Chocolate

[gf4life]

I recently tried some chocolate bars made by Scharffen Berger. They are really good, and I confirmed that they are gluten free. I feel better knowing they are made in a gluten free company. I always worry about cross-contamination, so these are ones we don't have to worry about. You can check out their full product line at the Open Original Shared Link website. I got mine at whole foods and they are available in 1 oz, 3oz, 9.7oz and larger amounts for industrial use and they also have cocoa powder and cocoa bean pieces. This is what they said when I asked about if they used gluten flour on the production lines:

Hi Mariann,

Gluten is a mixture of plant proteins occurring in cereal grains, chiefly

corn and wheat, used as an adhesive and as a flour substitute.

As there are no grains involved anywhere in the production of our chocolate,

there is therefore no gluten in our chocolate or chocolate food products.

All products that we produce at this time are gluten-free.

Thanks for your interest in Scharffen Berger!

Jan Leigner

Sales Operations Manager

Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker

beantobar@scharffenberger.com

God bless,

Mariann

[tarnalberry]

I think that was one of the brands I got a few weeks ago (and couldn't remember the name of on the other post). I agree. Quite tasty. :-)

[gf4life]

On their website they have quite a few recipes for chocolate desserts that are gluten free. I was kind of glad to see. I am hoping thier chocolates are a bit cheaper at their factory, at least the bulk chocolate for baking. I don't want to pay too much for shipping a few pounds of chocolate when I could pick some up when I am traveling to the coast, since I live here in California, and they are in Berkeley. They have a coffee shop/restaurant and I wonder if they have some of those gluten-free cakes for sale?!?

[tarnalberry]

Tropical Source also has new package labeling noting that their factories are dairy and gluten free. Quite honestly, both the Scharffen Berger and Tropical Source are leaps and bounds better than the Swiss made "Rapunzel" (or something like that) that I had last week. Bleck! That SB stuff is pretty darn smooth! :-) Too bad my husband detests chocolate. :-( I didn't realize their factory was in Berkeley; I might have to check it out next Christmas. (My in-laws are in the vicinity, and we tend to hit the Berkeley North Face Outlet's clearance sale that starts the day after Christmas.)

[seeking-wholeness]

Mariann,

I just saw some Scharffen Berger chocolate bars at Whole Foods Market. I almost bought one (snack size), but then I noticed that the allergen disclosure indicated that the chocolate may contain traces of MILK! GRRRRR! I don't know if this is also true of the larger baking bars or not, or how likely cross-contamination actually is, but I thought I'd share my discovery since I know you are casein-free as well as gluten-free. I hope you are doing well!

[tarnalberry]

Their website discusses why they include the label about possible milk contamination - and the bars that are wrapped in their own plant which are completely free of milk.

[gf4life]

Sarah,

They put that on the wrapper to be on the safe side. Some sizes of their bars are wrapped in a separate facility that also wrapps candies that are made with milk and nuts. But they are made in a factory that is completely gluten, dairy, and nut free. I am very sensitive to milk and I did not have any reaction to their bars.

God bless,

Mariann

[seeking-wholeness]

Mariann,

Wow, that's great to know! Now I know exactly how to test caffeine's effects on me when the time is right....