Amy, I Thought You Were My Friend!

[jerseyangel]

Yea--sounds like they're trying...

[jenvan]

I think Amy's proved their genuine concern and desire to create safe products in how they responded to Berneses last year. If you want to help improve their products, save the upcs and give them to Amy's so they can track the batches and investigate like Berneses did.

[Guest cassidy]

Cash? That's really, really strange!

I don't know of any reputable company that wouldn't send you a money order or cheque as refund your money.

Was the note on any type of letterhead?

Karen

It was a hand written note in a notecard like you would send to someone who bought you a birthday present. The money was folded up inside. I had 7 items including a pizza so I think they gave me $35. It was strange. I think someone should let them know about the results of this poll. If have the people have been glutened by them, they need to know that it is a real problem.

[Guest nini]

I do think that as a company they are really trying, and genuinely seem to be concerned when someone has an issue with cross contamination. Let's just keep the lines of communication open with Amy's and hopefully they will get this all worked out. There are so many of their products that I absolutely love and am not willing to give up. I have had a few episodes where there may have been cc with an Amy's product, but it doesn't happen all the time and I've noticed the labeling on the box where even if it says Gluten Free, it still has the disclaimer that it is made in a facility that also produces products with Wheat and so on... they are trying, I'll give them that. I think because they are a smaller company, they don't have the resources to be able to do them all in a dedicated facility, but it certainly appears that they would like to be able to.

[penguin]

So I talked to this Marsha lady, and she was concerned. She did, however, imply that Amy's wasn't what made me sick. She said they're going to do the testing on the lot, but that that product has never tested positive for gluten. They are definitely concerned about it, albeit defensive. I did make sure and tell her that I commend what they do by making gluten-free products, and how helpful it is, and that I realized they put themselves at risk by labelling things gluten-free.

I was a little insulted that she implied I wasn't gluten-free long enough to know when I'd been glutened, and that I'd be able to pick up the source. That was a bit annoying, but I do understand where she was coming from. Also, I had the same reaction all four times I've eaten Amy's, that would be a quite amazing coincidence.

I very much respect the company, but I'm not sure I will buy their products anymore.

Well, maybe the mac and cheese, since she specifically sited that until 8 mos. ago their tapioca starch supplier shared lines with wheat, but that that has been resolved.

[penguin]

Marsha lady just sent this to me, boy are they on top of things!!!

Chelsea,

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. The product you ate was manufactured on October 26, 2005. We made 25,000 meals on that day. I checked the Consumer Services Database that we use to track any problems with products and nothing has been reported for this lot (or for any lot of Santa Fe Enchilada).

I have asked the Quality Assurance Department to pull the retain for this product and we will send it in to University of Nebraska for testing. It usually takes them about a week to complete the testing. So I might not be able to get back to you until the week after this with the result. In the meantime, I will check the production and QA records to see if there were any unusual occurrences on that day.

Thanks so much for you patience. I will get back to you as soon as I have anything to report.

Kind regards,

Marsha Kopral

Tech Service

[happygirl]

I have eaten them pretty regularly (usually their mexican ones...enchilada) and have yet to get sick from them (knock on wood). I hope you get some good answers, girl!

[jenvan]

Like I said earlier...they are a rare company ! Most companies wouldn't even conceive of testing if one person reports a problem! Keep us updated when you get the results!

[Carriefaith]

Chelsea,

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. The product you ate was manufactured on October 26, 2005. We made 25,000 meals on that day. I checked the Consumer Services Database that we use to track any problems with products and nothing has been reported for this lot (or for any lot of Santa Fe Enchilada).

I have asked the Quality Assurance Department to pull the retain for this product and we will send it in to University of Nebraska for testing. It usually takes them about a week to complete the testing. So I might not be able to get back to you until the week after this with the result. In the meantime, I will check the production and QA records to see if there were any unusual occurrences on that day.

Thanks so much for you patience. I will get back to you as soon as I have anything to report.

Kind regards,

Marsha Kopral

Tech Service

Wow. Keep us posted on the results.

[Lister]

yeah i think i may have gotten glutend from it as well i just ate one about a hour ago and feel like crap and am having problems, but i cant be sure yet since i still ahve normal bms and i have not puked i could just be in one of my rollercoaster modes