:: Gluten Free Works Blog ::

By Jennifer Harris

Paul Seelig, owner of the Great Specialty Products bread company in Durham, NC, has been jailed, his business closed, his website pulled and he is facing six felony counts for obtaining property by false pretense for selling bread he claimed was gluten free, when in fact it contained high amounts (>5,000 ppm) of gluten.

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By John Libonati

Try KIND bars for free at Starbucks on February 5th!

Kind bars are one of my favorite gluten-free snacks. They taste phenomenal and are gluten-free, dairy-free and cane sugar-free.

On February 5th. Starbucks will sample KIND bars at all of their 7,000 stores across the country! Drop in to try one of the two delicious flavors selling at your local Starbucks: Fruit & Nut Delight and Cranberry Almond+Antioxidants. Click HERE to find a Starbucks near you.

Almond Cashew + Omega 3 now available at Starbucks

Last week Starbucks added Almond Cashew + Omega 3 to its existing superstar lineup of KIND flavors: Fruit & Nut Delight, Cranberry Almond + Antioxidants and Mango Macadamia + Calcium. Almond Cashew is only 150 calories and packed with 500mg of Omega 3 Fatty Acids (ALA), which helps support a healthy heart and immune system. Almond Cashew + OMEGA 3 is a snack that you can feel good munching on.

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"Author Information: John Libonati, Philadelphia, PA
Publisher, Glutenfreeworks.com.
Editor & Publisher, Recognizing Celiac Disease.
John can be reached at john.libonati@glutenfreeworks.com."

By Amy Fothergill

Wow, was that a good food show! The NASFT's Winter Fancy Food Show was held Jan 17-19 in San Francisco, CA. This food show highlights specialty foods, snacks and beverages from better name brands like Jelly Belly and Annie Chun's to Coco Chocolates from the UK and 479º Popcorn from San Francisco. One of the big trends is definitely gluten-free which is excellent news for anyone on a gluten-free diet. It was great being able to sample so many delicious gluten-free products from dips, crackers and pizza to cookies, cakes and granola. (more…)

By John Libonati

Have you ever wondered how reliable the news you see on the television really is?

Now I know first hand that the media does not always get it right and can even leave out the most important news of all.

Let me tell you how …

For the last five years, I have worked to educate people about celiac disease and gluten sensitivity. I developed a website called Glutenfreeworks.com, which has helped tens of thousands get well and stay healthy living the gluten-free lifestyle.

I also edited and published the groundbreaking work, Recognizing Celiac Disease. This medical reference, authored by Cleo Libonati, RN, BSN has set the standard for identifying symptoms and their causes.

People use Glutenfreeworks.com every day to find new gluten-free recipes, how to get diagnosed for celiac disease, which restaurants serve gluten free food in their area and where to find information on local support groups. Our symptom guide, first published in Recognizing Celiac Disease, contains over 300 signs, symptoms, associated disorders and complications. From nutritional information to in-depth reviews of gluten disorders and the gluten-free diet, Glutenfreeworks.com provides medically accurate information to help patients and health professionals alike.

Last week I was given the opportunity to talk to ABC News in Philadelphia about gluten sensitivity, the gluten-free diet and how people’s lives are being affected by gluten.

When I sat down with ABC for a 20 minute interview on gluten sensitivity we discussed the following: (more…)

By Anne Steib

Recently, I had the pleasure to interview award-winning production manager, Richard ‘Wez’ Wearing. Living in the UK, Wez has worked with hundreds of bands such as Mika, Take That, Scissor Sisters, Sex Pistols, PIL, Iron Maiden, Manic Street Preachers, Celtic Thunder and Sarah Brightman. He has a demanding career that takes him around the world, working non-stop on a tight schedule.

Richard Wez Wearing, Suggs of Madness, Andy Rourke former bassist of The Smiths

Diagnosed with celiac in 2007, this added an additional level of challenges to an already hectic lifestyle, but he doesn’t let that inhibit him in any way.

Wez was recently in Chicago this past October with Mika at the Riveria.

Q – Were you already touring when you were diagnosed? If so, how did it immediately change your outlook on touring?

A – I was already touring, it was a great relief to find out why I was so run down all the time, but it took time for it to completely sink in. (more…)

By Liz Schau

It's the beginning of a new year and writers, websites, and magazines are compiling their top trends lists, as predictions for the upcoming year. After all, it's 2010 now, and seems the best time to reflect on all of last year's most notable food fads in order to foresee what the upcoming year will bring us in food pop culture and consumerism.

Gluten-free eating has become more and more popular and mainstream over the last few years, as more people are being diagnosed with Celiac disease and gluten intolerance/allergies (either by medical professionals or via simple elimination diets). So it's not surprising that among the many predictions for 2010's favorite edibles, The Daily Beast has named gluten-free food as number three on their Ten Food Trends For 2010 list. As the website says, (more…)

By John Libonati

The debate about autism and the effectiveness of the gluten-free, casein-free diet continues – this time due to irresponsible reporting of the mainstream news media who seem to have chosen sensationalism over objective journalism when covering an important medical paper on gastrointestinal disorders in autism.

This week, a panel of medical experts led by Timothy Buie, MD at Harvard Medical School published a consensus statement on the Evaluation, Diagnosis and Treatment of Gastrointestinal Disorders in Individuals with ASDs (Autism Spectrum Disorders) in the medical journal Pediatrics. You can find the full paper here.

The panel covered 23 topics in a document that is 20 pages in length, dealing with the diagnosis and care of individuals with autism spectrum disorders and gastrointestinal issues. The panel based its conclusions on available information which they agreed was limited and incomplete.

The Key Topic

“Individuals with autism spectrum disorders who present with gastrointestinal symptoms warrant a thorough evaluation, as would be undertaken for individuals without autism spectrum disorders who have the same symptoms or signs. Evidence based algorithms for the assessment of abdominal pain, constipation, chronic diarrhea, and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) should be developed.”

Some of the other topics include recommendations for the banking of DNA samples, the complexity of diagnostic evaluation when ASD and gastrointestinal disorders present, the need for studies to determine the prevalence of intestinal permeability in neuropsychiatric manifestions of ASD, and the need for large studies to determine the effectiveness of the gluten-free, casein-free diet. (more…)

The Colorado Rockies have opened a dedicated gluten-free* concession stand at Coors Field, the stadium where the Rockies play. This may be the first dedicated gluten-free concession stand in Major League Baseball.

The menu features hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, chips, cookies, brownies, soda, water and gluten-free Redbridge beer.

The gluten-free stand is located behind Section 147 on the left field concourse.

This specific location was created in response to increasing requests for gluten-free options from fans with Celiac Disease. (more…)

Here is a great offer I found on a gluten-free list-serve yesterday.

General Mills jumped into the gluten-free market with their gluten-free Rice Chex. They quickly followed with Chocolate and Strawberry Chex and has launched a growing line of gluten-free baking mixes. Reaction in the gluten-free community has been strongly positive. Now we have another reason to like General Mills.

For a limited time, you can contact General Mills to receive a coupon for a free Gluten Free Betty Crocker baking mix. At $4.49 per box, that's a pretty good freebie!

The list-serve included a message from General Mills:

"Folks can let us know if they want ongoing info/offers about General Mills' growing line of GF products… If they call our Consumer Services number: 1(800)446-1898 (same as is on the boxes), they can sign up. The real perk of this re: the new products is that we have coupons that we'll be sending to each household that signs up this summer so they can try a box of the new Betty Crocker® Gluten Free Dessert Mixes completely on us."

I called for my coupons today. Here is how it works.

Call General Mills Consumer Services number: 1(800) 446-1898. At the main menu, hit #4 or say “four.”

This will take you to a customer representative. I waited about 5 minutes for a representative, a friendly woman named Bridget.

I told Bridget that I was interested in the free gluten-free baking coupons.

She said sure and asked me a few questions. She asked for my zip code, whether my household did not limit gluten ingestion, limited gluten or was gluten-free. She then asked how many people live in the house and where we normally shop for gluten-free food – the name and street address of the store. After that, she requested a phone number and e-mail. (She assured me General Mills does not share private information.)

It was that easy. My coupons are coming the second week of August.

Call today. Nothing beats a freebie – especially when it is gluten-free!

This article describes safety standards for internationally shipped baby food and includes benchmarks for producing gluten-free foods set by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO).

Tue Jul 1, 2008 1:59pm BST  Email | Print | Share| Single Page| Recommend (0) [-] Text [+]  
1 of 1Full SizeBy Laura MacInnis

GENEVA (Reuters) – Diplomats in Geneva have agreed new limits for bacteria in baby formula and natural toxins in nuts, setting safety standards to apply for internationally shipped food, the World Health Organisation said on Tuesday.

At a meeting of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, a joint body of the WHO and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), officials also set benchmarks for producing gluten-free foods.

Peter Ben Embarek, a scientist in the WHO's food safety division, said the adoption of the "landmark" code of hygienic practices for powdered formula could reduce contamination from two bacteria that can cause severe illness and death in babies.

People with wheat allergies would also be protected by the standards for gluten-free food that countries pledged to work into their national legislation, and to meet in food exports under World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.

"They have to use these standards as the baseline standards to be able to trade at the international level," Embarek told a news briefing on the second day of the week-long Codex meeting.

The new benchmark dictates that food labeled gluten-free may not contain wheat, rye, barley or oats, and its gluten level may not exceed 20 milligrams per kilogram. Gluten intolerance can cause symptoms ranging from abdominal pain to osteoporosis.

The 124 countries participating in this week's Codex meeting also agreed maximum levels for aflatoxins — natural toxins that are known carcinogens in laboratory animals — in almonds, hazelnuts and pistachios.

FOOD CODE

The Codex Alimentarius, or food code, is a global reference for consumers, food producers, food processors, national food control agencies and international food traders.

Its standards — meant to avert contamination, spoiling and ill-health — are the benchmarks against which the WTO reviews countries' adherence to international trade agreements on food safety and sanitation.

Other topics to be considered this week include flavorings, frozen foods, natural mineral water, tomatoes, bitter cassava, and bivalve mollusks such as mussels, oysters and clams.

The Commission, whose full membership includes 176 countries plus the European Union, is also due to discuss the food safety impacts of veterinary drugs, animal feeds, and pesticides.

Groups including the International Chewing Gum Association, the International Peanut Forum, the International Association of Fish Inspectors, the International Baby Food Action Network, the World Sugar Research Organisation and the World Self-Medication Industry have observer status at the meeting, which ends Friday.

(Additional reporting by Stephanie Nebehay)

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSL0166682420080701?pageNumbe r=2&virtualBrandChannel=10216&sp=true