Ghirardelli Chocolate

[JennyC]

I called Ghirardelli today because I have read a couple of different places that they now produce a crispy milk chocolate bar (with barley ) on the same lines as their bar chocolates. I'm sad to say that it is true. All of their bar chocolate can possibly get cross contaminated. They do clean the lines between batches and they throw away the first two batches after each switch. This seems like a really good manufacturing policy, but it's still disappointing that the chocolate is no longer made on gluten free lines. Their cocoa powders and chocolate chips are still made on dedicated lines.

I'm thinking about switching my bar chocolate to callebaut. It's way better chocolate, and it's actually about the same price as Girardelli. Does anyone have any experience with this chocolate? I am about to buy 3 pounds of it for truffles!

[wschmucks]

Hi!

I was just wondering the same thing. There is a wonderful post from Sees candy-- who have basically said that almost all of their chocolate is gluten free, with the exception of specialty holiday candy (that may have extra decorative ingredients that may include gluten)....So i am taking this to mean that the majority of their regularly stocked items are gluten-free. Also, there is a thread up from 2007 that has out dated info stating the Ghirardelli is gluten-free...dont be fooled! Make sure to check out the dates on posts.

Godiva, Ghirardelli, Rocky Moutain Chocolate Factory are out-- they arent safe, Hersey's is very unreliablel. Nestle is good about giving customers information I would run a search on them. But if youre looking for truffles I would go with Sees for sure! (yum, now i want some!). Here is the post:

https://www.celiac.com/gluten-free/index.php?showtopic=53444

Happy Holidays!

[JennyC]

Thanks, but I need to buy three pounds of chocolate. I'm making truffles as gifts. I buy See's chocolate candies, but I've never thought of them for chocolate for baking.

[alishell]

Hey, if you goto the Ghirardelli site they list the possible sources of cross contamination. I usually eat the squares and they appear to be ok

The following Ghirardelli

[JNBunnie1]

I called Ghirardelli today because I have read a couple of different places that they now produce a crispy milk chocolate bar (with barley ) on the same lines as their bar chocolates. I'm sad to say that it is true. All of their bar chocolate can possibly get cross contaminated. They do clean the lines between batches and they throw away the first two batches after each switch. This seems like a really good manufacturing policy, but it's still disappointing that the chocolate is no longer made on gluten free lines. Their cocoa powders and chocolate chips are still made on dedicated lines.

I'm thinking about switching my bar chocolate to callebaut. It's way better chocolate, and it's actually about the same price as Girardelli. Does anyone have any experience with this chocolate? I am about to buy 3 pounds of it for truffles!

I stick to Dagoba and Endangered species for chocolate bars, and Enjoy Life for chocolate chips. Enjoy Life chips have amazing flavor. They also make a shell quite nicely, when covering something like strawberries or pretzels.

[Gemini]

Hi!

I was just wondering the same thing. There is a wonderful post from Sees candy-- who have basically said that almost all of their chocolate is gluten free, with the exception of specialty holiday candy (that may have extra decorative ingredients that may include gluten)....So i am taking this to mean that the majority of their regularly stocked items are gluten-free. Also, there is a thread up from 2007 that has out dated info stating the Ghirardelli is gluten-free...dont be fooled! Make sure to check out the dates on posts.

Godiva, Ghirardelli, Rocky Moutain Chocolate Factory are out-- they arent safe, Hersey's is very unreliablel. Nestle is good about giving customers information I would run a search on them. But if youre looking for truffles I would go with Sees for sure! (yum, now i want some!). Here is the post:

https://www.celiac.com/gluten-free/index.php?showtopic=53444

Happy Holidays!

I would dispute your statement that Ghirardelli and Rocky Mountain chocolates are not safe. I am about as sensitive a Celiac as they come and I eat Ghirardelli chocolates every single day. They have excellent manufacturing practices for a non-gluten-free facility.

I just had my repeat blood work done and in no way am I ingesting any gluten.....my numbers were very, very low. Ditto for Rocky Mountain chocolates although you have to be careful because they aren't all gluten-free.

I think people make too big of a deal about this. If you have done your homework in checking out facilities and their practices, do not become asymptomatic after ingesting their products and use your repeat blood work as a measurement tool (if you can), I don't know what else you can do to prove a product safe!

[sunnybabi1986]

I eat Ghirardelli chocolate squares everyday with no issues. The only product I see on their list that is made in the same facility as wheat products is Classic White Chip. All other products should be safe, as they are not in contact with machinery/equipment that shares wheat products.

Remember, the original thread here is a couple years old.

[Jane Murphy]

I have been experiencing symptoms and tested positive for gluten antibodies. I thought I was being so careful. I have been eating lots of the Ghirardelli peppermint bark bar, so I thought I should check it out. I emailed them and this is the response I received. I am going to miss those peppermint bars, they are my favoriteDec 21 at 9:49 AM

Dear Jane Murphy,

Thank you for contacting the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company.  We are always happy to hear from our consumers.  We are committed to providing our consumers with superior quality products and services.  

At this time our products are not certified as being gluten free, the FDA requires products to be tested to confirm that gluten level is below 20ppm. Currently Ghirardelli products are not tested to this requirement and therefore we cannot make any gluten free claims for our products, production lines or manufacturing facilities. If a Ghirardelli product contains gluten it will be noted in the ingredients.

While many of our products do not contain gluten containing ingredients, some do.  It is for that reason that we do not make any gluten claims.  With that said, we are pleased to inform you that we are working on removing gluten ingredients from our recipes and hope to complete this work by 2020. 

Thank you again for taking the time out of your day to contacts us. It is our hope that you find this information helpful. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any further questions and we will be happy to help.  

Sincerely

Jessica Martin

Consumer Services

 

 

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[Ennis-TX]

1 hour ago, Jane Murphy said:

I have been experiencing symptoms and tested positive for gluten antibodies. I thought I was being so careful. I have been eating lots of the Ghirardelli peppermint bark bar, so I thought I should check it out. I emailed them and this is the response I received. I am going to miss those peppermint bars, they are my favoriteDec 21 at 9:49 AM

Dear Jane Murphy,

Thank you for contacting the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company.  We are always happy to hear from our consumers.  We are committed to providing our consumers with superior quality products and services.  

At this time our products are not certified as being gluten free, the FDA requires products to be tested to confirm that gluten level is below 20ppm. Currently Ghirardelli products are not tested to this requirement and therefore we cannot make any gluten free claims for our products, production lines or manufacturing facilities. If a Ghirardelli product contains gluten it will be noted in the ingredients.

While many of our products do not contain gluten containing ingredients, some do.  It is for that reason that we do not make any gluten claims.  With that said, we are pleased to inform you that we are working on removing gluten ingredients from our recipes and hope to complete this work by 2020. 

Thank you again for taking the time out of your day to contacts us. It is our hope that you find this information helpful. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any further questions and we will be happy to help.  

Sincerely

Jessica Martin

Consumer Services

 

 

Please do not delete the following text:

{ticketno:[5728766]}

 

 

Yeah I can tell you not to use anything from them, even their cocoa powders contain gluten sometimes. Tried out their stuff as a bakery years ago, they failed testing and we never bought again.