Australians And New Zealanders Hellooooooo :)

[beebs]

Yeah - I love Atom. I feel like a normal customer there!!

[rosetapper23]

Rats! I just got back from Sydney and didn't access the Internet while I was visiting....so I didn't know about the Thai food! However, I DID stop in at Churrasco,. a Brazilian restaurant in downtown Sydney, and was astounded that their menu was largely gluten free. The cheese bread and pasta that are served are also gluten free. I lived in Brazil for a year as an exchange student, and this restaurant is truly a genuine Brazilian-style restaurant--and the food is great! I felt safe, and I didn't feel any signs of cc afterward. You Aussies are so lucky--I was able to eat gluten free very easily in both Sydney and Cairns.

[Saz]

Tried the Woolworths Crumpet mix again and it was another disaster. Managed not to burn them this time but still got nothing like a crumpet. As before I ended up with something like a pikelet on one side and a crusty naan bread on the other. Also they don't cook in the centre no matter how thin I put the batter in. Shame, I've never had a problem with their other products.

Has anyone tried again and had a success? If everyone is having the same trouble, I'd say they are selling a 'faulty' product. If it was a dvd or item of clothing it wouldn't be allowed.

[anabananakins]

I haven't tried them yet Saz, but I might have a go tonight. Are they edible, even if they don't look right?

[Saz]

The first lot I did I eat some of them but becuase of the way the cook, they are a bit odd. I think the problem might be more with the texture. Of the few I did try I could sort of taste that they were meant to be crumpets.

It's a bit hard to describe since the finished product I ended up with is not like anything I've had before.

Let us know how you go.

[anabananakins]

I went to woolies yesterday to get some but I was a bit shocked at the price. I usually go to Coles and their Basco cake mixes are in the $3-$4 range and these were $5.50, eek. When I realised I'd also need egg rings (I don't know what I was thinking was going to hold them up), I decided I didn't miss crumpets that much. So my experimenting is on hold for now sorry Saz, I might try them over the Christmas break instead.

My local woolies has renovated (again) and the range of gluten free stuff was way bigger than it used to be. They still don't stock much frozen stuff though, seems a shame they don't have that range of pies (bellyhoo?) that Coles sell. Those are really yummy.

[Saz]

yea. I find coles not only have a bigger range but are a bit more consistant with what gluten-free they do sell.

Also noticed recently that Woolworths stores are going into alot of organic/nut free foods, most of them however aren't gluten-free but they are all mixed in the one section. Coles have do have non gluten-free products in the same asile but they seem to block them together a bit better.

Something else that annoys me about most Woolies stores is that they often put a type of garlic bread or reduced pizzas in the gluten-free frozen section but they aren't gluten free.

. Something else I've noticed recently in both stores is that they are having more specials on health foods, which is good.

[anabananakins]

yea. I find coles not only have a bigger range but are a bit more consistant with what gluten-free they do sell.

Also noticed recently that Woolworths stores are going into alot of organic/nut free foods, most of them however aren't gluten-free but they are all mixed in the one section. Coles have do have non gluten-free products in the same asile but they seem to block them together a bit better.

Something else that annoys me about most Woolies stores is that they often put a type of garlic bread or reduced pizzas in the gluten-free frozen section but they aren't gluten free.

. Something else I've noticed recently in both stores is that they are having more specials on health foods, which is good.

Woolies range is really weird like that, for example, the quinoa they sell has a 'may contains gluten' warning. So stupid, half the consistent quinoa purchasers must be gluten free people and it's not safe for them.

Coles do block the products better and you're so right about woolies putting that bloody garlic bread /pizza stuff near the gluten free foods, it drives me NUTS! I can't bear to look at it, it just seems so unfair. My local Coles have the frozen gluten free stuff between the frozen veges and the frozen chicken and while the latter isn't all gluten free; I don't think most people look at boxes of frozen stuffed chicken with too much longing ;-)

[auzzi]

Coles Supermarkets are a Professional Partner with the Coeliac Society of Australia. They are a designated supplier of Gluten-free products. [That is why they are always at the Gluten-free Food Expo each year]. Not all Coles supply the same level of prodyct - depends on their demographics.

Woolworths has little or no idea about the gluten-free-market. Their focus is "health" and "healthy" diet. A range of gluten-free products are located together with the "health" products, but the majority is spread throughout the store. If you don't know where to look, you won't find it.

IGA has a reasonable spread of gluten-free product. A range of Schar, Zehnder breads, Bob's Mill, etc.

Harris Farm Fruitmarket usually has a small selection also.

[beebs]

Woolies range is really weird like that, for example, the quinoa they sell has a 'may contains gluten' warning. So stupid, half the consistent quinoa purchasers must be gluten free people and it's not safe for them.

Coles do block the products better and you're so right about woolies putting that bloody garlic bread /pizza stuff near the gluten free foods, it drives me NUTS! I can't bear to look at it, it just seems so unfair. My local Coles have the frozen gluten free stuff between the frozen veges and the frozen chicken and while the latter isn't all gluten free; I don't think most people look at boxes of frozen stuffed chicken with too much longing ;-)

And the polenta! For goodness Sake! I mean - macro do a whole gluten free range - can't they just process all the gluten free on the same lines and all the none gluten free on the other lines - I mean really! Arrghhh!

[anabananakins]

IGA has a reasonable spread of gluten-free product. A range of Schar, Zehnder breads, Bob's Mill, etc.

Yes, very true and worth mentioning. We always talk about the Big Two but if you want real bread, IGA has quite a good range in the freezer section (at least, the one in North Sydney, Greenwood plaza does). I try to forget so I don't end up eating too many toasted cheese sandwiches :-)

Beebs, I didn't check the polenta but that's so daft (The brand in Coles is fine but) And so people won't buy it and then they'll think there's no market. SIGH.

[Saz]

Fairly sure Wollies do stock a brand of polenta that isn't processed on a line with anything. Got to admit not been sensitive I do sometimes eat things that say processed on the same line as wheat products. Mostly when I'm traveling. I try not to but sometimes it's a choice between that and something that actauly has wheat in it.

[beebs]

They sure do, but the one that is 'may contain gluten' is in the gluten free/health food section

[auzzi]

Macro Wholefoods was an organic food chain before they were acquired by Woolworths for their Thomas Dux division. They specialise in organic [groceries, produce & meat], free-range [groceries, produce & meat/deli], natural [raw ingredients] and gluten-free products [mixes, snacks, cereals, meat].

Even if the product itself is gluten-free, unless it is from their gluten-free range, and marked as such, then it is not suitable for coeliac consumption as it is understood to be contaminated.

Items such as quinoa and polenta are part of the "natural" range, and are aimed at that market - coeliac purchasers are a very minor* buying power.

*Notes:

Glutenfree purchasers are approx 1.2% of the shopping population. gluten-free products has a current purchasing growth of 10% [this includes a significant amount of non-gluten-free people purchasing gluten-free products - they do not worry about contamination]

Organic and natural food purchasing has a current growth of 20-30% - and is forcasted to increase to 45% by 2012-2013.

[mushroom]

*Notes:

Glutenfree purchasers are approx 1.2% of the shopping population. gluten-free products has a current purchasing growth of 10% [this includes a significant amount of non-gluten-free people purchasing gluten-free products - they do not worry about contamination]

Organic and natural food purchasing has a current growth of 20-30% - and is forcasted to increase to 45% by 2012-2013.

Well, there are a lot of people who buy both organic and gluten free whichever comes first.

And we have a newly (re)-elected government in NZ who promise to promote GMO trials threatening our clean, green image, which is already taking a beating

[Di2011]

Has anyone tried pepe's guacamole ? We get it from costco here in Canberra. It is made by Simpson Farms(Qld): simpsonfarms.com

It is labeled gluten free and tastes pretty good too.

My DH doesn't like the salt and/or the E415 (xanthan gum) but I thought I'd share the product with you to enjoy!

[beebs]

Not sure how reliable, but this page said that gluten free has had a growth of 74% between 2004-2007 and that it is the fastest growing category, that over that time 700 new products have become available.

The fact is Macro are doing themselves a complete disservice - as all they would have to do is change lines for that stuff that celiacs can eat, to the lines that they already have that are gluten free. It really wouldn't be that big a deal to do so, so why not? And gain even more sales. I buy heaps of macro gluten-free stuff as it is - I would buy more if the polenta and quinoa if they were gluten free!

[Di2011]

Open Original Shared Link

Has anyone had any good/bad experience with Ayam brands? I tried one (GadoGado) a couple of weeks ago and it seemed okay.

Indonesia is like my second home so been missing these flavours whilst I get the body sorted. The company must be pretty keen to keep the market place happy as that web page has "(Independently tested by DTS Laboratories, Melbourne, Australia)" on it.

[beebs]

I use Ayam all the time and never had a problem with it. I really think its different here -in the US you can call yourself gluten free even if you aren't (companies I mean) But here they have to test below 3ppm to be called gluten-free. So if its tested in Melbourne then I assume it has to meet that criteria.

[anabananakins]

I use Ayam products quite a lot, never had a problem with them.

With the "may contains" Macro products... I get that gluten free purchasers are a small subset of all buyers, but I think they are missing the point that we're buying *for life*. A regular person might try quinoa a few times, but unless they love it or don't care about the price, they probably won't buy it consistently as there are so many other choices. And cheaper ones. I'd chose cracked wheat over quinoa if I could! But a gluten-free quinoa purchaser could be eating it regularly for ever. I don't generally eat grains myself, because I have insulin problems but if I had kids I'd probably alternate rice with quinoa.

I tried the Dovedale Rice/Chia bread on Friday since it's now stocked with the regular breads and it was great! I scoffed the lot as toasted cheese and tomato sandwiches followed by toast with lashings of butter. And then I vowed never to buy it again as I obviously cannot eat bread in moderation ;-) I thought I'd mention it though in case others can. Plus it has like four ingredients which I thought was awesome, I hate needing a science degree to work out what I'm eating.

[mushroom]

.

I tried the Dovedale Rice/Chia bread on Friday since it's now stocked with the regular breads and it was great! I scoffed the lot as toasted cheese and tomato sandwiches followed by toast with lashings of butter. And then I vowed never to buy it again as I obviously cannot eat bread in moderation ;-) I thought I'd mention it though in case others can. Plus it has like four ingredients which I thought was awesome, I hate needing a science degree to work out what I'm eating.

That is absolutely the only Dovedale bread I will eat - and it does have to be toasted.

[anabananakins]

That is absolutely the only Dovedale bread I will eat - and it does have to be toasted.

It sounds like I hit on the right one then! It was exciting to eat non-crumbly bread. Though I totally agree about needing to toast it.

I want more buttered toast, right now. Sigh.

[dandt]

Oh man I hadn't even thought to look at the quinoa!

Every time I'm in Woolies I get disappointed to see the pizza stuff! I thought it was just my dodgy CQ store but obviously not!!!

While coles have a better range I find I probably buy more from woolies at the moment just because they have better quality vegies, at least at my store. They also always seem to have the pringle-style chips on sale

Has anyone else tried the raviolis that have magically appeared at coles? I've had them twice now I think and they were a little chewy, even when cooked properly but with a yummy sauce I almost tricked myself into thinking they were naughty!! Same with those delicious bellyhoo pies. I'm pretty sure the apple one was the nicest apple pie I've ever had!

Now if only there was still nice dairy and gluten free ice cream like momoto used to be then it'd be the perfect dessert. Or are there some nicer soy ice creams around than so good?

[anabananakins]

Oh man I hadn't even thought to look at the quinoa!

Every time I'm in Woolies I get disappointed to see the pizza stuff! I thought it was just my dodgy CQ store but obviously not!!!

While coles have a better range I find I probably buy more from woolies at the moment just because they have better quality vegies, at least at my store. They also always seem to have the pringle-style chips on sale

Has anyone else tried the raviolis that have magically appeared at coles? I've had them twice now I think and they were a little chewy, even when cooked properly but with a yummy sauce I almost tricked myself into thinking they were naughty!! Same with those delicious bellyhoo pies. I'm pretty sure the apple one was the nicest apple pie I've ever had!

Now if only there was still nice dairy and gluten free ice cream like momoto used to be then it'd be the perfect dessert. Or are there some nicer soy ice creams around than so good?

bellyhoo should market those pies in the regular section too, making the 'gluten free and dairy free' wording tiny so it doesn't turn people off, LOL. Because they are the best pre-made frozen pies I've ever tasted and frankly, better than plenty of fresh stuff I've bought from bakeries or eaten at people's houses. I love that type of pastry so much more than the flaky stuff,it's more like the pastry my mother makes. I'm partial to the cherry one :-)

I really enjoyed the ravioli too, though I've only had them the once because I try to eat low carb - coles are making it harder for me! They actually arrived in store at a time when I'd gotten really happy with what was and wasn't available gluten free and I remember saying 'if I could have spinach and ricotta tortellini again, I'd be happy'. And i got my wish, close enough :-) I like them with coles green pesto.

Can't help with the icecream sorry. I'm still psyching myself up to go dairy free, and meanwhile, plain vanilla is my favourite

[auzzi]

Cadbury Icecream is gluten free ... Sanitarium So Good Chocolate Ice Cream is quite good also - a bit hard straight from the freezer