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I get just as frustrated as anyone else when packaged foods I've come
to allow into my limited repertoire are suddenly declared to be not
GF. (Don't even get me started about Ghirardelli chocolates, after
forever being a completely GF facility, deciding to add a
malt-containing product to their lines -- thus rendering the rest of
their wonderful chocolate squares unsafe.)
BUT -- that said! -- I find that I have to dig deep, but try to get
past these disappointments. And the reason is that I'd so much
rather a company be up-front if there are changes in their
ingredients or processing methods that might threaten to cross
contaminate their foods. I figure Campbell's found something or
changed something that took their Prego sauces off their "GF safe"
list -- even if, by the letter of the law, their labeling is fully
legal because the products have no gluten ingredients. The legal
fact is, they weren't "required" to publicly say anything at all.
And, of course, this was true of Ghirardelli as well. They made a
production change that could result in CC -- and they did the
RESPONSIBLE thing, which was to declare their chocolate squares
potentially unsafe to those who are GF.
Yes, getting ticked off about all this is exceedingly natural (and
I'm right up there, myself) that these companies choose to simply
declare the foods not GF, rather than attempt to fix the problem.
But these are businesses, and I'm sure they must make certain bottom
line decisions that don't really allow for a complete renovation in
their manufacturing processes. (I might add: especially in this
economy!)
How much better are THESE essentially responsible decisions than
those exacted by companies like Wellshire, who blithely label their
foods as GF when they often truly are not GF? Or, another (not)
favorite of mine, which is NOW Foods, that touts an entire line of
so-called "GF flours" that are run on the same lines as Barley Flour,
Vital Gluten Flour, Multi Grain Flour, Potato Flour, Pastry Flour,
Semolina Flour, and Whole Wheat Flour. C'mon, folks -- who are they
kidding with this?
Perhaps I am more grateful than most to know when a product is
questionable, because I seem to have such a low tolerance for
cross-contamination. These foods that subsist at low levels of
gluten WILL make me very ill. I might feel differently if I didn't
have any significant reactions. I expect we, here, are mostly
knowledgeable enough to realize that it isn't just if something makes
us "sick." Gluten is like poison to those with celiac, even if your
body doesn't immediately react in a way you can actually see or feel.
The goal is "zero" -- even if not completely possible, it is still
the goal.
I will say that all this has driven me to strive to be less and less
reliant on bottled, canned and other manufactured foods. I miss the
convenience dreadfully, but I can whip together a pretty decent
spaghetti sauce on the fly, just using safe canned tomatoes and
tomato sauce, ground beef, olive oil and safe herbs and spices. I'd
so much rather live this way, than open that bottle of Prego, get
blind-sided and be sick for the next two days.
As always: I request ... please don't flame me. It's just my
opinion. Not being able to eat gluten consumes me and adds just one
more burden to an already burdened life. Thanks for listening!
I just hope there will be more and more mainstream companies like
General Mills, who would produce fully GF safe products, like Rice
Chex, and give it their full commitment. I think a newspaper or TV
station would do well to tell THAT story, to encourage manufacturers
to work with us, rather than just tell us that we cannot eat their
food. :-)
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