Sweet Baby Ray’s Barbecue Sauce, in any flavor, is my wife’s favorite brand of barbecue sauce.  With the summer grilling season upon us we hit the pantry and were ready to slather it all over some slow cooked ribs only to see “Modified Foodstarch” with no qualifiers.  Heartbroken, it was back to the cabinet to see what else we could find.  Thankfully there was a bottle of a lesser brand waiting in the wings and dinner was not ruined, simply not as tasty.  So this didn’t happen again I left a message with SBR’s customer service folks to see if they could expand on what exactly that food starch was.

The next day, earlier in the morning than I expected, I received a call back.  What sweet words they were to hear that they use modified cornstarch and those of us with gluten issues are safe to eat it.  The representative also followed up by saying that they use cornstarch in all of their products and at the moment all are gluten free.  When asked when they would update their labeling to say so, she didn’t know but wished they would do so soon.

Another mysterious modified foodstarch mystery solved.  Enjoy Sweet Baby Ray’s products with your next cookout.

If you have never heard of Angelfood Ministries, they are best described as a nationwide food cooperative.  Though it was started to help people who are struggling financially, anyone can order from them regardless of means.  The more people who are involved with the program, the more people they can help.

Pre-Celiac, we purchased from them on several occasions to round out our pantry selection.  The food is generally of good quality but depending on your family’s diet, the selection may not all fit.

You can check out what they offer and how to order by following the following link.  You can see what is in the allergen free box, and their general offerings, by clicking on the “This Month’s Menu” on the right hand side.

http://www.angelfoodministries.com/

I was one of those kids who grew up on Friday night fishsticks and fries and as an adult still like a nice crisp fish fillet.  My brand of choice was always Gorton’s.  With my recent dietary changes, I knew I could no longer have any of the breaded products, but am concerned about cross contamination of other products, so contacted customer service.  Here is their response:

Any Gorton’s product containing gluten-based ingredients will list those ingredients separately on the label.

However, Gorton’s is sensitive to the fact that some consumers are very concerned about non-gluten containing products manufactured in an environment with gluten-based ingredients. Although some of our products do not list any gluten-based ingredients, Gorton’s cannot guarantee that any product is entirely gluten free. Products produced in a plant that is responsible for production of other Gorton’s products that do contain gluten-based ingredients. It is possible that all Gorton’s products may contain trace amounts of gluten from the production facility.

I also returned to their website to look at the non-breaded products and was surprised to see that when you click on the individual items are taken to a page that includes the ingredient and nutrition information. From looking at this information the following items are gluten free, though there is the possibility of cross contamination.

• All Natural Lemon Pepper Grilled Fillets
• All Natural Garlic Butter Fillets
• All Natural Lemon Butter Fillets
• All Natural Cajun Blackened Grilled Fillets
• All Natural Italian Herb Grilled Fillets
• All Natural Classic Char Grilled Fillets
• Salmon Lemon Butter Grilled Fillets
• Tilapia Roasted Garlic and Butter Grilled Fillets
• Tilapia Signature Grilled Fillets
• Shrimp Scampi
• Lemon Shrimp Scampi

When looking at Wegmans website the other day, I plugged Gluten Free into the search bar and was surprised by the number of items that were returned, including not only products (1,190), but also recipes (378).   You can then pick through the list and add items to a custome shopping list which can be printed with aisle locations on it to make shopping considerably more convenient.

If you are located near a Wegmans store in Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania or Virgina, definitely check out the website, it makes living Gluten Free much easier.  For those of you who don’t, think of contacting your local grocery store and see if they will add a similar feature.