Going Gluten-Free on the Road

I spent this weekend (for the third weekend in a row) on a road trip out of town with a group of students that I work with. All this being away from my own kitchen has made me appreciate my own kitchen more than I could imagine. Finding good gluten-free meals in general can be a task at times, trying to find good gluten-free meals while on the road is a real chore.

Though I have my grocery store staples, I take for granted that I live in an urban area where I have a much larger selection of alternative foods available to me. This past weekend I was in a small town west of the Twin Cities and as I looked through the small town grocery store I realized making myself some gluten-free pasta wasn't going to be an option (luckily the group let me change the menu to fajitas!)

Now that I'm home to the comfort of my own kitchen it got me thinking about what it's like to travel gluten-free. Thanks to my friend Google I found THIS website specializing in travel tips for those looking to take gluten-free trips. Glutenfreetravelsite.com is really an interesting concept bringing together information and reviews from gluten-free travelers like myself. In a recent quest to find the most Celiac-friendly travel destination New York City took the win with an overwhelming margin. Looks like I'll have to go take a bite out of the gluten-free Big Apple on my next trip!

FDA Proposed Gluten-Free Regulations

Though the FDA has yet to mandate the identification of gluten as an allergen on food labels (you may have noticed increasingly that food labels now contain a list of known allergens a product contains such as peanuts, dairy, etc.) the FDA does have a working definition of what they classify as being a "gluten-free" food. This is an important step in ensuring that when gluten does become a item that the FDA mandates identification of on product labels that items are not being falsely identified as being gluten-free. The FDA's proposed definition currently states that a food labeled “gluten-free” does not contain any of the following:

• An ingredient that is any species of the grains wheat, rye, barley, or a crossbred hybrid of these grains (collectively referred to as “prohibited grains”)
• An ingredient that is derived from a prohibited grain and that has NOT been processed to remove gluten (e.g. wheat flour)
• An ingredient that is derived from a prohibited grain and that has been processed to remove gluten (e.g. wheat starch) if the use of that ingredient results in the presence of 20 parts per million (ppm or mg/kg) or more gluten in the food
• 20 ppm or more gluten

A food that bears the claim “gluten-free” in its labeling and does not meet these conditions would be deemed misbranded. Foods that are inherently or naturally free of gluten would also be deemed misbranded if the claim does not refer to all foods of that same type (e.g., “milk, a gluten-free food” or “all milk is gluten-free”)

Twin Cities Largest Selection of GF Foods

You don't have to go far to find quality gluten-free foods in the Twin Cities area if you know where to look. If you've been following my blog you probably read about my adventure at Gluten Free Fest hosted by Fresh & Natural Foods. I thought Fresh & Natural Foods deserved a blog entry of their own seeing as they have the largest selection of gluten-free foods in the Twin Cities metro area.

Not only does F&N have a lot of quality GF foods they make shopping easy shopping for the GF customer. Each item is clearly identified as being gluten-free by way of red shelf labels that indicate exactly which items are gluten-free. Now if you are not a regular shopper for GF foods you might not see the significance of this...imagine having to read the food ingredient list for each and every item you consider adding to your shopping cart. Fresh & Natural's red label system makes it easy for the shopper to easily identify with a quick look at the shelf which items are gluten free so you don't waste your time considering items that could be contaminated. If you want to do research before heading out shopping check out their Fresh & Natural's website for their gluten-free food and vendor list and their weekly circular for deals.

To learn more about Fresh & Natural check out this local story

I'll Trade You a Cookie for a Cooqi

My last post reminded me that I had yet to shout my joy over my favorite local gluten-free bakery, Cooqi, located conveniently on the Minneapolis/St. Paul boarder on Marshall Ave. It's interesting how quickly word spreads when it comes to finding great gluten-free food locally. I heard about Cooqi within only a few short weeks of it's opening and have told every Celiac I know that they have to check it out.
While there are other, less expensive, gluten-free products more easily available at your local grocery store the vast majority of GF products on the market currently are made from ingredients that offer little nutritional value. According to Cooqiglutenfree.com many products "list the first two ingredients as white rice flour and tapioca starch. And maybe the third ingredient is cornstarch. Meaning that these "foods" are almost pure simple carbohydrate-in other words, sugar. Considering that most folks who come to GF eating are recovering from digestive disorders, and many are in fact malnourished, it seems strangely punishing to offer them foods devoid of nutrients". But until recently, the focus has been solely on taste and creating foods to resemble lost foods (and, actually, probably those long lost white-flour favorites were not so nutritious to begin with).

Cooqi puts focuses on creating delicious AND nutritious gluten-free options including organic whole grains, free-range eggs, hormone-free butter, organic agave, honey, real maple syrup, or evaporated cane juice, and other good things. They make really yummy things by hand, from scratch, from pure, real ingredients that happen to make amazing gluten-free foods!

Pass on the word to the Celiacs in your life!

Twin Cities Pizza Locale Goes Gluten-Free

Though I'd heard rumor of local pizza establishments starting to carry gluten-free crusts I had to see (and taste) it for myself to really believe it. Thank you to my new friends at Pizza Luce in St. Paul for starting your gluten-free nights! Each Tuesday and Wednesday night Pizza Luce offers a full (not just one or two pizzas!) menu of gluten-free items that rivals their traditional menu that already has a steady following.

In asking the staff at Pizza Luce how they came up with the idea I learned that local St. Paul gluten-free bakery Cooqi actually contacted them with the idea of offering their gluten-free baking services to come up with a Pizza Luce quality crust. Now each week, with increasing numbers, gluten-free families from across the Twin Cities are descending on this St. Paul establishment to enjoy good gluten-free cooking from somewhere outside of their homes. Oh how wonderful to be able to go out with friends again and enjoy a good slice of pizza!

Pizza Luce, I will be back and I will bring all my gluten-free friends!