GlutenWatchers

Did you know that gluten-free does not mean zero gluten? Or that the federal legal definition of gluten-free is vague at best?

The Chicago Tribune reported in its story titled Whole Foods pulls ‘gluten-free’ products from shelves after Tribune story about how Whole Foods was forced to pull out 3 products, Dinosaur Shapes Chicken Bites, Chicken Corn Dogs and Beef Corn Dogs, containing higher than normal levels of gluten. These products, although labeled gluten-free, contained between 116 – 2200 ppm (part per million of gluten), whereas the federal limit is about 20 ppm. However, the paper reports that by then, a number of children had consumed the offending products & had to be hospitalized. This reminds one of one of my fallback snack options – Lays potato chips. When I am absolutely starving & away from home, I will resort to a handful of these. I reckon that this is one of the safe gluten-free foods around. However, I was dismayed to find that while Lays proclaims on its website that the Classic potato chips are gluten-free, several people on the celiac forum discovered that a number of these chips are made on shared facilities which are ostensibly cleaned between runs. Do I trust these chips now? I think not.

Which brings us to the larger issue: this is not the first or last time this happens. In our view, the only way to be safe is to prepare your foods from scratch in your own kitchen. While this becomes impossible when one is traveling, the rest of the time this is very doable. And think of the pain & suffering you will be avoiding in the process. Our Recipes section will bring to you easy & delicious recipes that are not only gluten-free but also healthy. Not to mention the money you will save!