Redbridge - What Does Gluten-free Mean Anheuser-busch?

[rh4]

I've had a chance to sample Redbridge. Had a few beers a couple of times and got sick. Emailed them and asked if the product was "gluten-free" as they claimed.

Their response was that it was "illegal" to actually label the beer "gluten-free" as the government has yet to determine what the term means... (proposed 20 ppm). Interesting as Bard's Pale Ale labels each bottle as gluten-free and I've had no reaction to it. They also told me that Redbridge was made on equipment used to create other beers after it was washed. They are sending me a kit to return the product for testing.

I'm very happy to have a beer to drink and I applaud The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness, Anheuser-Busch, and the makers of Bard's Pale Ale (seemingly a true gluten-free product - and the beer of my choice at this time), and other up and coming gluten-free food creators for their efforts, but I am very alarmed that gluten-free will not actually mean gluten-free (Rice Dream for example is 20 ppm gluten - they would be able to say that their product is a gluten-free product). This will really make things even more confusing for people/families trying to cope with gluten intolerance.

[Mtndog]

OMG! Thank you for posting this. It was something I wondered about because I have enough Bard's Tale to last me 4 years right now (generous friends) but I was wondering about CC. You have saved me a reaction.

I too think it's great that they make a gluten-free product but I know I couldn't drink it.

[Guhlia]

I spoke to Anhueser-Busch last year when Red Bridge first came out, before it hit the public market. For some reason our distributor got it in two weeks before the release date. Anyway, when I spoke to A-B they assured me that it was made on dedicated equipment and that's why production runs were limited, because there was only one factory where they could safely make it. I drank Red Bridge for two months before I got pregnant and I never got sick, not even with over indulgence. I'm generally pretty sensitive, so I think I probably would have reacted. I'm not saying that you didn't get sick from Red Bridge, but perhaps it was something else in it that made you sick. I believe Bard's Tale is a much simpler, more pure beer than Red Bridge, it appears to have less ingredients.

[pnltbox27]

i dont know if its avaliable everywhere ,but there is one out of milwaukee thats pretty good called "new grist: you can finf it at 'lakefrontbrewery.com'. i live just south of the wisconsin border so i was going to take a tour of the brewery and ill ask lots of questions

[confused]

I spoke to Anhueser-Busch last year when Red Bridge first came out, before it hit the public market. For some reason our distributor got it in two weeks before the release date. Anyway, when I spoke to A-B they assured me that it was made on dedicated equipment and that's why production runs were limited, because there was only one factory where they could safely make it. I drank Red Bridge for two months before I got pregnant and I never got sick, not even with over indulgence. I'm generally pretty sensitive, so I think I probably would have reacted. I'm not saying that you didn't get sick from Red Bridge, but perhaps it was something else in it that made you sick. I believe Bard's Tale is a much simpler, more pure beer than Red Bridge, it appears to have less ingredients.

i have drank it to, I have one like every other night to relax before bed. I have never ever had an reaction, even when i drank 4 one night. Im a lightweight lol. and i never had a single problem with them. I am also very sensiitve, so i think if it was not gluten free i would have gotten sick by now.

paula

[Mango04]

I'm also very sensitive and I don't react to Redbridge. I drank it with another person who's extremely sensitive as well and neither one of us had any problems. It's possible that high concentrations of sorghum or other grains might cause a person with an unhealed gut to react...or maybe the problem is related to yeast or something else in the beer.

I believe Bard's Pale ale was made before companies started taking all of this legal stuff into consideration, so maybe that's why it's labeled gluten-free?

Redbridge is by far the best gluten-free beer, IMO

[CarlaB]

This is from Redbridge's website. It's the only beer my husband will drink ... he hasn't been a beer drinker in years, but he tried it and really likes it. He's not gluten-free, but he says this is the only beer he's ever had that doesn't give him a headache.

I've only tried a sip of his, so I can't say how it was for me.

We select only the highest quality ingredients and take every measure to ensure the beer contains no wheat or barley. How is that possible? Simple. Redbridge is made from sorghum, a safe grain for those allergic to wheat or gluten, and no blending or mixing of the ingredients takes place in order to preserve its purity. We then apply the true art of brewing

[gfp]

i have drank it to, I have one like every other night to relax before bed. I have never ever had an reaction, even when i drank 4 one night. Im a lightweight lol. and i never had a single problem with them. I am also very sensiitve, so i think if it was not gluten free i would have gotten sick by now.

paula

I know I go on about this but the answers are all in this thread already.... you just have to put them together...

Firstly The fact you never got sick doesn't mean anything unless you really drank a statistically valid sample...

They also told me that Redbridge was made on equipment used to create other beers after it was washed.

Take the first batch high chance of CC and the last batch very low... I don't know what a production run is for them hence what is a statistically valid sample...

I believe Bard's Pale ale was made before companies started taking all of this legal stuff into consideration, so maybe that's why it's labeled gluten-free?

Perhaps... its could also just be...

I spoke to Anhueser-Busch last year when Red Bridge first came out, before it hit the public market. For some reason our distributor got it in two weeks before the release date. Anyway, when I spoke to A-B they assured me that it was made on dedicated equipment and that's why production runs were limited, because there was only one factory where they could safely make it.

Perhaps its a victim of its own sucess?

They also told me that Redbridge was made on equipment used to create other beers after it was washed.

Either they bulit anoither dedcated facility (they failed to promote), they lied to one or the other of the posters OR they had so much success they couldn't meet production and hence they also use the non-dedicated lines...

Hence the simplest explanation for me is demand outstrpped production and they didn't make a dedicated seciond plant...

So you can drink stuff from the original plant probably and its still 100% gluten-free... the stuff they make in the other plants after (washing) you carry a risk dependent on where in the production run and how thoroughly they cleaned the lines that run...

Remember making beer is a mutliprocess step.. its fermented, treated then put in bottles all through pipes so any one of those processes might be a contamination risk... and even one set of pipes might be less cleaned....

Depending where you live you might get 100% from plant A or plant B....???

[Mango04]

Perhaps its a victim of its own sucess?

Either they bulit anoither dedcated facility (they failed to promote), they lied to one or the other of the posters OR they had so much success they couldn't meet production and hence they also use the non-dedicated lines...

Hence the simplest explanation for me is demand outstrpped production and they didn't make a dedicated seciond plant...

So you can drink stuff from the original plant probably and its still 100% gluten-free... the stuff they make in the other plants after (washing) you carry a risk dependent on where in the production run and how thoroughly they cleaned the lines that run...

Remember making beer is a mutliprocess step.. its fermented, treated then put in bottles all through pipes so any one of those processes might be a contamination risk... and even one set of pipes might be less cleaned....

Depending where you live you might get 100% from plant A or plant B....???

That's a lot of speculation over something that one person reacted to, especially since we don't know 100% for sure that the reaction was specifically gluten-related.

This is the first time a really good gluten-free beer has been created, and it's the first time a gluten-free beer is suddenly widely available to American Celiacs (I'm not sure if they sell it in other countries). They even sell something at Whole Foods now called a "Gluten-Free Party Pack." It consists of four Redbridges, two New Grists and two Ramapo Valleys for 9.99 (that's actually cheap for gluten-free beer )

A lot of people read this stuff we write on the internet so let's not put all of the aforementioned awesomeness at risk by making other people paranoid until we get the results back from rh4 regarding the gluten content of the beer. Just my random two cents

[mamabear]

I had my first Redbridge tonight and no problems! It reminded me of Bass Ale which was an old favorite. Even my DH who doesn't drink much at all thought it tasted good.

I was thrilled to get that taste again......and I made a gluten-free pizza today and baked a Kinnickkinnick chocolate cake! gluten-free heaven here today!

[larry mac]

......

That's a lot of speculation over something that one person reacted to, especially since we don't know 100% for sure that the reaction was specifically gluten-related.

.......

A lot of people read this stuff we write on the internet so let's not put all of the aforementioned awesomeness at risk by making other people paranoid until we get the results back from rh4 regarding the gluten content of the beer......

Couldn't agree more. Not doubting rh4, but there's not much info to base any speculation on. No history (just joined 2 days ago), past diagnosis, sensitivities/intolerances. First time we've heard of any problems with gluten-free beer that I know of. I've had several, but I don't think I've really been glutoned yet so I don't know how much that means. Don't care for the taste really, too strong.

best regards, lm

[gfp]

That's a lot of speculation over something that one person reacted to, especially since we don't know 100% for sure that the reaction was specifically gluten-related.

This is the first time a really good gluten-free beer has been created, and it's the first time a gluten-free beer is suddenly widely available to American Celiacs (I'm not sure if they sell it in other countries). They even sell something at Whole Foods now called a "Gluten-Free Party Pack." It consists of four Redbridges, two New Grists and two Ramapo Valleys for 9.99 (that's actually cheap for gluten-free beer )

A lot of people read this stuff we write on the internet so let's not put all of the aforementioned awesomeness at risk by making other people paranoid until we get the results back from rh4 regarding the gluten content of the beer. Just my random two cents

Forget the reactions, unless either the people who posted the information they were told are lying or the people giving it to them ...

I really can't see the first one, the second one.... well it doesn't matter in a way.... since we can't do anything about it...

by which I mean if Redbridge are not telling the truth ... then they are not telling the truth...

Why would they start off saying its made on dedicated lines.... right at the beginning ?

guhlia got told it was made on dedicated lines, right at the beginning ... and she also got told this was why supply was patchy.

rh4 far more recently got told its not made on dedicated lines but they clean the equipment inbetween...

Given the number of people enjoying it that extra production must be coming from somewhere?

So for me it comes down to speculation.... why would they tell one person one thing and another something different... and where is the extra production coming from?

The point is food and beverage companies switch production facilities all the time to cope with supply... and Anhauser have all of the equipement and already available... almost everyone seems to like the stuff ... so it doesn't seem so speculative that demand exceeeded supply...

However the reason I said this is really more overall not just about the beer.... because we often have products someone reacts to etc. Lay's would be an example...

We end up with threads of "I eat them and don't react" and "well I tried them and did" ....

On the whole that doesn't tell us much.... ???

A lot of people read this stuff we write on the internet so let's not put all of the aforementioned awesomeness at risk by making other people paranoid until we get the results back from rh4 regarding the gluten content of the beer. Just my random two cents

Yes I agree.... and that is why I think in general.... but especially when a product is made on shared lines its a bit of a crap shoot...

In general I prefer to stay away from this kind of product ... but that doesn't mean I won't risk it... if its what's available.

If totally at random I make up a figure of a production run of a product, be it lay's or redbridge being 100,000 units then depending on the risk etc. I would have to be really unlucky to buy one of the first 500 off the lines.

I do eat out at resto's as well.... and sometimes despite doing everything I could like last week I get caught out....

Indeed my chance of getting caught out from a resto visit (even when they do understand and try really hard) has got to be way more likely than a single bottle of beer made on shared but cleaned lines or a single packet of chips.

Hence I really think either I wouldn't have a problem with as a one off.

When I think its important is when the product is a regular product.... something we consume daily or nearly daily. If you bought a crate of RedBridge and had one after work each day then if you got a "bad crate" your going to be glutening yourself a few times and reasonably frequently. If it happens to be lay's its the same.... To me the most frustrating and confusing part of gluten-free is stuff that you put onto your "safe list" that varies in gluten-free quality....

As Ive said a lot of times..I went through a phase where I ate plain tortilla chips almost daily.... the ingredients plainly said corn meal, salt and water... and I went through a REALLy bad phase.... I cut out almost everything from my diet and I got really really dangerously skinny to the point lots of friends were telling me to see a Dr. but I was just to down and depressed at the time (as it happens as a result of the gluten)....

I literally scared myself into not eating hardly anything.... I was to depressed to do proper shopping or take food into work so I used to go to the shop round the corner and buy the "safe items" almost daily.... I was eating so much soft fruit I had to add something with some extra fibre ....

Eventually someone suggested I change the diet and stop eating the tortilla chips.... this is when I started to climb out of a very deep hole... A year later perhaps labelling laws changed and the same torilla chips had a new label..."made in the same factory as gluten containing products, may contain traces of gluten" (or something very close to that)...

I had a very bad time, its before I came here.... but I strongly beleive the root of the problem was

I had put a risky product onto my safe list and so was consuming it regulary.

A lot of people read this stuff we write on the internet so let's not put all of the aforementioned awesomeness at risk by making other people paranoid until we get the results back from rh4 regarding the gluten content of the beer......

I know I repeated it.....

Anhauser/Redbridge are more than welcome to put out a public statement and declare if their lines are dedicated or not....

Regardless of their "legal" excuse.... they are perfectly at liberty to run analyses and publish the results on their website...

Indeed the whole excuse is bull**** because if it is truly 100% gluten-free all of the time then its 100% gluten-free... whatever other legaql terminology they use noone is going to stop them saying "This product contains less than 1ppm gluten by analysis" if it does...

As an analogy mineral water companies do this all the time....

If they are doing the gluten-free thing half correct and have done any market research.. they must realise that dedicated lines would be important for many of the consumers. However they fail to mention this so far as I can see on their website....

I personally prefer to be safe than sorry, especially on "staple" items....

So yep a lot of peple read this.... a lot of people can read this and bring up these questions to Redbridge. Meanwhile people can vote with their wallets or their email (and even good old fashioned post or telephone)... if they decide ... they can either issue statements or not but one thing is certain they won't do it unless enough people demand it OR they would already be doing it.

Given they have a dedicated website for RedBridge their customer base must be pretty much celaics and gluten intolerants. Its not like say Kraft who have thousands of products with only certain ones OK... its a whole seperate product aimed at gluten intolerants. Taking this into account the website says very little....

However for this to be effective people need to be asking the same or similar questions....

Is it made on dedicated lines?

Do you test the output and what detection level...

On the whole (it seems) you prefer to take a risk until the company chooses to either tell you or not? Lots of people will have that opinion too (we all have to decide the extent of our own risks) but some people choose to minimise their risks...

Many people simply want to believe its gluten-free.... I could pay personally to analyse 100 bottles at a certifed lab and get positive tests for gluten and some people would still choose not to believe it...

Incidentally we could actually do this ourselves, GIG could do this .. etc. instead of sending a suspicious bottle back to them we could jointly pay to have it analysed in a lab... but still people would choose not to believe....

As an example the Mcdonalds website has the analysis report for the oil used for the fries.... it says in black and white that proteins from wheat are detectable in the oil.... I won't say it says it in plain english because it doesn't... its pretty well hidden after the ELISA tests which were negative.... but it does actually say it....

Yet there are people on this board who time and time again say its gluten free.

The exact same can be said for grain alcohol.... the SAME people (on the whole) misquote or selectively quote the GIG statement and deliberatly leave off the part that says "it is not suitable for those on a strictly gluten-free diet" .... (tha't s not a quite its what I remember it saying)... but when yopu copy and paste you do have to decide where to put the mouse....!!!

I could be critical and say they just want to hurt people.... but I seriously doubt that is it.. they just don't WANT to believe it and they tell themselves its OK... and by encouraging others to do the same they get to be part of a larger group that doesn't want to believe the analysis...

[rh4]

Thanks everyone, and power to those who can tolerate Redbridge. As I said before I applaud Anheuser-Busch for its efforts to create a gluten-free beer. I like the beer, but it made me sick so I thought I'd post to see if others had similar reactions.

I think gfp has good insight into how a large company might tackle this new product, and am a little surprised at the auto-acceptance of Anheuser-Busch's claim of being gluten-free by others (noted in these posts). Afterall, the term isn't legally defined as of yet. And, as most of us know there is a continium of gluten-intolerance. Some people for example can drink the original Rice Dream with no more than 20 ppm gluten; I can't - it makes me sick - gluten-sick. In the future, if the FDA's proposed guidelines are made into law, Rice Dream with 20 ppm gluten will be labelled as a "gluten-free" product. Maybe that's what Anheuser-Busch means by gluten-free as well. Surely, we must as a community speculate, investigate, and know these things.

I'll let you all know the results when I get them. It's of course possible that I'm wrong about the gluten contamination as I have many sensitivities - but it sure did have all of the trademarks of gluten-sickness, foggy head, bloating, smelly diarrhea for days, and DH. PS - Larry, I'm a diagnosed Celiac with DH and have 10 years of gluten-free experience.

In the meantime I invite all of you to call Anheuser-Busch at 1-800-DIAL-BUD (1-800-342-5283), ask them if the beer is "gluten-free" (and what that means), ask them if it's made on dedicated machinery (and what that means). If they say it's gluten-free and made on dedicated machinery - request that they send you that in writing - because it's not on their packaging as it is on many products that cater to our community (including other gluten-free beers). Please let us know their answers -

Also for your reference - brewing beer (as gfp pointed out) is a process that has many possible ways that contamination can occur (especially for a large company like Anheuser-Busch). In my opinion our job as a community is to demand that gluten-free means gluten-free. Somebody needs to make a T-Shirt Gluten-Free Means Gluten-Free!

Open Original Shared Link

6) How can we be sure that your beer is gluten free?

A: We don

[VegasCeliacBuckeye]

"I know I repeated it.....

Anhauser/Redbridge are more than welcome to put out a public statement and declare if their lines are dedicated or not....

Regardless of their "legal" excuse.... they are perfectly at liberty to run analyses and publish the results on their website...

Indeed the whole excuse is bull**** because if it is truly 100% gluten-free all of the time then its 100% gluten-free... whatever other legaql terminology they use noone is going to stop them saying "This product contains less than 1ppm gluten by analysis" if it does...

As an analogy mineral water companies do this all the time.... "

FYI, just so there is no confusion. As of April 16, 2007, there is no legal standard for what "gluten-free" is and/or means in the USA.

Someone could put gluten free on a label and fill the container with wheat flour (though a negligence claim could be made for misrepresentation probably)

Just throwing that out...

[gfp]

"I know I repeated it.....

Anhauser/Redbridge are more than welcome to put out a public statement and declare if their lines are dedicated or not....

Regardless of their "legal" excuse.... they are perfectly at liberty to run analyses and publish the results on their website...

Indeed the whole excuse is bull**** because if it is truly 100% gluten-free all of the time then its 100% gluten-free... whatever other legaql terminology they use noone is going to stop them saying "This product contains less than 1ppm gluten by analysis" if it does...

As an analogy mineral water companies do this all the time.... "

FYI, just so there is no confusion. As of April 16, 2007, there is no legal standard for what "gluten-free" is and/or means in the USA.

Someone could put gluten free on a label and fill the container with wheat flour (though a negligence claim could be made for misrepresentation probably)

Just throwing that out...

Yep but it doesn't stop them publishing an analysis just like on the side of mineral waters or making a statement about dedicated lines.

To be fair with them its quite possible they are actually converting production lines or even building new ones and they are possibly in some interim position...which is perhaps why they are being a little coy with hard information.

The legal definition and customer confidence are two seperate matters.. and I guess its worth pointing out that although a legal definition exists in Europe I have never heard of a single case of anyone being prosecuted under it yet I have heard of many occaisions when random testing of a specific product has shown it to exceed the legal definition.

At the same time... I think the Americans should think about this with regards the new legislation....because for a legal definition there can really only be one which is enforcable ... the ones that actually says gluten free is gluten free. Any other definition will be open to leeway and speculation... if its set at 200ppm manufacturers will aim for 200 and on occaision cross it... indeed its my belief they actually aim for the 200 even when they don't need to...? The rare but occaisional analyses I saw seem to show specialist gluten-free products either have no detectable gluten or 200 ppm or very close....

When the limit for specialist gluten-free items was switched from 200ppm to 20ppm many of the products, previously using wheat starch that the total product had <200ppm suddenly (it seemed) completely switched recipes to no wheat... I guess this could be partly consumer demand but I think its important to differentiate between products actually marketed as gluten free and products which are basically accidentally gluten free...

gluten-free is a fast growing market segment... the numbers are pretty inviting from a marketing POV... since the present diagnosis rate is something of 1:x0000 (it was 5000 its probably less now) and the actual screening incidence is 1:333.

Companies that get in early and establish themselves will have a considerable advantage as the market develops... however they will also try and make that market one of maximum profitability... its what companies do... it is in their interest to aim for the least stringent tests and highest limits while still being able to target a specific market sector.

I'll let you all know the results when I get them. It's of course possible that I'm wrong about the gluten contamination as I have many sensitivities - but it sure did have all of the trademarks of gluten-sickness, foggy head, bloating, smelly diarrhea for days, and DH. PS - Larry, I'm a diagnosed Celiac with DH and have 10 years of gluten-free experience.

With all due respect to you when I weighed this up I didn't actually really consider your reaction as anything more than a trigger to look at the statements they made ....

You could have been glutened elsewhere or have a tummy bug (I'm not saying you did) I just mean I tired to consider only the statements they made to yourself and ghulia at different times and their information they provide on the web....

Its not that I don't believe you... its just that statistically its not significant... and the different statements they made at two different times combined with the lack of information on their website stand up alone as inconsistent...

[Mango04]

Open Original Shared Link

Well Bard's is pretty good too. If you have a BevMo anywhere nearby you should be set

[larry mac]

.....

gluten-free is a fast growing market segment... the numbers are pretty inviting from a marketing POV... since the present diagnosis rate is something of 1:x0000 (it was 5000 its probably less now) and the actual screening incidence is 1:333.

Companies that get in early and establish themselves will have a considerable advantage as the market develops... however they will also try and make that market one of maximum profitability... its what companies do... it is in their interest to aim for the least stringent tests and highest limits while still being able to target a specific market sector.

......

gfp,

If only it was really that inviting. You walk in a Walmart or typical supermarket and the cereal/breakfast foods isle is what, 50 feet (I'm just guessing) with product on both sides, and not a single item gluten-free! Not only that, it's hard not to think the manufacturers are deliberately listing at least one wheat, barley, or rye ingredient in every product. Why?

For example, corn flakes of all major and store brands, have malt extract (no doubt party due to a limited number of manufacturers putting out product under numerous brand names). You can get gluten-free corn flakes at a health food store. The flavor seems allright, it's the texture that sucks, it's usually hard, sometimes almost inedible. Does the malt extract affect the texture? I don't think so. The fact that it's manufactured by a small producer is probably responsible for that. It takes years of research, lots of expertise, ie. big budget to output high quality product. If Post Toasties omited the malt extract the texture would probably be the same excellant quality it is now, light yet crispy, with a delicate corn flavor. It might not taste exactly the same, however I'd be willing to bet they could make it taste pretty good.

Lets take beer. How many millions of beers have been sold in this country over the years. Actually, probably billions or trillions. How many times have people drank till they threw their guts up and were sick as a dog the next day. Did anyone ever blame the beer? No, of course not.

Now there comes gluten-free beer. We drink two beers and blame the company for making us sick! All I'm saying is this disease is just too finicky. Yes, on paper it may seem inviting from a marketing perspective. But the variables are not comparable to the normal market. If a normal person gets a little D he/she doesn't blame anyone. We blame everyone. That's not very inviting.

best regards, lm

[GRUMP 1]

Well I was finely able to try the Redbridge. This is really a good beer. One of the stores in town finely got it and the Bard

[eLaurie]

Thanks everyone, and power to those who can tolerate Redbridge. As I said before I applaud Anheuser-Busch for its efforts to create a gluten-free beer. I like the beer, but it made me sick so I thought I'd post to see if others had similar reactions.

I had no problems with it; am sorry you did.

[sparky]

I've had a chance to sample Redbridge. Had a few beers a couple of times and got sick. Emailed them and asked if the product was "gluten-free" as they claimed.

Their response was that it was "illegal" to actually label the beer "gluten-free" as the government has yet to determine what the term means... (proposed 20 ppm). Interesting as Bard's Pale Ale labels each bottle as gluten-free and I've had no reaction to it. They also told me that Redbridge was made on equipment used to create other beers after it was washed. They are sending me a kit to return the product for testing.

I'm very happy to have a beer to drink and I applaud The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness, Anheuser-Busch, and the makers of Bard's Pale Ale (seemingly a true gluten-free product - and the beer of my choice at this time), and other up and coming gluten-free food creators for their efforts, but I am very alarmed that gluten-free will not actually mean gluten-free (Rice Dream for example is 20 ppm gluten - they would be able to say that their product is a gluten-free product). This will really make things even more confusing for people/families trying to cope with gluten intolerance.

I also had a chance to try Redbridge. I had no reaction to Bards Tale; however, when I gave Redbridge a try, I got sick. I think people who have zero tolerance for gluten should stick with Bards Tale. I was upset at this because Redbridge is like 40 percent cheaper and taste better to me.

[Murph]

Just my 2 cents - I'm very sensitive and have never had a problem w/ redbridge, having 1 a few times/wk for months now.

[VegasCeliacBuckeye]

Forget the reactions, unless either the people who posted the information they were told are lying or the people giving it to them ...

I really can't see the first one, the second one.... well it doesn't matter in a way.... since we can't do anything about it...

by which I mean if Redbridge are not telling the truth ... then they are not telling the truth...

Why would they start off saying its made on dedicated lines.... right at the beginning ?

guhlia got told it was made on dedicated lines, right at the beginning ... and she also got told this was why supply was patchy.

rh4 far more recently got told its not made on dedicated lines but they clean the equipment inbetween...

Given the number of people enjoying it that extra production must be coming from somewhere?

So for me it comes down to speculation.... why would they tell one person one thing and another something different... and where is the extra production coming from?

The point is food and beverage companies switch production facilities all the time to cope with supply... and Anhauser have all of the equipement and already available... almost everyone seems to like the stuff ... so it doesn't seem so speculative that demand exceeeded supply...

However the reason I said this is really more overall not just about the beer.... because we often have products someone reacts to etc. Lay's would be an example...

We end up with threads of "I eat them and don't react" and "well I tried them and did" ....

On the whole that doesn't tell us much.... ???

Yes I agree.... and that is why I think in general.... but especially when a product is made on shared lines its a bit of a crap shoot...

In general I prefer to stay away from this kind of product ... but that doesn't mean I won't risk it... if its what's available.

If totally at random I make up a figure of a production run of a product, be it lay's or redbridge being 100,000 units then depending on the risk etc. I would have to be really unlucky to buy one of the first 500 off the lines.

I do eat out at resto's as well.... and sometimes despite doing everything I could like last week I get caught out....

Indeed my chance of getting caught out from a resto visit (even when they do understand and try really hard) has got to be way more likely than a single bottle of beer made on shared but cleaned lines or a single packet of chips.

Hence I really think either I wouldn't have a problem with as a one off.

When I think its important is when the product is a regular product.... something we consume daily or nearly daily. If you bought a crate of RedBridge and had one after work each day then if you got a "bad crate" your going to be glutening yourself a few times and reasonably frequently. If it happens to be lay's its the same.... To me the most frustrating and confusing part of gluten-free is stuff that you put onto your "safe list" that varies in gluten-free quality....

As Ive said a lot of times..I went through a phase where I ate plain tortilla chips almost daily.... the ingredients plainly said corn meal, salt and water... and I went through a REALLy bad phase.... I cut out almost everything from my diet and I got really really dangerously skinny to the point lots of friends were telling me to see a Dr. but I was just to down and depressed at the time (as it happens as a result of the gluten)....

I literally scared myself into not eating hardly anything.... I was to depressed to do proper shopping or take food into work so I used to go to the shop round the corner and buy the "safe items" almost daily.... I was eating so much soft fruit I had to add something with some extra fibre ....

Eventually someone suggested I change the diet and stop eating the tortilla chips.... this is when I started to climb out of a very deep hole... A year later perhaps labelling laws changed and the same torilla chips had a new label..."made in the same factory as gluten containing products, may contain traces of gluten" (or something very close to that)...

I had a very bad time, its before I came here.... but I strongly beleive the root of the problem was

I had put a risky product onto my safe list and so was consuming it regulary.

I know I repeated it.....

Anhauser/Redbridge are more than welcome to put out a public statement and declare if their lines are dedicated or not....

Regardless of their "legal" excuse.... they are perfectly at liberty to run analyses and publish the results on their website...

Indeed the whole excuse is bull**** because if it is truly 100% gluten-free all of the time then its 100% gluten-free... whatever other legaql terminology they use noone is going to stop them saying "This product contains less than 1ppm gluten by analysis" if it does...

As an analogy mineral water companies do this all the time....

If they are doing the gluten-free thing half correct and have done any market research.. they must realise that dedicated lines would be important for many of the consumers. However they fail to mention this so far as I can see on their website....

I personally prefer to be safe than sorry, especially on "staple" items....

So yep a lot of peple read this.... a lot of people can read this and bring up these questions to Redbridge. Meanwhile people can vote with their wallets or their email (and even good old fashioned post or telephone)... if they decide ... they can either issue statements or not but one thing is certain they won't do it unless enough people demand it OR they would already be doing it.

Given they have a dedicated website for RedBridge their customer base must be pretty much celaics and gluten intolerants. Its not like say Kraft who have thousands of products with only certain ones OK... its a whole seperate product aimed at gluten intolerants. Taking this into account the website says very little....

However for this to be effective people need to be asking the same or similar questions....

Is it made on dedicated lines?

Do you test the output and what detection level...

On the whole (it seems) you prefer to take a risk until the company chooses to either tell you or not? Lots of people will have that opinion too (we all have to decide the extent of our own risks) but some people choose to minimise their risks...

Many people simply want to believe its gluten-free.... I could pay personally to analyse 100 bottles at a certifed lab and get positive tests for gluten and some people would still choose not to believe it...

Incidentally we could actually do this ourselves, GIG could do this .. etc. instead of sending a suspicious bottle back to them we could jointly pay to have it analysed in a lab... but still people would choose not to believe....

As an example the Mcdonalds website has the analysis report for the oil used for the fries.... it says in black and white that proteins from wheat are detectable in the oil.... I won't say it says it in plain english because it doesn't... its pretty well hidden after the ELISA tests which were negative.... but it does actually say it....

Yet there are people on this board who time and time again say its gluten free.

The exact same can be said for grain alcohol.... the SAME people (on the whole) misquote or selectively quote the GIG statement and deliberatly leave off the part that says "it is not suitable for those on a strictly gluten-free diet" .... (tha't s not a quite its what I remember it saying)... but when yopu copy and paste you do have to decide where to put the mouse....!!!

I could be critical and say they just want to hurt people.... but I seriously doubt that is it.. they just don't WANT to believe it and they tell themselves its OK... and by encouraging others to do the same they get to be part of a larger group that doesn't want to believe the analysis...

GFP,

Here is what McDonald's says about the fries,

"McDonald

[Samanthasmomma]

Wow, this post is making me thirsty

Just wanted to put my two cents in, I have drank my share of Redbridge without any problems.

My dad was at the local tavern yesterday and asked the Miller guy if they were doing or had a gluten free beer. His response, "whats gluten?"

Sometimes its just easier to end the conversation!

[alex84]

Guess I'm the only other person, but I've also had a reaction to Redbridge. Normally I'm not very sensitive, but this beer brought me back to the days when I was drinking regular beer and knowing none the wiser. I'll just stick to the hard cider and liquor

[SeanInNYC]

I didn't have a negative reaction to Redbridge, but now that I read what some posters have said, I am a bit leery.

Not to shill, but dedicated Gluten Free Brewers go out of their way to tell you exactly what they do to keep their products free of gluten (as was illustrated by the Bard's Tale FAQ).

The Redbridge site was very, very vauge. I think those sceptics are right to question just what the heck "gluten free" means to them.

And realizing that A-B is a gigantic corporation, let's face it, most of their decisions are coming from legal and finance guys, not advocates for Celiac awareness.

If they can get away with 20 ppm from a legal perspective, then that's the bar they'll shoot for.

Dedicated Gluten free brewers are going to shoot for 0 ppm, or at least try to get as low as possible.

Bigger corporations that lack the focus are going to just do enough to get by.