Whole Foods Market Labels

[pugluver31902]

Tonight my husband and I were at whole foods and we were looking at the gluten free section. For any of you that have been to the whole foods in Wheaton Illinois, you probably know that most of the gluten free products are scattered through the store, except for the side wall which has an entire gluten free section. Anyways, back to my point. In the GLUTEN FREE section, there were these tubs of cookies. There was a sign attatced to the shelving unit that said " So and so's (cant remember the name) all natural junk food, gluten free!!" So my husband I got really excited and started picking out a few tubs to try. We picked the chunky choclate chip, brownie bites, and then I picked one up that said oatmeal raison. Well that made me look at the label to see how it could be gluten free oats, and sure enough, there was oats and wheat flour listed in the ingrediants. I looked at all the tubs, and they all had wheat flour in them! I had the manager come over and she looked at it and said "Oh, well one of the flavors is gluten free." I asked her to show me which one and she couldnt find it. I told her that I really love the store bc they have a lot of great products but I was afraid someone might not read the label and get sick. She suprised me bc she was pretty rude to me. She told me that wasnt her problem if someone didnt read the label. I told her "How can you knowingly put wheat products on a shelf in the GLUTEN FREE section, and attach a sign, WITH THE PRODUCT NAME on it that says ALL NATURAL AND GLUTEN FREE? She told me that it wasnt her problem and that people are responsible for themselves. She said since they did have one flavor that is gluten free (whether or not they actually stock it) they were allowed to label it gluten free. I was pretty mad and told her someone would get really sick and they would have a big problem. She made this huge scene and RIPPED the sign down and said in a sarcastic voice "PROBLEM SOLVED!" and then she walked away. But still left them all on the shelves between all the other gluten free products. Now I know that everyone should read the labels on everything. I always do before I check out. But still, that really ticked me off! Ok, sorry, Im done venting. Lol

[blueeyedmanda]

My goodness, it doesn't sound like they are very accomodating in that store. I have to admit that was the one thing that I didn't like at Whole foods, everything was scattered. I enjoyed the bakehouse though, as for the rest of the store, I had a hard time finding things gluten free.

[nmw]

If you haven't already done so, you must contact the store manager and report this employee (did you get her name?)and incident, as well as file a written complaint about the non-gluten-free food located in the gluten-free section and shelf tag labelled gluten-free. Then, copy your complaint to the corporate office.

[Ursa Major]

If you haven't already done so, you must contact the store manager and report this employee (did you get her name?)and incident, as well as file a written complaint about the non-gluten-free food located in the gluten-free section and shelf tag labelled gluten-free. Then, copy your complaint to the corporate office.

I agree. This lady was past rude, she was abusive. And you're right, somebody will get very sick, you nearly bought the cookies yourself. Somebody like her shouldn't be a manager, she doesn't seem to have any people skills (and she doesn't appear to care about people).

[pugluver31902]

My goodness, it doesn't sound like they are very accomodating in that store. I have to admit that was the one thing that I didn't like at Whole foods, everything was scattered. I enjoyed the bakehouse though, as for the rest of the store, I had a hard time finding things gluten free.

If you go to the front desk, they give you a book of everything that is gluten free. It can be hard to find, but the book is very helpful. Just letting you know!

[pugluver31902]

If you haven't already done so, you must contact the store manager and report this employee (did you get her name?)and incident, as well as file a written complaint about the non-gluten-free food located in the gluten-free section and shelf tag labelled gluten-free. Then, copy your complaint to the corporate office.

She was the manager!! But, yeah, I probably will email the company. Thanks for letting me vent!!!

[tarnalberry]

I wouldn't give up on the store just yet - you only had contact with one individual from it who behaved very badly. I would report your experience to the manager (and corporate, if you feel like going that route as well), however, so they can take steps to ensure it does not happen again.

[pugluver31902]

No, I wont give up on the store. All of my other experiances there have been great. I go there fairly often as I do most of my shopping there. It was just strange....

[debmidge]

funny that you mention this story but my WF no longer has the little blue flags on the shelf by the product which states gluten-free status. This might be the future of WF as regards labeling gluten-free items on the shelf. Proceed with caution in how you approach WF as you might give them reason to never label gluten-free items again....but in either event, the manager was unprofessional and rude and should be spoken to by management and if it happens again "busted" down in rank.

[sparkles]

I just had my first encounter at Whole Foods last week and was disappointed in the "Gluten Free" section. It contained crackers that are made in a plant that also processes wheat. Not only were they in the gluten-free section but the box states that they are gluten-free. I really do not understand how manufacturers can claim a product is gluten-free if it is produced in a facility that also processes wheat products. I slowly am coming to the conclusion that even if I am diligent and read labels and try to eat gluten-free there is no way that I can be completely gluten-free. The employees at the Whole Foods that I went to were really helpful but I was not really impressed with the store. The prices were the same as the gluten-free products at my regular grocery and therefore not worth the 10 mile trip!!!! I also tried the Trader Joe's actually in the same neighborhood as WF and have to wonder what all the hype is about at Trader Joe's. Most of the products that I checked that were on their gluten-free list were products that were produced in facilities processing wheat. Just curious since so many of you seem to like these stores, do you eat the food processed in facilities processing wheat? Am I being too picky?

[sparkles]

sorry duplicate post

[steveindenver]

Find out who the District Manager of this store is and contact them and report this incident. Or call Corporate.

[Phyllis28]

I agree, contact the corporate office with your complaint. It is my habit to read all the ingredients even if the product is labled gluten free.

[TinkerbellSwt]

Double ditto! I worked for Wegmans, now I know they dont have the gluten free offerings that WF has, but if we ever, ever, ever, spoke to a customer like that! OMG! they would have our head! Everything goes right to corporate and we probably would have been busted down in rank.

I had the same issue in just my regular supermarket. They started putting gluten items in the small gluten free section. I was talking to my hubby and I said we might want to tell the full service guy about it (we both worked for the company, he still does). THEN, someone packed out Bobs Vital Wheat Gluten in the gluten free section! ok, that was the final straw... my hubby went and picked it all off the shelf and put it in the overhead stocks.. then went and told the full service guy what he did and why, he understood completely and moved the gluten to the regular baking aisle, where it belongs!!

[blueeyedmanda]

Double ditto! I worked for Wegmans, now I know they dont have the gluten free offerings that WF has, but if we ever, ever, ever, spoke to a customer like that! OMG! they would have our head! Everything goes right to corporate and we probably would have been busted down in rank.

I had the same issue in just my regular supermarket. They started putting gluten items in the small gluten free section. I was talking to my hubby and I said we might want to tell the full service guy about it (we both worked for the company, he still does). THEN, someone packed out Bobs Vital Wheat Gluten in the gluten free section! ok, that was the final straw... my hubby went and picked it all off the shelf and put it in the overhead stocks.. then went and told the full service guy what he did and why, he understood completely and moved the gluten to the regular baking aisle, where it belongs!!

That is neat you worked for Wegmans, they are very good with customer service.

[ArtGirl]

THEN, someone packed out Bobs Vital Wheat Gluten in the gluten free section!

In the Whole Foods and Wild Oats where I shop I've noticed that the Bob's brand packages are all shelved together, the gluten and gluten-free often being intermixed. I haven't had any problems because of this, thankfully.

The WO store I shop has a gluten-free section, but it only contains a few things, and most of the baking mixes and flours are all grouped together by brands on another isle with gluten-free and gluten products shelved next to each other.

RE: the manager's temper tantrum.... do you suppose she's undiagnosed gluten-intolerant???

[tarnalberry]

I just had my first encounter at Whole Foods last week and was disappointed in the "Gluten Free" section. It contained crackers that are made in a plant that also processes wheat. Not only were they in the gluten-free section but the box states that they are gluten-free. I really do not understand how manufacturers can claim a product is gluten-free if it is produced in a facility that also processes wheat products.

My kitchen has my husband's cereal, and his bread (in a little corner that never gets to leave his cutting board). Though pretty much everything else is gluten-free, it would still be a "facility that processes wheat". Production plants are too expensive for private facilities for everything, so it is unrealistic that the majority of gluten free foods will be made in buildings that never have wheat come in them, and that are made from ingredients also processed in buildings that never have wheat come in them, from cradle to grave, on every single ingredient.