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About two weeks ago, I called Callard & Bowser, the manufacturers
of Altoids. [ 914-335-8400 ]  They are now owned by Kraft.

I spoke with a fellow named Dave, seemed very nice, stated
[as posted  here before] that Kraft's "new policy" is to
clearly state "contains gluten" if, indeed, a product contains
gluten. At first I was suspicious, but he went on to add that
they are aware of derivatives, like MSG, modified food starch,
flavorings, etc., and that they now put in parantheses from whence
these derivatives came. He said since the Altoids tin was
free of the phrase "contains gluten" that they were, therefore,
definitely gluten-free.  I immediately plunged into my Altoids tin.

I also forwarded this information to Lani [ Clan Thompson ]
in an effort to be helpful.  I was pretty stoked that Kraft was
finally addressing this issue; I had had a bad experience when
I was first diagnosed 4 years ago. Lani called to confirm and was
told that  Kraft "unfortunately"  had no information on
gluten status of Altoids. Hmmmm.

So yesterday I called Kraft again. I got the standard
"new policy" schpiel. Then, bestill my heart, the
customer service rep said "besides, I don't see the
word gluten on Altoids as an ingredient, so they are fine."
I explained that "flavorings" was a crap shoot, for example,
and that the actual word "gluten" doesn't necessarily appear
on the ingredient list. She puts me on hold for a few minutes,
then comes back and says "oh, like, so you are you one of
those gluten *intolerant* people?"  And I said yes. She then
informs me that her supervisor told her to inform me that
Altoids DO contain gluten. Sigh. So that explains the gastric
issues this past week. [ And, no, they didn't come on like
my standard gluten reaction. That, and my husband has been
battling a flu bug, so the two combined with Kraft's "definite"
  GF status had me not questioning Altoids at all. ]

I ask if same supervisor could check on Breakstones
cottage cheese as well, and she re-launches the
"new policy."  I ask about the modified food starch listed
on all Breakstones products [least, all the ones in my store]
and she says if I have any detailed questions, I need to see
my physician. She says it might be good idea for me to try
some, and if I get sick, then I'd have my answer. [ !!!!! ]

I then phoned Kraft HQ, got voicemail repeatedly, so I left
a lengthy message explaining that I need clarification
of the "new policy"  vs. the "eat it and see" policy. A woman
named Svetlana  phone back, said that Kraft has absolutely
positively no way of knowing what all its ingredients are. Even
pointed out [poor, throbbing heart] that ingredients change faster
than the labels.  yikes!

She says they discontinued the GF list because of this problem.
Also gave me "new policy" schpiel, but, again, when I asked
about Altoids and Breakstones, I was told to check with
my doctor. Humph.

It isn't mints or cottage cheese, I can easily live without
both. But it is the moral of the thing; it seems amoral to
instruct toll free phone-answering people to say one thing
while, in fact, the company does something else entirely
differently.

So .... beware the ever-changing tides of starch.

Tracey
Danbury  CT

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