<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
Dear Fellow Celiacs and Family Members of Celiacs
Recently I posted a message about experiences I was having with
two vendors of GF foods. I got a total of 18 replies/comments
from folks on the list. I will summarize for each of the two
companies involved.
--------------------
Dietary Specialties
One person reported having had no problems at all with
Dietary Specialties, and seemed quite happy with them.
Another person sent a very well worded message in defense
of Dietary Specialties, noting that they do good things to
support the Celiac community, and that they provide free
samples to organizations from time to time. Her message was
so very well worded and seemed so important that I quote it below:
--
Steve, I'm sorry to hear of your poor to very poor experiences w/ Dietary
Specialties. They have been extremely proactive in raising awareness of
celiac disease across America and I as a celiac and mother of a celiac am
very grateful to them. They have provided me with literally hundreds of
brochures on the disease which I am spreading all across my State. They
provide samples for our support group meetings too. All this at no charge.
Of course I know that they will be getting more customers as we all get
diagnosed, few of us do something for nothing, but it's the American way. I
have even consulted with them on my awareness campaign after hours for long
periods of time, the execs. have gone the extra mile for me and my cause.
I have been their loyal customer for 1.5 yrs and have never had an error w/
my order. I have never ordered on line though, only by 1-888-MENU-123. I
hope you won't give up on them completely. They have also been a donor to
the Center for Celiac Research at the University of Maryland. Try offering
them some advice instead of condemning them. I hope you work out the
charges. Good luck w/ future purchases.
--
One person suggested I try Pastato Pasta instead of the BiAglut Pasta.
Another person suggested I try Mrs. Leepers GF Pasta, we do get Mrs.
Leepers sometimes, it is quite nice pasta.
Three people reported having had "mixed results" with Dietary Specialties,
some good and some bad.
One person reported also having had billing errors, and stated that they
were corrected eventually. She suggested I speak to Lydia there.
One person referred to Dietary Specialties support of the website at
http://www.celiac.org
One person said they'd had (non-specific) problems too.
Two people reported problems with receiving frozen food orders which
had thawed. One of these folks was quite displeased with the way that
problem had been handled.
In my own case, I did receive an email reply from one of the staff
at Dietary Specialties indicating that a credit would be posted to my
credit card account. I am aware that this credit has, in fact, already
been posted. Today, UPS attempted to deliver my order, but nobody was
home. Apparently it was shipped with "signature required". I also
received a voice mail message from an executive at Menudirect with a
number I can use to call him back. This shows a very sincere effort on
their part, and an acknowledgement of their original error.
All in all, there may be some room for improvement in their retail operation,
but there does seem to be genuine support for the celiac community.
Perhaps they are not as well geared for a demanding and insistent retail
customer (sheepish grin) as they are for restocking shops and markets.
----------------------
I got six messages about TastyBite, the source from which I buy Indian and
Thai foods. All six wanted more information about the company or their
website/address.
TastyBite can be found online at http://tastybite.com
They have a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page where they bring up
the issue of gluten. As of October 29, 1999 that page says:
--
Wheat and wheat based products are major sources of gluten. None of our
products have wheat as an ingredient and so can be termed gluten-free.
However, we do not specifically test our products for the presence of gluten,
so if there were other sources by which gluten becomes present in food, we
would have no way to guarantee that.
We have been receiving frequent questions from consumers about gluten, so
our manufacturing plant is indeed considering having a gluten test conducted.
We should have news for you in the near future. When we do, we will post
that information on this website.
--
I will add that I believe I am very sensitive to trace amounts of gluten in
my food. When accidentally exposed to gluten bearing foods I always react
with severe abdominal distention, abdominal pain, a brief bout of extreme
depression and sometimes frequent trips to the you-know-which room. I have
never had any such problem with a TastyBite meal - but this is not a
scientific finding.
------------------------
Finally I want to say that all of the replies I got were very friendly and
supportive in their tone. This is typical of this mailing list. My thanks
to my fellow celiacs and to the nice listowners who make this possible!
Best wishes!
Steve
--
Stephen A. Rider
Author, Poet, Satirist, Queer
[log in to unmask]
http://www.slip.net/~srider
|
