Amazon bought Whole Foods and removed the "gluten-free" signs

[pqat22]

I was diagnosed with Celiac in 1954 /55  in Seattle , Washington. My mother and I were lucky enough to participate in a research study at the University of  Washington .  To get to the point .  About 10 years ago I was so thrilled to have food start being identified as gluten-free .  Since then until now stores such as  Whole Foods placed  gluten-free on labels which we could easily see.   My problem is the following : when  Amazon bought Whole Foods the gluten-free signs were removed . I have pointed out to the managers  that it is now necessary for people like me to handle the packaged food  food to find the gluten-free icon and or to read the labels.  

Now considering the COVID - 19 crisis the packages should be handled as little as possible. Particular gluten-free food and other products have been disappearing from the shelves.  In my town Ralph's has been taking over the market - its very disappointing after waiting to long for packaged food to have to search through a mountain of other products to find what I and others need to survive .  If you have any thoughts on this  problem please acknowledge .  

Another concern is the term Pareve is appearing on food that previously had gluten-free- do you know why? 

[Scott Adams]

I do recall the "gluten-free" signs, and even sections, which are still in some markets. It did make things easier to find, and I also wonder why Amazon would stop this practice. Perhaps there are so many more gluten-free products now than there was 10 years ago? That would be my guess. We also now have gluten-free on labels, as well as certified gluten-free logos, so it's possible that having so many signs in their stores would be overwhelming, especially for those who are not gluten-free?

We've done some articles about the covid-19 issue, and how gluten-free products can be hard to find in some areas/stores:

 Hopefully this is temporary and will resolve. Many people are shopping online more now due to this, so that is something for you to consider.

Pareve is a form of kosher certification, which has been around for a long time. Obviously companies are trying to appeal to as many niches as possible, as the food industry is not an easy one.

[captaincrab55]

It is what it is right now.   I use my phone app to check and see if it's safe for me.

 

[cyclinglady]

I am guessing the legal department advised the shelf labels to be removed.  Why?  Because I have experienced first hand items marked gluten free, but they were not.  It is a lawsuit waiting to happen.   Always read the labels each and every time.  

[Scott Adams]

Agreed, if a worker puts a tag on the wrong item it could be a liability.

[MisterSeth]

It's very noble that you're still avoiding touching things and stuff to help stop the spread of COVID-19. I have some troubling news for you though; when the front line workers in the warehouses and stuff practice poor hygiene the companies and government agencies rarely do anything about it. I've witnessed multiple disgusting things in my warehouse which i reported and they weren't really dealt with. 

1. Guy sucking on the tap in the break room. Reported and I think he had to sign an "acknowledgement". Now it's still probably happening but they're more careful about getting caught.

2.  2/3rds of the employees dont wash their hands after using the urinals, this includes supervisors and I'm at a loss on how to report it when all OHS does is come in and put signs up telling people to wash their hands.

3. Feces going in the trash can instead of the toilet

So for these companies to give you any crap about having to touch things with clean hands to read labels is just hypocrisy. they give their employees less crap for picking their nose and touching it.

This is part of the reason why I've been complaining about a short temper on this forum so much, I'm stuck working while most people get to stay at home, I have to listen to people whine about how hard it is to stay at home, and I'm genuinely scared for my safety due to all the dirty MFs I have to work with.

[Scott Adams]

It’s got to be frustrating, but there are a lot of people who might feel lucky now just to have a job and regular income, so if there is a silver lining perhaps that’s it. 

Given the working conditions you described you will need to be extra careful, which I’m sure you are. I assume you’re wearing a mask, hopefully N-95 grade, washing your hands frequently, etc. You may even consider clear shop glasses and disposable gloves...I would.

[MisterSeth]

8 hours ago, Scott Adams said:

It’s got to be frustrating, but there are a lot of people who might feel lucky now just to have a job and regular income, so if there is a silver lining perhaps that’s it. 

Given the working conditions you described you will need to be extra careful, which I’m sure you are. I assume you’re wearing a mask, hopefully N-95 grade, washing your hands frequently, etc. You may even consider clear shop glasses and disposable gloves...I would.

because i wear prescription glasses I can't wear masks or goggles in the freezer, they impair my vision and i'm driving a fork lift. none of the coworkers are wearing masks either because our employer doesnt seem to have any.

my point is more that these arbitrary rules grocery stores have about not touching anything you aren't going to buy is a money grab. if they really cared about that they would be sending their employees home for picking their nose or sucking on the tap. but from what I've seen these employees tend to get gold stars

[Scott Adams]

I think if your employer really cared they'd require, and supply, masks. Transmission of Covid has been shown to be airborne. It was documented in S. Korea after re-opening bars and clubs there that a single person without symptoms transmitted the virus to over 100 people while bar hopping. Needless to say that they country closed down all clubs and bars again shortly after this event.

[MisterSeth]

12 minutes ago, Scott Adams said:

I think if your employer really cared they'd require, and supply, masks. Transmission of Covid has been shown to be airborne. It was documented in S. Korea after re-opening bars and clubs there that a single person without symptoms transmitted the virus to over 100 people while bar hopping. Needless to say that they country closed down all clubs and bars again shortly after this event.

yeah i know they don't care. I was the one who witnessed and reported a guy sucking on the tap. told the supervisor who was even patting himself on the back going "hey seth look im dealing with it" and i see a piece of paper with some writing on it, i dont think it was even a strike against him. so i go to HR, they refuse to even tell me what the nature of said disciplinary action is. There was a sign over the sink specifically saying not to do that and it's like this individual can only read tagalog but not english. now he's been muttering "putang ina mo" under his breath to me. i finally looked up what that means one day and i think if this guy isn't careful he's going to be crapping out his own teeth.

 

edit: before watching this guy suck on the tap i had numerous times where i had to call in sick due to inability to breathe. i even had to take 2 weeks off due to a sore throat during the covid-19 crisis. I wonder where i've been catching these bugs?

Edited May 27, 2020 by MisterSeth

[Lisa JEan]

I just wanted to point out, that I have searched two ways for gluten products, 1. in a special section if there is one, and 2. where all the other items of its kind are.  As someone said, there are a lot of products that are specifically gluten free and also a lot there are naturally gluten free, so I find it easier to shop by type, and hope they label the shelves with tags, as I have seen done. Reason being, I frequently have not found a gluten-free item in a special section, but then found it later with the items of it's type, possibly because not just celliac people that eat it, like Cheerios.  If there is no special section, then having "easy to read" labels is helpful for me.  Beware of items that say Gluten Free on the package, but the ingredients include wheat!  Bartell's in Washington had some cookies prominently displayed on and end cap of the aisle, but since I have learned the hard way, I checked ingredients and there was wheat listed!  I told the person checking me out and suggested she tell the manager, but it didn't seem like she could understand the issue.  Next time I will tell a manager instead.  Just be careful, if you are not already.  :)

[zenith12]

On 5/26/2020 at 1:14 PM, pqat22 said:

I was diagnosed with Celiac in 1954 /55  in Seattle , Washington. My mother and I were lucky enough to participate in a research study at the University of  Washington .  To get to the point .  About 10 years ago I was so thrilled to have food start being identified as gluten-free .  Since then until now stores such as  Whole Foods placed  gluten-free on labels which we could easily see.   My problem is the following : when  Amazon bought Whole Foods the gluten-free signs were removed . I have pointed out to the managers  that it is now necessary for people like me to handle the packaged food  food to find the gluten-free icon and or to read the labels.  

Now considering the COVID - 19 crisis the packages should be handled as little as possible. Particular gluten-free food and other products have been disappearing from the shelves.  In my town Ralph's has been taking over the market - its very disappointing after waiting to long for packaged food to have to search through a mountain of other products to find what I and others need to survive .  If you have any thoughts on this  problem please acknowledge .  

Another concern is the term Pareve is appearing on food that previously had gluten-free- do you know why? 

Weird i have seen pareve before. What does that mean? IDK. But in my opionion i came to the conclusion that gluten-free is only for intolerant ppl and not true celiacs ppl. So basically for celaics, EAT at your own risk (any processed foods) w/ gluten-free or certified. IT really doesn't mean anything since after all it is NOT gluten-free.  It may have 20ppm, it may have 10. It may have zero.  I have only found one bread that is good. Luckys sold it and now it is closed. It was imported from Canada. I will have to go find the brand. Good luck.  Wow 1954? I think i had it since 2010. Maybe even before who knows. Now i know where that one symptom was coming from that i had in 2010. Good luck to you.

On 5/26/2020 at 2:09 PM, captaincrab55 said:

It is what it is right now.   I use my phone app to check and see if it's safe for me.

 

What app?

[MisterSeth]

first thing my doctor told me is that if you can see all the ingredients in front of you it's always going to be safe. shop in the produce section, especially now that its summer and everything is in season. i wouldn't recommend eating fast food, even if it's gluten free, they're hiring a lot of morons who think they're too good to work there yet still apply.

buy your meats raw and unseasoned too. there used to be a trend called the paleo diet and that's very safe, its like keto but you can eat fruit

[captaincrab55]

On 5/28/2020 at 3:41 PM, zenith12 said:

Weird i have seen pareve before. What does that mean? IDK. But in my opionion i came to the conclusion that gluten-free is only for intolerant ppl and not true celiacs ppl. So basically for celaics, EAT at your own risk (any processed foods) w/ gluten-free or certified. IT really doesn't mean anything since after all it is NOT gluten-free.  It may have 20ppm, it may have 10. It may have zero.  I have only found one bread that is good. Luckys sold it and now it is closed. It was imported from Canada. I will have to go find the brand. Good luck.  Wow 1954? I think i had it since 2010. Maybe even before who knows. Now i know where that one symptom was coming from that i had in 2010. Good luck to you.

What app?

ipiit

[Scott Adams]

On 5/28/2020 at 12:41 PM, zenith12 said:

Weird i have seen pareve before. What does that mean? IDK. But in my opionion i came to the conclusion that gluten-free is only for intolerant ppl and not true celiacs ppl. So basically for celaics, EAT at your own risk (any processed foods) w/ gluten-free or certified. IT really doesn't mean anything since after all it is NOT gluten-free.  It may have 20ppm, it may have 10. It may have zero.  I have only found one bread that is good. Luckys sold it and now it is closed. It was imported from Canada. I will have to go find the brand. Good luck.  Wow 1954? I think i had it since 2010. Maybe even before who knows. Now i know where that one symptom was coming from that i had in 2010. Good luck to you.

What app?

Is is possible that the Canadian brand was Little Northern Bakehouse: 

 

 

[zenith12]

On 5/29/2020 at 10:52 PM, Scott Adams said:

Is is possible that the Canadian brand was Little Northern Bakehouse: 

 

 

Omg thats it!!  thanks so much. It tastes good unlike udis.  I will try to order it on amazon or the net. It was in the freezer section. Thanks 

[zenith12]

On 5/29/2020 at 9:56 PM, captaincrab55 said:

ipiit

ok thanks

[mbrookes]

On 5/31/2020 at 12:48 PM, zenith12 said:

Omg thats it!!  thanks so much. It tastes good unlike udis.  I will try to order it on amazon or the net. It was in the freezer section. Thanks 

If you have a Jason's Deli where you live check with them. That is what they use for gluten free sandwiches, but they will sell you a loaf. expensive (about $12) but so worth it.

[Intertrigo]

Maybe they where asked to remove it because they are really not gluten free.

[zenith12]

On 6/1/2020 at 10:02 PM, mbrookes said:

If you have a Jason's Deli where you live check with them. That is what they use for gluten free sandwiches, but they will sell you a loaf. expensive (about $12) but so worth it.

Omg here they closed like a year ago.I used to go there just a few times back around 2002 in Kasas city.  I think i can get the bread on the net. Amazon takes so long now to get your stuff. Oh I heard Price Cutter up the street sells it. I will take a look . I have never seen it there. And Mama Jeans sells it. I will check those. Thanks  My mom said Target just up and closed. Weird.

17 hours ago, Intertrigo said:

Maybe they where asked to remove it because they are really not gluten free.

The bread? I have never gotten glutened on it. Only the Alids Chicken TSO chunks and the Wal mart salda verde chips that claimed to be gluten free and certified gluten free.  So i guess getting glutened every 3 months isn't  a very good track record. OR maybe it is.