<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

     Ciao Bella is a line of upscale gelati and sorbets made here in
NYC's Little Italy, and sold in specialty food stores and the Food
Emporium. They are available all over the East Coast, and are
expanding to Chicago and Los Angeles.
     Yesterday I passed by their Mott Street place and on an impulse
decided to check out their GF status. They could not have been nicer.
Danilo, one of the chefs, led me around the installation, and I
personally checked out every single ingredient.
     Would that all ice cream manufacturers were like Ciao Bella.
There were piles of fresh fruit all over: pineapples, bananas,
mangoes, guavas. They do use Italian ice cream bases for some of their
gelati, espcially for the nut-based ones, so we decided to strike
those as being too difficult to check into, and concentrate only on
the ones that I could certify right there and then as being GF.
     Ciao Bella mostly uses only fruit, sugar, milk (or not, for
sorbets).
     - The vanilla is Nielsen-Massey, which I happen to know is GF
(personally checked by me a couple of months ago through
Williams-Sonoma).
     - Only imported chocolate is used, either Valrhona or Callebaut.
Both are GF.
     I sacrificed myself for my fellow celiacs. I sampled even the
special orders: rose petal, champagne. It was an afternoon of constant
sacrifices on my part, but I know my duty when I see it.
     I left with another bag of samples (guava, white chocolates,
green tea, papaya, etc.) When I got home, and after a decent interval,
I realized that a little more sacrificing was in order. It was hard,
but somehow I managed it - nothing is too much for the celiac cause.
     After you taste their gelati, you might want to send a little
lovenote to Ciao Bella's email address. I already did.
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                         Regards to all,
                             Mary in NYC
    The following Ciao Bella flavors are absolutely GF:

       GELATI

-banana                        -Tahitian Vanilla
-banana walnut praline         -tea infusion
-chocolate valrhona            -vanilla
-coconut                       -vanilla macadamia
-fresh mint                    -white chocolate
-ginger
-green tea
-mango
-maple walnut
-pumpkin
-red bean
-rum raisin
-strawberry


Sorbets
-apricot
-banana
-banana mango
-banana orange
-blood orange
-blackberry Cabernet (real wine, no flavors)
-blueberry
-cassis
-champagne (American sparkling wine)
-coconut
-ginger lemon
-grapefruit
-green apple
-guava
-lemon
-lemon verbena
-lime
-mango
-melon
-orange
-passion fruit
-peach
-pear
-Pineapple
-Raspberry
-Raspberry Mint tea
-Strawberry