Will foodbanks take bulk unpackaged pasta?

[sweetnlow30]

I have a ton of Hamburger Helper in my stockpile and I recently discovered that I am gluten intolerant and white pasta bothers my stomach. I was going to cut the coupons from the boxes and keep the sauce mix to add to wheat pasta that doesn't seem to bother me. I don't know what to do with all the white pasta from the boxes. If I packed it in Ziplok bags, do you think the foodbank would accept it

[DaveP]

I have a ton of Hamburger Helper in my stockpile and I recently discovered that I am gluten intolerant and white pasta bothers my stomach. I was going to cut the coupons from the boxes and keep the sauce mix to add to wheat pasta that doesn't seem to bother me. I don't know what to do with all the white pasta from the boxes. If I packed it in Ziplok bags, do you think the foodbank would accept it

I don't think so. While I'm sure it's perfectly safe, food banks do have legal food safety requirements. But I might be wrong, you can call a local food bank and ask.

[Lynn49]

Yes, certainly ask.....if you cut the coupons off the box and leave everything else intact....would that be okay, instead of dumping out the pasta...would that work?

[Natalka]

You need to check with your local food bank. Ours does accept repackaged foods, it's no different than items bought in bulk.

[sweetnlow30]

Thanks, I will have to call and ask

[glowworm2k]

If the food bank says no, try calling a soup kitchen or after school program that helps the needy. Oftentimes, these programs rely on food donations to provide meals, etc. and are often able to accept food that the food bank can't... as an example: the homeless shelter where I used to work would get leftovers from community events/luncheons delivered, as well as extras/seconds from local bakeries and coffee shops.

[DianneS]

The problem with the HH is that the pasta is loose inside the box. If it were in sealed package like the sauce mix it would likely be OK. The food bank would have noidea whether it was repackaged in a sanitary kitchen using rubber gloves etc.

[Shwa Girl]

OP, try taking the intact package to the food bank, tell them you want the coupon and ask if you can cut the coupon in front of them. That way, they can see that the inner package is not tampered with.

[DianneS]

Smart idea!!!

[hollyquaiscer]

OP, just to caution you, as you mentioned you have a gluten intolerance. I have Celiac disease, and so get deathly ill if I ingest any gluten at all. I'm not sure what your intolerance is, but the sauce has gluten in it as well. If you are going to switch to a gluten free diet, you will need to do a lot of reading. Everything from chewing gum, spices, toothpaste,ketchup, mayonaise and so very much more have gluten in it. As far as taking the pasta to the food bank, if you call them first, it will save you a trip.

Best of luck to you and I happy that you were able to at least realize what was causing your illness.

[VeeVee]

OP, just to caution you, as you mentioned you have a gluten intolerance. I have Celiac disease, and so get dealthy ill if I ingest any gluten at all. Iam not sure what your intolerance is, but the sauce has gluten in it as well. If you are going to switch to a gluten free diet, you will need to do a lot of reading. Everything from chewing gum, spices, toothpaste,ketchup, mayonaise and so very much more have gluten in it. As far as taking the pasta to the food bank, if you call them first, it will save you a trip.

Best of luck to you and I happy that you were able to at least realize what was causing your illness.

I was just going to mention this lol I too have a gluten intolerance

[slayer_glade]

I wanted to say to avoid the sauce mix, too, lol.

HH is really just chemicals and crap. I prefer to make it myself since I'll actually know what's in it. And it's going to be a lot less than what they put in it.

[sweetnlow30]

OP, just to caution you, as you mentioned you have a gluten intolerance. I have Celiac disease, and so get deathly ill if I ingest any gluten at all. I'm not sure what your intolerance is, but the sauce has gluten in it as well. If you are going to switch to a gluten free diet, you will need to do a lot of reading. Everything from chewing gum, spices, toothpaste,ketchup, mayonaise and so very much more have gluten in it. As far as taking the pasta to the food bank, if you call them first, it will save you a trip.

Best of luck to you and I happy that you were able to at least realize what was causing your illness.

Thanks for the support. I am really in the beginning stages of discovering what things I react too. I don't have an official diagnosis yet but my doctor says it is most likely an intolerance. I seem to be able to eat whole wheat products but not white pasta or bread. Right now it is a trial and error to see what bothers me. I don't think its anything serious like Celiac. My doctor is not very thorough and I have to push her to look into things. I wish there wasn't a doctor shortage in my area

[glowworm2k]

Thanks for the support. I am really in the beginning stages of discovering what things I react too. I don't have an official diagnosis yet but my doctor says it is most likely an intolerance. I seem to be able to eat whole wheat products but not white pasta or bread. Right now it is a trial and error to see what bothers me. I don't think its anything serious like Celiac. My doctor is not very thorough and I have to push her to look into things. I wish there wasn't a doctor shortage in my area

Trial-and-error can be very frustrating.... are you doing an elimination diet?? It might speed up the process of finding out what's okay and what's not, especially if your doctor isn't on board with proactively getting you allergy and sensitivity testing. Yes, the elimination diet sucks for the first week or 10 days when you're getting your system back to a normal state and avoiding potential problems, but once you do that, it'll be very easy to see what the problem foods are as you try reintroducing them. My whole family did this when I was younger and my Mom first got sick... It sucked (esp. as I was so young), but worked amazingly well and we had most of the problems identified within 6 weeks.