Amy's Gluten Free Dozen Dinners

[gilligan]

Hello!  Amy's gluten free frozen foods look very good, and some are dairy free, which is an extra plus for me.  I noticed that some products are identical minus the gluten - such as Amys Mac N Cheese - they make a gluten and a gluten free choice.  Would you consider them safe to eat?  I don't know anything about the company or their reputation.  The label says nothing about using/not using shared equipment.

[bartfull]

From what I understand they are made in the same facility and in some cases on the same equipment. Years ago there were folks on this forum who said they got sick from eating them.

 

However, they now test them and they are supposedly under 20PPM. There are quite a few folks here now who eat them with no problems.

 

I've never had anything from Amy's, but based on what folks here say about them now I would try them if they had them here.

[gilligan]

Thanks, bartfull!  I did try the gluten/dairy free mac n cheese.  It was delicious!  That's as close to real dairy that I've had in two years, and the macaroni was made from rice.  So far, I'm not sick!

[LauraTX]

Many people eat them with no problem.  Some people are uncomfortable with the shared facility/equipment, but they test for contamination.  There have been a few people who anecdotally do the "I ate this and got sick" thing, but of course that is not always reliable, I suspect it is because Amy's meals are vegetarian and heavy in beans, veggies, and tofu in a lot of them.

 

My favorites are the gluten-free bean and cheese burritos, the gluten-free mac n cheese, and the mexican meals.  Honestly I like them all and buy them all the time, especially the burritos.  When I am feeling poorly with my health issues this is what I eat.  A Celiac friend in real life turned me on to them, which surprised me because I would eat some of their stuff before I was diagnosed Celiac. 

[BlessedMommy]

I love Amy's dinners, especially their gluten-free/DF macaroni and cheese and gluten-free/DF lasagna.

[CK1901]

So we've concluded Amy's is safe now, basically? I used to not eat them, but then I read they test all their stuff now. This is a major game changer as I used to eat Amy's stuff all the time before I was diagnosed.

[squirmingitch]

Quoting from Amy's website:

 

Amy’s Kitchen Policies and Practices
Amy’s has always had strict Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) to avoid cross-contact of our non-gluten products with gluten and we continue to strengthen these practices. The GMPs include strict raw material control, sanitation practices and employee training. We are constantly improving our practices to include more separation, a higher degree of testing and more in process checks. In the last year, we have increased our screening of critical ingredients to verify they are “gluten free” when they arrive at our plant. We continue to make efforts to minimize gluten in areas where gluten free items are processed. We have instituted a screening program to verify that equipment has been thoroughly cleaned between manufacturing runs. In addition, we have an in-house lab so that we are able to quickly screen ingredients and finished products to verify they meet the FDA “gluten free” standard of less than 20 ppm gluten. We are now routinely testing all Amy’s products that are labeled “Gluten Free” to verify they meet the FDA requirement.

 

Here's the link:

Open Original Shared Link

[darlingnea13]

Within the first 6 months of me being diagnosed, Amy's came out with the gluten free burritos and such. I tried them and was super ecstatic that they tasted almost normal. Then I was sick for 3 weeks. I couldn't figure out why until I realized that all of their products are made on shared factory equipment. I emailed them and they apologized and mentioned that it does test for under 20 PPM, so if you are sensitive like I am, its best to steer completely clear of their gluten free line.