Gluten Free labeling, what do you think?

I am sure there's been someone else who already wrote about this, but I am going to write about it again and just simply say "my apologies if this has been discussed at length elsewhere".

The other day I was walked around my local Safeway store while waiting for a prescription and I was checking out the deli section. I really like the Summerfresh brand of dips and yes I am always careful to read and re-read the ingredients of each one before purchasing, just to be sure.  However, this particular day we were making tacos at home and I felt like adding some yummy guacamole to the tacos, so I skipped the dips and went to the avocados. The avocados were particularly expensive this time and I wasn't willing to pay that much money for rock hard super expensive avocados only to then try to figure out how to soften them up before dinner time. Instead I opted to check out the prepacked guacamole. Honestly I was assuming that it would contain some gluten filled no no item for me and I'd leave empty handed and eat my tacos at home without guacamole.

Ta-da! I was pleased not only to find that they had a variety of different types of prepared guacamole, but also that the packaging already said right on it "Gluten Free". Could I ask for more? No way!
I brought it home and Abisaac & I had a funny conversation about how on the one hand it seems silly to have put a "gluten free" label on an item that it naturally gluten free, but on the other hand I really appreciated seeing that this particular item was in fact gluten free because it really made it faster and easier for me to decide whether to buy it or to walk away.

Yes sure, there could have been some random gluten filled no no ingredient in this prepackaged guacamole, and yes I did still go ahead (out of habit) and read the ingredients list just to be sure. However the sheer fact that the packaging said "gluten free" led me to take a second look and give this product a try.

Should other naturally gluten free products start to label their products as gluten free in an effort to get fellow celiacs to buy their products? Would that work for you? Could it become a bit redundant? I don't have the answers, but I know what happened this time could easily happen to anyone and to me that I good marketing on the part of the company. Plus, that guacamole really hit the spot with our tacos for dinner mmmm.

Gluten Free Edmonton - A Celiac guide and resource for gluten free information in Edmonton, Alberta

Comments

  1. I like to see things like this guacamole labelled. It would make my life easier, and as long the quality was good, I'd choose these products over products that are not labelled. I get tired of having to make phone calls or emails to food companies to confirm products are gluten free.

    I consider any processed food to possibly containing gluten unless I know otherwise. There are so many things added to food, that even something that shouldn't contain gluten may (examples: nuts are often processed on equipement used for wheat products, dairy products can be thickened with gluten, spice mixes sometimes have flour in them, etc). Unfortunately, in my opinion, too many products that are labelled "gluten free" also contain the warning "packaged in a facility that also packages wheat." I'm not sure how those labels can co-exist.

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  2. I would love to see 'gluten free' on all products that are actually 'gluten free'... it would take the guess work out of shopping. I agree with Jenna... a product is not gluten free if it is processed on equipment used for wheat products. The problem lies in the fact that TRACE amounts of gluten trigger autoimmune reactions. Thank you for bringing up the issue of Labeling - it is difficult on to fix.

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  3. Some supposedly "naturally gluten free" food items are surprisingly NOT GF. Buying dried chives recently, I was surprised to see the ingredient list only "chives", followed by: "May contain WHEAT". I had to go to a few stores - and check a number of brands - before I found one that did not contain wheat.(Litehouse brand)

    Thanks for taking the time to run this blog. It's very informative, pertinent and helpful!

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  4. Yes, gluten free labelling would be very helpful, but only as Jenna said, if it has been processed in a gluten free facility. The Nelson family's experience of chives has me reconsidering all my herbs and spices. Thanks for pointing it out.

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