Holding The Fda Responsible

[kenlove]

I agree fully, it's not just the canned stuff either. What goes into the cheese and milk is scary too.

I used to enjoy some processed cheese only to get glutened because they changed suppliers or formulas for making it.

Adding wheat to milk and ice cream was another big problem for me. When I go to the deli dept. I want to know whats in the cheese or meat I eat. Things being packaged in the store need to be labeled as well.

Ken

"Maybe we can't hold the "food industry" responsible but I believe the food all of us eat needs to change. "

The main issue I have with the food industry is 'truth in labeling'. I want food that is gluten free to either be gluten free by ingredients and manufacturing or to be labeled as 'made in a factory'. If it contains any gluten ingredients even below the level the government says we can take they should have to tell us and not allow the company to just leave it off the label and call it gluten-free. Personally I don't think that is too much to ask, they do it with peanuts.

I do wonder if something can be done about that. Companies should not be able to have copious lists of gluten free foods that are in reality a literal crap shoot for us to consume. Give us the info and let us choose whether to take the risk or not. Having had more than one GI bleed from a stupid bag of chips I can't say lawsuit has never crossed my mind.

[taweavmo3]

"Maybe we can't hold the "food industry" responsible but I believe the food all of us eat needs to change. "

The main issue I have with the food industry is 'truth in labeling'. I want food that is gluten free to either be gluten free by ingredients and manufacturing or to be labeled as 'made in a factory'. If it contains any gluten ingredients even below the level the government says we can take they should have to tell us and not allow the company to just leave it off the label and call it gluten-free. Personally I don't think that is too much to ask, they do it with peanuts.

I do wonder if something can be done about that. Companies should not be able to have copious lists of gluten free foods that are in reality a literal crap shoot for us to consume. Give us the info and let us choose whether to take the risk or not. Having had more than one GI bleed from a stupid bag of chips I can't say lawsuit has never crossed my mind.

This is my major qualm at the moment. Take the Rice Dream milk, which now says "gluten free" but it is still the same old formula, barley and all. Took a while to track that gluten source, b/c I didn't think I'd have to call and check a product that was labeled as being safe. So while I am thankful for the new labeling laws, this is a major kink that needs to be worked out.

[blueeyedmanda]

I never knew there was wheat in regular old milk....is this true?

[kenlove]

Sure is true in the Meadow Gold we get here in Hawaii. Not sure when it started but about a year ago I got glutened badly and to took awhile to figure out. Sure enough its on the label. for buttermilk and 1% regular milk.

ken

I never knew there was wheat in regular old milk....is this true?

[blueeyedmanda]

Wow-never knew that thanks for sharing The regular vitamin D milk we get says gluten free on the bottle.

[kenlove]

In some of the recipes my wife and I have, we started using yoghurt or regular milk. Neither one of us need the calories

but it sure beats the wheat in the other stuff.

We dont have much choice in Hawaii anymore.

take care

Ken

]\

Wow-never knew that thanks for sharing The regular vitamin D milk we get says gluten free on the bottle.

[tom]

. . . . I'm amazed at how much easier it is to be a Celiac now compared to 3+ years ago when I was diagnosed...there is a lot more awareness, more companies and restaurants recognize it, and the Food Allergen Labeling law was passed. I think its pretty darn impressive.

That's one heckuva good point!

I'm at 4yrs of 100% gluten-free this month and was something like 95-99% gluten-free for several yrs before that.

It WAS much harder. Almost every gluten-free product I see now didn't exist then. (Not counting naturally gluten-free - broccoli hasn't changed)

Even worse was going dairy-free before the Top8 Allergen law came around.

[ryebaby0]

Wow-never knew that thanks for sharing The regular vitamin D milk we get says gluten free on the bottle.

This is a perfect example of why the FDA and food organizations are against labelling. My dairy can label my milk gluten-free because ALL milk (yes, ALL regular ol' nothing added to it like buttermilk) IS gluten free. But another dairy might not do that, and resent the competition and additional expense of "advertising" something that occurs naturally. So a bunch of laws are made, regulations passed, advisors and inspectors hired, and now my milk --- which is identical to the previous, unregulated, uninspected or labelled milk -- costs even MORE. How does that help? Price and consumers drive the market, whether we like it or not.

Be careful what you wish for. One of the immediate results of the '07 Big 8 labelling laws was companies deliberately adding gluten to their recipe, rather than risk a supplier "glutenating" their food and getting sued by some indigant celiac who thinks it's his/her right to rely on labels alone and won't accept that mistakes happen. So things that were once gluten-free if you read and researched are now clearly NOT gluten-free. I read a lot of celiac lists where people insist on 100% reliability in food (which won't happen, even in most of our own kitchens), complete accountability by companies, all while still retaining some perceived right to sue the company for human error. (Think McDonald's)

Corporations identify gluten when it profits them. If we are shrill, insistant, unforgiving and unrealistic, not to mention cheap, they have no motivation to do so. Is gluten-free food expensive? You betcha! Is that unfair? No. Is it more fair to underpay the guys who make it? So they become the people who can't afford their groceries?

Okay, I'm off my soapbox. See what happens when you are busy cooking?

joanna

[blueeyedmanda]

I shop at a grocery store who labels all their house brands gluten free, and you can always call and get answers to questions. They are very knowledgable and willing to help. Does it profit it them? Their products are being purchased, but since they are under a generic name they are not as expensive as some things. I trust them and have never had a problem. What made them start this procedure was many celiac's emailing them and asking for help. Now they have a very big loyal base of customers, many who are celiacs.

[ryebaby0]

Yes,it profits them, since I assume these loyal customers are purchasing things. My point was if you want gluten-free labelling, we are the ones "responsible" for using our power through purchasing;it's not the FDA or some regulatory system or grocery chains. Little companies have a lot to gain. Big ones, not so much. (I myself am a regular at our local health food store, which saw a similar demand -- through purchases and requests --- and is filling it responsibly and very well!)

[blueeyedmanda]

I am not sure the FDA will help much, from what I have read, they are going to make the gluten free labeling more difficult. I feel for those just learning the labels, if it is rough now...

We have this great gluten free store near us (40 mins away) I used to go a lot but with gas prices sky-rocketing, I have had to cut back trips, and sometimes I mail order things too. I love that place, the owners are great and very involved with the local GIG.

Well, time to head off to find some lunch...snow is falling again

[WW340]

Our dollars will speak louder than anything else. As our numbers grow, so will the products available to us. This is already happening.

My buying habits have changed a lot since going gluten free. I used to be a name brand shopper. I also avoided Walmart whenever possible, for a lot of reasons. However, Walmart is now my one of my first places to shop because they have the labeling rule for all of their great value products. Now I buy the great value products because of the labeling.

I also stick to the major brands that cooperate with us on their labeling like Kraft. This all translates into dollars for those companies. Eventually, when enough of us are supporting these companies, the others will start looking at what the diffence is. They will eventually conclude that it is worth the effort to label things clearly if they are gluten free.

I personally hated to see McDonald's get sued for the gluten free french fry debacle. It sets our cause back when companies are being sued for attempting to let us know what is gluten free in their product lines. Ryebaby is correct, there is going to be instances of human error. If we always bring down the hammer in the form of lawsuits, companies will take the blanket cover your butt stance and simply say they cannot guarrantee something is gluten free.

We need to keep calling companies, thanking companies, and educating everyone we can.

[blueeyedmanda]

Our dollars will speak louder than anything else. As our numbers grow, so will the products available to us. This is already happening.

My buying habits have changed a lot since going gluten free. I used to be a name brand shopper. I also avoided Walmart whenever possible, for a lot of reasons. However, Walmart is now my one of my first places to shop because they have the labeling rule for all of their great value products. Now I buy the great value products because of the labeling.

I also stick to the major brands that cooperate with us on their labeling like Kraft. This all translates into dollars for those companies. Eventually, when enough of us are supporting these companies, the others will start looking at what the diffence is. They will eventually conclude that it is worth the effort to label things clearly if they are gluten free.

I personally hated to see McDonald's get sued for the gluten free french fry debacle. It sets our cause back when companies are being sued for attempting to let us know what is gluten free in their product lines. Ryebaby is correct, there is going to be instances of human error. If we always bring down the hammer in the form of lawsuits, companies will take the blanket cover your butt stance and simply say they cannot guarrantee something is gluten free.

We need to keep calling companies, thanking companies, and educating everyone we can.

I used to be brand-loyal too, and I would occasionaly go to Wegmans when I wanted chinese or fruit. Once going gluten free I wanted to check out the natural section. I was blown away by the gluten free stuff. I then researched more and found their gluten free labeling on house brands....Now it is the main grocery store I shop in. Funny how things change.