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We were recently in Brevard, N.C. on vacation and stopped by Poppies Market
for lunch. It was like a mini Whole Foods with a Deli. I asked if they had
anything gluten free for lunch and they suggested a sandwich on Sami’s
Bread. I had never heard of  Sami’s, but the sandwich was delicious so I
stopped by the counter that offered Sami’s for sale and the label warned
that it contained traces of wheat/gluten. I returned to the Deli and asked
them about it. The woman, who seemed to be in management at the store, said
“I don’t know why they put that on the label. We’ve talked to them about it
but they keep printing the packaging that way! My mother is Celiac and she
doesn’t have any problems with this bread.”  

 

Here is their web page where you’ll find a mention of Sami’s bread as being
gluten-free: http://www.poppiesmarket.com/grocery.php

 

So I googled Sami’s bread and found a discussion on CeliacForums.com from
2008  http://forums.glutenfree.com/topic6532.html where they said the
President of the Tri-County Celiac Support Group of Michigan sent two
samples of Sami’s products to the testing lab at the University of Nebraska
and received a report stating that the plain millet bread exceeded 5,000
parts per million of gluten. I’ve always understood that the gluten free
standard is less than 20 parts per million.

 

Evidently Sami’s Bakery warns of “traces” of gluten in their bread for good
reason, and kudos to them for doing so. 

 

However, I did have a gluten reaction to the bread at Poppies, so I called
and spoke to the General Manager, who said she would have the Deli
substitute a gluten-free bread for the Sami’s bread. Now, over a week later,
I notice they are still advertising the bread as gluten-free on their
website.

 

I think I’ve probably done all I can about this, but wanted to warn the list
members so maybe someone else can avoid getting “glutened”.

 

On a happier note, we also visited the Posana Café
http://www.posanacafe.com/ in Asheville and it was a delightful experience.
The entire menu is gluten free, although they don’t advertise it as such.
It’s in downtown Asheville and was absolutely packed with people on a
Thursday night when we were there. Being able to choose anything at all on a
fabulous menu was wonderful. No fears of cross contamination because
everything there is gluten free. It was the first time I’ve had anything
“tempura” in years and I will say their vegetable tempura is awesome. I hope
other restaurant owners will follow their lead in other cities.

 

Diana

 

 

 

 

 

 


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