[suztodd]

Hi all, My little girls is joining girl scouts this year as a daisy. I would love for them to add a gluten free cookie to their large sales. I contacted them and they said there may not be enough of a market for them.

I figure the more people contact them the more likely they well consider adding gluten free cookies as an option.

http://www.girlscout...ntact/email.asp

that's there contact page. Hey I want the world to be as friendly as possible for my little girl.
Thanks,
Suzanne

[summerteeth]

suztodd, on Sep 6 2009, 10:08 AM, said:

Hi all, My little girls is joining girl scouts this year as a daisy. I would love for them to add a gluten free cookie to their large sales. I contacted them and they said there may not be enough of a market for them.

I figure the more people contact them the more likely they well consider adding gluten free cookies as an option.

http://www.girlscout...ntact/email.asp

that's there contact page. Hey I want the world to be as friendly as possible for my little girl.
Thanks,
Suzanne

I emailed them just now. I think it would be a really good idea for them to include a gluten free option. There are a lot of us out there, and I for one was a girl scout fifteen years ago (and the cookies were amazing). I remember last year having to say no to all of the little girls selling their cookies and it made me kind of sad (for them especially... but also for me... hehe )

[hannahp57]

I wrote them as well... I have a neice who may have celiac disease and then there are all these others kids that i hear about on here and that i have seen back in my hometown. i think if general mills pulled it off why cant Girl Scouts? i would love to be able to buy cookies from them again! the only thing i worry about is their being able to safely bake and manufacture them... but it is most certainly worth a shot!

[Mskedi]

I e-mailed them as well.

This makes me think back to when I was a Girl Scout. How awful would it be for a Girl Scout with Celiac to have to carry around all those boxes of cookies without ever being able to try one? That, and every meeting I remember, we had cookies or some other kind of gluten-y treat.

[momof2nc]

I emailed them and put it on my blog for lots more people to email them...along with attaching Suzanne's request. So Let's hope the more pressure...

[lovegrov]

Hate to be discouraging, but this is from the GSA website. Note that even when they tried a sugar free to appeal to diabetics and dieters, it didn't work. And there are a LOT more people with diabetes and on diets than with celiac.

Q: Why don't you offer cookies that are whole-wheat, wheat-free, non-dairy, dairy-free, vegan, sugar-free, gluten-free, organic, low-carbohydrate, low-calorie, low-fat, non-fat, fat-free, etc.?

A: The demand for specialty cookie formulations is simply not great enough to make it economically feasible to offer a variety of specialty types. Of all the different possible formulations, sugar-free seems to be the most popular, yet in the past, even the sugar-free Girl Scout cookies that have been offered have had to be discontinued due to lack of demand. Our baker's continue to experiment with formulations that balance the best tasting cookies using the healthiest ingredients.

richard

[Ruth]

My daughter has been a Girl Scout for 9 years now... we have often thought how great it would be to have a gluten-free Cookie to sell. I give you a lot of credit for starting this campaign. In the mean time.. your daughter may like to do what mine has done. We sell the cookies to friends and family that are not gluten-free and our family buys what we "normally" would, but instead of keeping them in the house we donate them to the local food pantry. We know some happy kids will be pulling GS Cookies out of their lunch box as a treat.. and some mom or dad who is struggling financially will get to bring home this (very expensive) treat!.
Best,
Ruth

[lovegrov]

I admit that my daughter was out of GSA before my diagnosis, but I was the cookie dad for three years and she was the girl who sold 500-600 boxes a year. My wife and son still get cookies every and I'm perfectly happy with that. I've got my own yummy treats.

richard

[Pattymom]

I'm a gluten free Leader ( cadettes and now daisies this year for my younger daughter) it seems unlikely they could sell enough to make it profitable. We did buy and donate soe to a battered women's shelter last year-and the food pantry idea is great too. I made a gluten-free carmel delight like cookie last year-I got plain shortbread glutino cookies--covered them with melted carmel mixed with toasted coconut-drizzled with melted choc. chips--yummy.

Our daisy troop is going to be gluten free, since my dd and I are gluten free and I think two other families in it also have at least one child with gluten issues. I think we will sell the cookies, but not serve them-I"ll have to work on my substitutes. All the other mom's were very positive when I asked for gluten free last week. My older troop had gluten free Thinking Day sleepover last year-didn't announce it, just did it and all the food was yummy ( myself and one gluten intolerant girl in that troop ( not my DD))

But alas, we do sell and not sample.

Patty

[stolly]

I submitted the following comment on the Girl Scouts' website yesterday and received the reply below today:

My comment:
Please consider making a gluten free Girl Scout cookie. As more celiacs
are diagnosed, and more people realize they are gluten intolerant, the
demand will only continue to increase. Gluten free is the fastest
growing sector of the food industry. General Mills is recognizing the
gluten free community by making dessert mixes and the line of Chex
cereals gluten free...please do the same as it is in great demand and
you will make lots and lots of little girls and their families happy to
feel included in an American tradition!

Reply:
Thank you for your message to Girl Scouts of the USA. We appreciate
your request for a gluten free cookie. We have asked our cookie
companies to look into this--it is a question of supply and demand,
complicated by the increasing cost of ingredients and sourcing.

At this point, we are not able to guarantee if/when we will have gluten
free offerings; however, we can assure you that we will continue to look
for ways to improve and better serve our members and the public.

Hope this information is helpful. Thanks again for contacting Girl
Scouts.

Rosa Esposito, Information Specialist
Girl Scouts of the USA
420 Fifth Ave.
New York, NY 10018
1-800-478-7248

"Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who
make the world a better place."

-

[Juliebove]

lovegrov, on Sep 8 2009, 09:38 AM, said:

Hate to be discouraging, but this is from the GSA website. Note that even when they tried a sugar free to appeal to diabetics and dieters, it didn't work. And there are a LOT more people with diabetes and on diets than with celiac.

Q: Why don't you offer cookies that are whole-wheat, wheat-free, non-dairy, dairy-free, vegan, sugar-free, gluten-free, organic, low-carbohydrate, low-calorie, low-fat, non-fat, fat-free, etc.?

A: The demand for specialty cookie formulations is simply not great enough to make it economically feasible to offer a variety of specialty types. Of all the different possible formulations, sugar-free seems to be the most popular, yet in the past, even the sugar-free Girl Scout cookies that have been offered have had to be discontinued due to lack of demand. Our baker's continue to experiment with formulations that balance the best tasting cookies using the healthiest ingredients.

richard

The problem with that is that sugar is not the problem for diabetics, but carbs. Most sugar free things are just as high in carbs as the real thing. And most sugar free things contain sugar alcohols that have can have a laxative effect.

The people who put out sugar free things are hoping that our friends and family will be stupid enough not to know this and will buy such things. We diabetics generally just throw them in the trash. Diet drinks are generally the exception. They are not usually made with sugar alcohols and usually have no calories. Some have fewer calories than the regular drinks and some diabetics may choose to use them.

Sugar free products are not any better for dieters either, and in some cases the calorie count is even higher than the real thing.

The only real market for such products would be for those people who have some sort of sugar allergy. And while one can't exactly be allergic to sugar, one can be allergic to cane or beets or whatever the source of the sugar is. The problem with a prepared food is they can't always tell the source of the sugar. I would think not too many people really have to avoid sugar.

I can't eat Girl Scout cookies because of my allergies and really didn't like them too much when I didn't know of my allergies. I generally didn't buy them, but my husband bought some a few times. I did have a cookie here or there. They are no worse for diabetics than food like bread, rice or pasta. Yes, many diabetics avoid such foods like the plague, but there are plenty of us who find a way to work these foods into our diets in limited amounts.

As for gluten-free cookies, there are few that we can buy due to additional food allergies. So even if the scouts did sell them, it is likely we could not buy them.

What I would rather see is that they sell something else that is a healthy option. I do not believe cookies are healthy and it really bugged me when my daughter was in scouts that they had to sell cookies. My niece sold nuts some years back when she was in scouts. Might have been a limited thing. Yes, people with nut allergies wouldn't like that. But what about something like fruit snacks? I would buy those if they sold them.

[lovegrov]

Well, whomever the GS were targeting I seriously doubt it was people who are allergic to sugar. Probably dieters.

Point is, there's no chance at all the GS will be making a gluten-free cookie. It wouldn't be profitable and a box would probably run about $10. And I doubt you'll see them stop selling cookies. They make too much money.

richard

[Juliebove]

lovegrov, on Sep 11 2009, 11:22 AM, said:

Well, whomever the GS were targeting I seriously doubt it was people who are allergic to sugar. Probably dieters.

Point is, there's no chance at all the GS will be making a gluten-free cookie. It wouldn't be profitable and a box would probably run about $10. And I doubt you'll see them stop selling cookies. They make too much money.

richard

Yes, but they could add something to their line that *is* gluten free. Fruit snacks are just one example. I know they sold nuts and/or a fruit and nut mix some years back on the east coast.

[Becci]

I emailed them... I really would like a Tagalong again

[kbtoyssni]

The Girl Scouts in my area are doing a nut sale this fall. Although you never know if the nuts are manufactured on the same equipment as wheat products since many nuts are. Plus many nuts are roasted in peanut oil which I can't eat.

There are three major manufacturers of GS cookies. Each one must make a thin mint and shortbread. Then they can make 6-8 other types of cookies. This is why the names of cookies and types offered vary in different areas of the country. If a gluten-free cookie would sell better than one of the other 6-8 flavors then they'd offer it. But I doubt it would be that big of a seller.