Gluten-Free Finds in Canada

While on vacation in Montreal in May, I found a boxed sans gluten mac-n-cheese and decided to buy it.  I brought it home and eventually got around to making it.  Of all the boxed gluten-free mac-n-cheese products I’ve tried, this is by far the best.  However, I’ve had a hard time trying to figure out what company makes it for Irresistables – the brand it’s sold under.

In the Quebec province in Canada, ingredients on packaged foods are in both French and English.  I read the ingredients on the box, but nothing else.  It wasn’t until after we returned home that I noticed the ‘Made in the USA’ notation on the box.  If a company here makes it, then it stands to reason that the same company is selling it here under a different brand name.  If it’s a brand I’ve tried before, then the product has been greatly improved upon since I tried it.

It appears from this website that the Irresistables line offers both gluten and sans gluten products.  Obviously, I have no idea how any of the other sans gluten products in the line taste.  I did not think the pasta without cheese sauce on it was very impressive, but with the cheese sauce it might even fool a gluten eater.  The mac-n-cheese was surprisingly good, though not out-of-this-world delicious.  If I could buy the same product here, I probably would.

Since we were staying two short blocks from a neighborhood grocery store, we visited it several times during our stay.  It was clear that the staff members at the store were not very familiar with sans gluten products or where I could find them in the store.  It was kind of like being at a mainstream grocery store at home actually.  As you’d expect, the health food stores in Montreal were the best places to find a great selection of sans gluten and allergen free foods.

Because I could not find any online store in the U.S. that offers the Irresistables line (likely because it’s sold under a different brand here), I thought to check Amazon.ca.  It was surprising to me that the site doesn’t even have a food department, when the U.S. site has almost 8000 gluten-free products listed presently.  Be sure to read the ingredients before ordering a new found gluten-free product on the site.  I’ve almost ordered candy, crackers and a couple of other things by mistake because they were listed as gluten-free even though the products all contained wheat.  All-natural and organic items have a way of slipping into the gluten-free list – most likely by mistake.

If any of our readers know if the sans gluten Irresistables Macaroni & Cheese in the U.S., please let us know in the comments below.  Also, let us know if you know what company in the U.S. makes the product for the Irresistables label.