| For the forty some odd years that I've been roaming | | | | with dedicated facilities and production lines can you |
| the earth in search of food and other stuff to eat. I | | | | guarantee an item to be gluten free and sealed. |
| usually thought, if the packaging looked good, the | | | | For example Starbucks in it's open and inviting |
| food inside must be good. Sometimes if tasted good, | | | | environment can not claim to provide gluten free |
| and most of the time it was bad for me for one | | | | coffee, but on it's shelves the have products that |
| reason or another. | | | | meet gluten free requirements such as Food Should |
| In the last several years, I was cautioned to pay | | | | Taste Good Chips, Kind Bars, Peeled Snacks, Lucy's |
| attention to my blood pressure, so I search for the | | | | Cookies, and Two Mom's Raw Granola. |
| sodium content in the foods that I eat, and that was | | | | As for being Dairy Free, the FDA (Food and Drug |
| that. I really never read what else was in the food | | | | Administration has not established any regulations |
| that I was about to devour. Again, it looks good, it | | | | regarding Dairy Free on package labels. Without a |
| must be good. | | | | regulatory definition in place there is no guarantee |
| Now that my son has been screened to be sensitive | | | | that the Dairy Lee statement on a food labels is |
| to Gluten, Dairy, Egg, and Nuts, I read each label | | | | really free from any milk proteins. While Milk and |
| scanning for the allergies that will harm my son. | | | | Cream can be easily seen as milk, a milk derivative |
| Probably 99.9% of everything on the shelf of the | | | | such as casein or whey might be overlooked as being |
| grocery store contains some thing that my son | | | | milk. |
| cannot eat. I've been visiting GlutenFree.com, which | | | | One of the places I frequently visit is Frontier, which |
| has the largest variety of gluten free products. Even | | | | is a natural products co-op. All of there products are |
| thought it might be gluten free, I still need to look | | | | highest in quality. More importantly, they have a |
| out for Dairy, Eggs and Nuts. | | | | stringent food safety program regarding allergen |
| During a recent shopping visit to WholeFoods, I | | | | control that prevents cross contamination. |
| asked the pizza maker what happened to the Gluten | | | | The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection |
| Free pizza they had during the grand opening. It turns | | | | Act of 2004 became effective on January 1, 2006. |
| out they have wheat flour floating in the air, that | | | | Which requires manufacturers to clearly identify on |
| they cannot claim that pizza to be Gluten Free. It | | | | their food labels if their product contain products that |
| even had Dairy Free cheese! So I am now relegated | | | | are derived from the eight major allergenic foods and |
| to making home made Gluten Free and Dairy Free | | | | food groups; wheat, milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree |
| Pizza, but that will be another article. | | | | nuts, peanuts, or soy. These eight groups account |
| Some times my Dad watches the kids. He's an old | | | | for 90 percent of all food allergies, and all other food |
| school character, and thinks kids should eat | | | | allergies such as sesame are not required to be listed |
| everything. I constantly remind him that his grandson | | | | in accordance with FALCPA. |
| can not have bread, cheese or nuts, and I cringe and | | | | An example Ingredients List; |
| have to yell, "Stop!" when he is about to give my son | | | | Ingredients: Enriched flour (wheat flour, malted barley, |
| a piece of toast. | | | | niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, |
| Thank goodness, my son knows better and politely | | | | folic acid), sugar, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, |
| refuses the toasted baked slice of bread. So | | | | and/or cottonseed oil, high fructose corn syrup, |
| whenever we go shopping, I grab a box and quiz to | | | | whey (milk), eggs, vanilla, natural and artificial |
| scan for any allergy culprits. Some words he searches | | | | flavoring, salt, leavening (sodium acid pyrophosphate, |
| for; barley, malt, casein, or eggs. | | | | monocalcium phosphate), lecithin (soy), mono-and |
| In order to be able to advertise a product as Gluten | | | | diglycerides. |
| Free, there must not be more than 20 parts per | | | | Another example of declares a possible an allergen |
| million of gluten be present in the product by testing | | | | right after the Ingredients list and looks like this; |
| each product coming off the production line. As you | | | | Contains Wheat, Milk, Egg, and Soy |
| read the labels, many products are free of any grains | | | | Again, please read the labels, be cautious, and enjoy |
| and other gluten-containing products but the potential | | | | your meals and snacks free from food allergies! |
| for cross contamination is possible. Therefore, only | | | | |