because I haven’t found anything better. I’d also be interested in something better, with fewer ingredients. Even something I could make at home would be great.

That seems dangerous @Jen. They are experimenting with a tiny tiny micro doses of something to try to get your body more used to something you are deadly allergic too and it seems to be working. But generally in regular doses you get worse with allergies versus better. So if one of those tablets say has more maltodextrin derived from potatoes one time, it might cause a serious reaction.

Some companies are definitely more cooperative than others, part of it is they don’t always know where something comes from. I know years ago I ended up with my tongue, mouth and throat swelling from a product I ate. I called the company because I had consumed other products from them and the only difference was chili peppers and mustard and I ate those all the time. This was rare for me and I wanted to try to track down the ingredient. The owner said there was nothing different in them than the other products, but she would try to double check on it.

She called me back and told me the chili peppers had a preservative in them that was a common allergy ingredient that they hadn’t known it was even in them and they were taking it out of the product right away.

I was surprised and very happy as sometimes this kind of information opens them up for litigation, this was about 15 years ago and I wonder if I would get the same response now!

I agree that many companies don’t know a lot of these things. I’ve contacted some companies that can’t tell me where ingredients are derived from or if the facility that processes a product also processes potatoes. It is really frustrating and because I do react to cross-contamination it means I largely avoid processed products and eating out.

With regards to reactions getting worse with each exposure, I’m fairly sure that’s a myth, at least according to most doctors (see for example Do Reactions Worsen with Each Exposure?).

I agree the glucose tablets aren’t ideal, but I consider it a calculated risk. Technically, I’ve read that maltodextrin isn’t even supposed to be capable of causing allergic reactions because it’s so highly processed that all protein (from whatever food it was derived) is fully broken down. I’ve definitely reacted to potato derivatives before, though, but only with an itchy mouth, never full anaphylaxis (I have had anaphylaxis to cross-contact with and trace amounts of actual potato, though).

So not the best choice. Unfortunately, most other candies aren’t much better because they often contain maltodextrin/dextrin and/or outright potato starch (which then means everything that company produces is probably at risk of cross-contamination). So I use them but keep my eye out for something else that’s readily-available and not too good-tasting (tried dried mangoes for a while, but they are too good-tasting…).

Yea, dried mango tastes really good!

As for not getting worse, I don’t think that’s always true? I know I got worse with strawberries (rash gets worse easier now). One of my employees also got progressively worse with the hives she got from peanuts.

This is interesting

You can also make your own gummy bears, the first is with jello, scroll down past that for your own sweetener and flavor.

The crystalized ginger could work for me. Citric acid is derived from corn, not citrus, so I will see if I can get a response from the company for the Up & Up brand. Thank you!!

At this time of year, they should at least be Gummy Bear worms!!! Many Gummy Bear worm recipes available.

I tried making gummies one time … they got moldy in a few days and they were in the fridge the whole time!

I have been tempted to make them with my 6 grand daughters but have not gotten around to it yet so have no direct experience but have heard they need to be eaten promptly, even if refrigerated unless you freeze them. I have read that freezing homemade gummies last a long time, as in over 1 year. Now I think I am motivated to make some and test.

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Hi @Nici. I love ginger, but it is strong! The added benefit is it helps tummy upsets! Plus being strong you only want so much so it’s not something you just want to eat a lot of. It’s about 2 or 3 carbs each piece. Size can vary between companies, but the first time with Reeds I counted what was in the bag and divided until I had a good estimate. It will last months in my purse just fine in a small plastic baggy.

I ran across where citric acid that one of the sources could be citrus which is why I added the edit. I’m sure it’s probably corn as that is probably cheaper.

As a vegan I used to call companies all the time, sometimes I still do, although we have the certified vegan logo so it’s easier for me now. But I would ask for the supplier company of the ingredient so I could call them directly. The other problem of course is you can only find out what they are doing at the time and not next week.

Yes, for sure allergies can and get worse (or better) over time. No question there. I just don’t think that there’s any evidence showing that it’s caused by exposure or reactions. It just happens, and they aren’t sure why some people’s allergies get worse while others improve. Even with the new oral immunotherapies, there are people who do very well (although it’s not a cure, it does reduce risk of severe reactions from trace exposures) while others develop reactions or complications, and they don’t know why that’s the case, either.

I’ve made my own gummies before, but like others, I haven’t found them very durable if stored outside the fridge. That seems to be the main downside of anything that’s homemade—it’s difficult to carry around in a backpack for weeks on end without either disintegrating or going bad. That’s why glucose tablets and the like are so convenient…

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Success! I e-mailed Trividia Health and got this response:

Thank you for contacting our Customer Care department.

Products that do not contain citrus:

  • Soft Tabs
  • Strawberry glucose
  • Mixed Berry and Pomegranate Liquid

Thank you

TRUEregards,

Andrea Bogie

Customer Care/Tech.Services Rep.

2400 N.W. 55th Court, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33309
US Direct: (800) 342-7226 ext. 3066

I ordered the soft tabs on Amazon … hopefully the hold up to heat, cold, etc.

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Yes, I’ve read that citric acid can be derived from citrus, but in practice, I’ve only ever found it to be derived from corn. My allergy is not life-threatening (yet), so I feel pretty safe taking my chances with citric acid.

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I actually did get a reply from Dex4 that their Raspberry tabs were citrus free. Unfortunately, they sold to Perrigo a few years who took them off the market.

You may want to try Swedish Fish candies. They are totally awesome and is what I use. The package is small and easy to carry in pocket and once package is open, the candies stay fresh for several months. I have them on my bedside table, in the car and in my pocket all the time. I regularly inline skate in temperatures up to 100 degrees F and have them in my shirt pocket. Heat, cold, sweat etc. does not affect them.

The beauty for me is that each Swedish Fish raises my BG exactly 10 points so I know if I am running low by lets 30 points I can safely just eat 3 pieces and go back to sleep or whatever else I was doing. Kills off the Dexcom low alert within 15-20 minutes and allows me to tightly control BG.

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Thanks for the tip. I will write to the company to see if the “natural flavor” contains citrus.

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That’s too bad it was discontinued! I did hear back from them, but in my case they just told me they couldn’t determine whether their maltodextrin was derived from potato or corn.

Fingers crossed they are safe for you. I may check these out as well!

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