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

Hi Everyone,

I really want to share with you my success this week dealing with a well-known
local company.  Because they finally "got it" I'm not going to identify them,
but they have an affiliation with a much larger company in the states.

Here's how it went:

1st email:

I was just reading through the most recent flyer and was extremely
dismayed to see that you are claiming the new "power muffin" is wheat free.  It
is not.  Spelt is a wheat.
>
> I am celiac and on behalf of all celiacs and their families and friends, I
> must disagree with the description of your new "power muffin".  A person
> with celiac disease cannot tolerate any gluten, and there is a very good
> chance that someone - a friend, a family member, a newly diagnosed celiac
- will read your description of the muffin or speak to a clerk and think
that wheat free means gluten free.
>
> Please take the necessary steps to clarify to your prospective and regular
> customers that these muffins are not gluten free, and are not, in fact,
> wheat free.
>
> The damage is already done in the flyer, please ensure that the actual
> display of the muffins in your stores clearly includes a warning that the
> muffins are not gluten free.
>
> I will stop by  your stores to check that this is followed through, and
> hopefully will not have to take this matter any further.
>
> Sincerely,
> Helen Aqua
>
Their reply:

Dear Ms. Aqua,
>
> Thank you very much for taking the time to write us an email. Our store
> always strives to give accurate and pertinent information in our Fresh
> Start flyers. It is unfortunate that our "wheat free" claim in the
description of power muffin caused you extreme dismay.
>
> Differentiation between gluten free and wheat free can be very confusing.
> There is a sizable portion of the population that is trying to avoid
wheat, but are not gluten intolerant. For those people a wheat free label is
> useful. As you point out, many non-wheat grains may still contain gluten
> (i.e., rye, barley, oats, and the wheat relatives spelt & kamut).
>
> While we understand your concern over the labeling of our new Power Muffin
> as wheat free in the Fresh Start flyer, it is in fact considered
wheat-free by food labeling standards.  Our purpose was not to mislead
customers into thinking the muffin is gluten free and for that reason we
included "organic spelt" as part of the description in the Fresh Start Flyer.
We used the description "wheat-free" knowing that many of our customers prefer
to avoid wheat because of gluten sensitivity but do not have issues with other
gluten containing grains.
>
> Since our in-store bakeries are small and do not bake exclusively gluten
> free items we are not able to state that any of our in-store bakery items
> are gluten free.  We do however sell many specifically gluten free items
in our stores (i.e., Pane Rizo products). Many of our staff are very
> knowledgeable about food allergies and would be happy to help you locate
> them on our store shelves.
>
> Once again we are sorry for any trouble this may have caused you and look
> forward to helping you find the food items that are suitable for your
diet.
> Please do not hesitate to call me if you would like to discuss this
> further.
>
xxxxx,
> > Marketing Manager


My reply to his reply:

I do not agree with your logic and I really don't think your parent company
would either.

However, since I had a few "spare" minutes in my workday, I looked up spelt
on the internet and discovered that it is indeed a variety of wheat.  If you
are unsure of this, you too can utilize any search engine for spelt.  It is an
ancient grain and it is a variety of wheat.

The following is from the Canadian Celiac Association's website:

The claim has been made recently that the cereal grain Spelt can be used as
a constituent of the diet "to treat and heal" a wide variety of diseased
including Celiac Disease. There is no basis for this claim.

Spelt (Triticum spelta) also called German wheat is closely related
botanically to other wheats. It is of the same genus as bread wheat (Triticum
aestivum) and macaroni wheat (Triticum turgidum). The protein, fat and amino
acid content of spelt is similar to that of wheat. It would be expected
therefore, that its gliadin (gluten) content would also be similar and that it
would be as toxic to celiac as wheat.

No adequate clinical data are available to justify the claims made. Spelt
must be avoided by persons with celiac disease.

=========================

Guess which grain shows up on the celiac.com website as being on the "avoid"
list?

Either change your labelling and educate your staff, or I will indeed
contact your parent company, not to mention posting this "conversation" on the
celiac listserve to warn other celiacs of your mislabelling.  I believe Health
Canada would also be interested in your comments and disregard of the facts.
By the way, being celiac, I am intolerant to the gluten found in wheat, rye,
barley & oats.  There are many other people who can tolerate gluten, but can't
tolerate wheat.

Sincerely,
Helen Aqua

His reply to my reply:
Ms. Aqua,

xxxxx apologizes for any inconvenience that we have caused you and we thank
you for taking the time to provide us with your feedback. xxxxx strives to
give accurate and pertinent information to help make purchase decision that
fit our customers' health and lifestyle needs. It is unfortunate that our
"wheat free" claim in the description of power muffin was misleading, and we
have taken steps so that this will not happen again in the future.

I appreciate your persistence and passion around this issue. I have followed
up at length with my colleagues both at xxxxx and xxxxxx. As a result of
my discussions, we are putting the following disclaimer up today in each of
the three xxxx locations where the muffins are displayed:

Disclaimer: The May 13th to June 1st Fresh Start flyer states that the Power
Muffin is wheat free. Please be aware the Power Muffin does contain spelt
flour, which is an ancient variety of wheat. Customers who have wheat
sensitivities may also be sensitive to spelt and should avoid it unless
approved by their physician.

As an additional step we are reviewing all instances where we make wheat
free claims for all of our in-house products, and where necessary we will
make changes to provide the most accurate information possible.

If you would like to discuss this further please contact me directly by
phone. I can be reached at xxxx. If you prefer you can email
me your phone number and I will follow up with you.

Again thank you for taking the time to bring this to our attention. It is
customers like you that help us maintain our commitment to accuracy in
standards.












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