Foods

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Whole Foods 365 Brand Gluten-Free Mixes 86’d

Whole Foods Market has decided to discontinue its branded gluten-free baking mixes due to “lack of interest.” Back in 2007, the market introduced their own line of mixes – not to be confused with the Gluten Free Bakehouse ready-made baked goods. The mixes for pizzas, breads, cakes, brownies and the like were part of the store’s 365 Everyday Value line. The products initially were priced slightly less than the comparable Gluten-Free Pantry mixes the house brand largely replaced. The ingredient labels for the Whole Foods products mimicked those of Gluten-Free Pantry’s, although the actual manufacturer of the store-labeled versions was never confirmed by either company.

According to a statement from Whole Foods:

The 365 Gluten Free Baking Mixes have been discontinued and are no longer available through any other outlets. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience. There are many reasons that go into the decision to discontinue a product. Hundreds of new products are presented to us every day; therefore, the mix of products in each category is continually evolving. We evaluate attributes like value, quality, taste and convenience when we make the decision to accept or discontinue a product. Most often a product is discontinued to make room for a new product that offers a better combination of these attributes, or because there is a lack of interest in the product.

A Whole Foods customer service representative confirmed in an e-mail that customers’ lack of interest in the products led to the decision to end distribution. Interestingly, stores are being encouraged to stock Gluten-Free Pantry mixes as a replacement when the existing inventory of store-brand products runs out.

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Author Information: John Libonati, Philadelphia, PA
Publisher, Glutenfreeworks.com.
Editor & Publisher, Recognizing Celiac Disease.
John can be reached by e-mail here.

Try KIND bars for free at Starbucks on February 5th!

Kind bars are one of my favorite gluten-free snacks. They taste phenomenal and are gluten-free, dairy-free and cane sugar-free.

On February 5th. Starbucks will sample KIND bars at all of their 7,000 stores across the country! Drop in to try one of the two delicious flavors selling at your local Starbucks: Fruit & Nut Delight and Cranberry Almond+Antioxidants. Click HERE to find a Starbucks near you.

Almond Cashew + Omega 3 now available at Starbucks

Last week Starbucks added Almond Cashew + Omega 3 to its existing superstar lineup of KIND flavors: Fruit & Nut Delight, Cranberry Almond + Antioxidants and Mango Macadamia + Calcium. Almond Cashew is only 150 calories and packed with 500mg of Omega 3 Fatty Acids (ALA), which helps support a healthy heart and immune system. Almond Cashew + OMEGA 3 is a snack that you can feel good munching on.

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“Author Information: John Libonati, Philadelphia, PA
Publisher, Glutenfreeworks.com.
Editor & Publisher, Recognizing Celiac Disease.
John can be reached at john.libonati@glutenfreeworks.com.”

Wow, was that a good food show! The NASFT’s Winter Fancy Food Show was held Jan 17-19 in San Francisco, CA. This food show highlights specialty foods, snacks and beverages from better name brands like Jelly Belly and Annie Chun’s to Coco Chocolates from the UK and 479º Popcorn from San Francisco. One of the big trends is definitely gluten-free which is excellent news for anyone on a gluten-free diet. It was great being able to sample so many delicious gluten-free products from dips, crackers and pizza to cookies, cakes and granola. Read More »

With Valentine’s Day just a few short weeks away, why not treat your loved one (or yourself for that matter) to some delicious chocolate from Sweet Riot?

Sweet Riot is not only tasty chocolate, it’s chocolate with a purpose. All of their chocolate “peaces” are made from all-natural ingredients, and the company has a strong commitment to fair trade and ethical business practices. You can learn more about their mission statement here. Read More »

I kept hearing numerous accolades about Udi’s Bakery in Denver, CO and their gluten-free foods. I would hear of people placing large orders with them and claiming their bread was the best of the gluten-free breads. So, I had to try this myself to see if the bread lived up to the hype.

Thankfully, I recently discovered they carry Udi’s at Woodman’s, who have an extremely large gluten-free section, and decided to try a loaf. Udi’s bread is handcrafted in their dedicated gluten-free facility in Denver, CO, their gluten-free foods are also dairy-, soy-, and nut-free. Read More »

Many people think of food when they think of a gluten free (gf) diet. No regular bagels, pizza or pasta. Many may not realize that when on a gluten free diet, you can’t have anything with wheat, barley, rye or oats (unless the oats are gf). Unfortunately, most beer is made with barley which means it’s on the list of things you can’t have.

If you’ve missed the flavor of beer, you can now try Bard’s Beer, described as a craft beer, which is made from sorghum. According to the website, “sorghum is a genus of numerous species of grasses, some of which are raised for grain that can be used in the production of beer. Sorghum has been used in making beer for centuries in other parts of the world and is naturally gluten-free.” Sorghum can be made into flour which produces an excellent gf bread. Read More »

If this product had existed when I was a kid, I would probably be a healthier person today! For all you parents out there who have kids that love the “usual” gelatin snack product, but cringe when you think about the ingredients, fear no more.

You now have vegan Cool Cups. Cool Cups come in several flavors. At the Whole Foods near my house, I bought the orange, black cherry and peach mango. Read More »

Most U.S. hotels do not offer gluten-free bread products for breakfast (or other meals). They might have bacon, eggs and potatoes but they are not likely to offer gluten-free muffins or waffles. It’s annoying to get a “free” breakfast that offers you only a piece of fruit, or if you’re lucky, a hard boiled egg.

Now the search for the perfect shelf stable breakfast treat is over. Sorrella Bakery Biscotinnes are handmade gluten-free biscotti type cookies. They are crunchy but not as dense as regular biscotti. There are several flavors but we only tried the “Cinnamon Swirl” which is phenomenal. Read More »

With Thanksgiving coming up this week, it is important to know which turkeys are gluten-free and safe to eat. The issue with a turkey being gluten-free is usually in the gravy packet, if there is one. Solution? Make your own from scratch. Use the broth from the cooked turkey or canned, gluten-free chicken broth & thicken with cornstarch.

Here is a list of turkeys that are free of gluten: Read More »

[Update November 19, 2018: All of the Butterball products are gluten free except for Butterball Stuffed Turkey (bread stuffing) and Butterball Frozen Meatballs.  For our products that are packaged with gravy packets, the gravy packets are gluten free as well. The gravy contains rice flour instead of wheat flour and the modified food starch is corn based. Source: Butterball.]

There has been some confusion lately about whether or not Butterball turkey gravy packets are gluten-free. There are six types of Buttterball turkeys that come with a gravy packet. They are listed below and all currently come with a gluten-free gravy packet. The key to understanding if your gravy packet is gluten-free is to READ the label.

Any newly manufactured gravy packet will contain rice flour. According to Butterball (1-800-BUTTERBALL) there are still some older packets of gravy in the stores that contain wheat flour. Therefore, read your packet and make sure it does not contain wheat flour. If it contains wheat flour, you have an older packet and it is therefore not gluten-free. In the future, all of the Butterball gravy packets will be manufactured using rice flour. Read More »