Amy's New Facility

[Guest cassidy]

I emailed Amy's because I had heard they had a new facility with an enclosed area where they are producing a few gluten-free items. I was trying to find out if I could differentiate the meals produced in this gluten-free area from those that are not - maybe a bar code or something. I got glutened so many times from the meals at their regular plant that I stopped eating all their food. I really miss it and I was hoping for good news. Here is my reply:

Thanks for your email. At present, we are not promoting our new

facility as gluten free. While we may make the product in a facility that

handles no wheat, some of our ingredient suppliers have the potential for

cross-contamination therefore we do not feel that it would be

appropriate to distinguish the products made in the new facility from our other

products.

There is no definition of "gluten free" as yet...we are waiting for the

FDA to define this.

Best regards,

Carol Tamagni

Customer Relations

I know they changed all their products to say no gluten ingredients as opposed to gluten-free, but this email makes me think that there could be cc issues with their products. Their website has a big section about how they are so careful about cc, but now it seems like maybe their aren't. For all of us that I have glutened by them, I think that is almost an admission that it can happen. When I called them months ago when I was glutened they acted like it couldn't have happened from their products.

[DrMom]

I LOVE Amy's products and never have any trouble with them.

[Guest nini]

I think Amy's is trying VERY hard to meet the needs of the Celiac community. They are just being cautious about what information they give out because in the past they have had cc issues. They are working hard to clarify exactly what determines gluten-free so that it can be absolutely safe for their customers. In the meantime they switched to "no gluten ingredients" so that the responsibility rests on the consumer to make the decision if it is worth the risk. Personally I have had some issues with them IN THE PAST with cc, but I still like the company and like the product, so I continue to give them a chance to improve. They are a small company compared to say Kraft or General Mills, and this new statement they are making is more of a legalese CYA statement. I've had good luck with the rice pasta veggie lasagna, the enchilada meals, and the rice macaroni and cheese, BUT I've had issues with the shepards pie and the rice crust pizzas... I do think they are working dilligently to make sure this problem is corrected. Give them time.

[Mtndog]

i have a LOT of respect for their comapny but as someone who has reacted to cc in their products, I'm holding off just a little longer as I ate one of the rice crust pizzas from the dedicated part and I reacted to something (honestly- I think it was the soy lechitin, NOT GLUTEN). I'm going to wait to see what happens but I agree with nini, they ARE working really hard!

[LKelly8]

I wouldn't eat Amy's food if they made it on the moon.

(. . . well, maybe if they made gluten-free pop tarts. On the moon. )

[Carriefaith]

There is no definition of "gluten free" as yet...we are waiting for the

FDA to define this.

Gluten free should mean no gluten at all. Some of us will react to small amounts. I will be so disappoited if there is a law that allows some gluten in gluten free foods. I've heard that a lot of gluten-free products in Europe contain small amounts of gluten.

And what about people with wheat allergies? I bet that they wouldn't allow a small amount of peanuts into a food and then call it peanut free. What is the difference?

Why is it so difficult to eliminate gluten 100%?

[Guest nini]

Gluten free should mean no gluten at all. Some of us will react to small amounts. I will be so disappoited if there is a law that allows some gluten in gluten free foods. I've heard that a lot of gluten-free products in Europe contain small amounts of gluten.

And what about people with wheat allergies? I bet that they wouldn't allow a small amount of peanuts into a food and then call it peanut free. What is the difference?

Why is it so difficult to eliminate gluten 100%?

I agree with this 100%

[NJKen]

Gluten free should mean no gluten at all. Some of us will react to small amounts. I will be so disappoited if there is a law that allows some gluten in gluten free foods. I've heard that a lot of gluten-free products in Europe contain small amounts of gluten.

And what about people with wheat allergies? I bet that they wouldn't allow a small amount of peanuts into a food and then call it peanut free. What is the difference?

Why is it so difficult to eliminate gluten 100%?

The problem is that they don't harvest and process all their ingredients themselves. They cannot say with 100% certainty that ingredients that have been received from other suppliers is not cross-contaminated. Also, there is no gluten test that can provide answers down to 0 ppm. There is always a limit of detection, which I think is 20 ppm for the gluten method.

Ken

[Rusla]

Well any of Amy's food I saw here always said "made in a facility that manufactures wheat products." So, I would never take the chance.

I react to such minute amounts of gluten it is not worth it. I even worry about putting my food down on a conveyor at the supermarket for feat that they guy in front his copious amount of bread crumbs are on my food.

[Noah Mc]

I too have been on the fence with Amy's since they don't have a dedicated gluten-free plant. Dana Korn came to my area to talk to a group of Celiac/gluten-free people and I brought up Amy's gluten-free products and everyone there (10 or so people) said they have not had any bad experiences with Amy's.