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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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