BBQ SAUCE Health Complications – Symptoms, Causes, & Remedies

Barbecue sauces are the ingredient that brings the most flavor to BBQ food. However, they can sometimes be directly or indirectly related to digestive health problems. 

In this article, we’ll look at why BBQ sauce could be causing a stomach upset. Whether your sauce has gone bad, or whether your problems are due to allergies and intolerances, we’ll help you understand the causes, symptoms, and remedies.

Let’s get right to it.

Barbecue sauce is perfectly safe, and it isn’t inherently unhealthy. If you are feeling sick after consuming barbecue sauce, it is because of one of the following three reasons: 

1. The BBQ sauce has gone bad, or 
2. You have consumed too much of it, or
3. Some ingredient(s) in Barbecue Sauce don’t agree with your body.

If your Barbecue Sauce has gone bad, here is why that might be. 

If overconsumption is making you sick, you may just be too in love with BBQ sauce. You will have to reduce your consumption, and you may want to try different BBQ sauces to avoid heartburn.

If some ingredient of Barbecue Sauce does not agree with your body, one or more of the Allergies or Food Intolerances may be causing this problem. You will have to avoid these ingredients by trying an appropriate recipe.

BBQ Sauce Gone Bad

Excessive Consumption

Excessive food consumption or overeating can lead to heartburn. 

When you eat, your stomach produces Hydrochloric acid (HCL) to break down food. The acid can be pushed back into your esophagus if you consume excess food. This leads to heartburn.

Excessive consumption of food can also lead to obesity, indigestion, bloating, and stooling.

Allergy and Food Intolerance

Allergies and intolerance are reactions to a particular nutrient or substance. This can be due to a specific ingredient, preservative, or chemical used to store barbecue sauce.

You may need to be cautious about the type of Barbecue Sauce that you are consuming if you have any of the following allergies or food intolerances:

Nutrients such as fructose (fruit sugar) and lactose (milk sugar) may not be easily digested by some individuals. 

This condition is called intolerance. And such people with this condition are called Fructose-intolerant or Lactose-intolerant. 

Consuming these sugars may lead to stomach upset, frequent stooling, abdominal pain, and excessive gas.

People with Fructose-intolerance or Lactose-intolerance must avoid ingredients such as corn syrup, tomatoes, and other dairy products, which are often found in barbecue sauce.

Depending on the severity of your intolerance, you may be able to consume some amount of fructose or lactose without experiencing food intolerance. When a small amount of tomatoes is consumed, it usually doesn’t cause any problem. However, large amounts of fresh or concentrated tomatoes found in sauces or juices can increase the concentration of fructose. 

These food intolerances are caused by the insufficiency or complete absence of specific enzymes that are helpful for digestion. 

The enzyme Xylose Isomerase and Lactase are needed for the digestion of fructose and lactose, respectively.

When large amounts of fructose or lactose are consumed, it remains undigested in the gut. The fructose or lactose is then fermented by the bacteria in the large intestine, which causes gas build-up and stomach upset.

Gluten intolerance is an overreaction of the immune system caused by the consumption of gluten. 

Gluten is a group of various proteins known as prolamins – plant proteins with high proline amino acid content – found in grains such as wheat, barley, and rye and also found in beverages fermented with yeast. Gluten is usually used as a thickener or stabilizer. It is found in processed food products such as semolina, bread, burgers, and pastries. 

When gluten is ingested in gluten intolerant people, it can lead to symptoms such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, and fatigue.

Gluten-sensitive can consume small amounts of gluten, while people with celiac disease are completely gluten intolerant. 

Most barbecue sauces contain gluten, so if you want to avoid gluten, always buy sauces with the ‘gluten-free’ label. 

If you or someone you know is gluten intolerant, you must read this article on having a gluten-free BBQ along with a recipe for the best Gluten-Free BBQ Sauce.

Health Reactions to Barbecue Sauce

Sometimes, we don’t know how to identify why we’re having a health problem. It could be because of bad BBQ sauce, overeating, an intolerance, or a combination of all of the above.

Not knowing why you are having problems means you can’t take the right treatment.

Let me try and solve this dilemma by giving you the symptoms, causes, and remedies for each of the following conditions: 

Heartburn (Acid Reflux)

Stomach Upset

Recommended Barbecue Sauces

Now that we know what sauces could be bad for you, let’s see some alternatives that you could enjoy.

Popular Favorites

I recommend these sauces if you are looking to toss out your spoilt/expired sauce and stock up on some fresh sauce.

Lactose and Fructose Free BBQ Rubs

I recommend these rubs if you are lactose or fructose intolerant.

Gluten-Free Sauces

I recommend these sauces if you are gluten intolerant.

Recipes For Healthy BBQ Sauce

If you want to avoid preservatives and ensure fresh, hygienic BBQ sauce, you can make your own tasty BBQ Sauce at home. Here are five barbecue sauce recipes that you can try at home:

1. Carolina Style Vinegar Bbq Sauce Recipe
2. South Carolina Style Mustard Bbq Sauce Recipe
3. Memphis Style Bbq – Tomato-vinegar Base
4. Kansas City Style Bbq Sauce – Tomato-sugar Base
5. Alabama White Barbecue Sauce
6. Gluten-Free BBQ Sauce (includes tomatoes)

Related Questions

How To Know if BBQ Sauce is Spoilt or Expired?

You can tell if a barbecue sauce has gone bad by looking at the color, texture, and checking for any visible growth of microorganisms on the container. Spoilt barbecue sauce usually becomes darker, thicker, and smellier as it gets bad.

To preserve BBQ sauce for longer, make sure you read and follow the instructions for storage.  Also, check the manufacturing and expiry date of the BBQ sauce before purchase.

What is the Healthiest Barbecue Sauce?

The healthiest BBQ sauce is the one you make at home as you have absolute control over the ingredients, the environment of preparation, and storage. All BBQ sauces are inherently healthy, but if you have any allergy, replace the allergen with another suitable ingredient.

What is Barbecue Sauce Syndrome?

BBQ sauce syndrome is the temporary stomach upset one feels on consuming BBQ sauce. This happens when the BBQ sauce has gone bad or you have overconsumed it to the point that it triggers your Lactose-intolerance, Fructose-intolerance, or Gluten-intolerance.

Exercising self-control and choosing the right ingredients in your BBQ can help remedy BBQ sauce syndrome.

Conclusion

The key to a healthy diet is eating every good food in moderation. Too much of any good food causes problems.

I hope the recipes mentioned in this post help you enjoy BBQ sauce without any problems.

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