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Celiac Disease Foundation Resource Directory

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff Leave a Comment

The hardest part about starting the gluten-free diet is knowing which foods are safe to eat and which foods are not. When I first started the diet I made a huge notebook with lists upon lists of products that were gluten-free. The notebook went to the grocery store with me every week.

While this was great for the first few months, we all know that things change. Manufacturers make their products “new & improved”, which may end up leaving the product no longer gluten-free. Shopping gluten-free is much easier today than it was 6+ years ago. I am sure part of this is due to experience, but it is also due to increased awareness and many companies making the labels easier to read.

The Celiac Disease Foundation has a wonderful new resource available to the gluten-free public. The Resource Directory is a wonderful one-step guide to everything gluten-free. More about the directory:

Welcome to The Celiac Disease Foundation’s Gluten-Free Resource Directory!  Our mission is to provide you with a unique and easy, one-stop guide to all things gluten-free. Each category has been carefully selected to provide you with products and services that simplify and demystify the gluten-free shopping experience.

Once considered part of the dietary fringe, gluten-free foods have been embraced by a wide variety of consumers and mainstream distributors and ultimately has been accepted as a healthier alternative than their conventional versions.

The gluten-free Resource Directory is dynamic in that it is constantly evolving, growing, changing and being updated with new products and services every day. So, be sure to check the site often to take advantage of some great promotions and new-to-market products available to you and your family.   Before starting on a gluten-free Diet please consult your health professional.

The awesome directory not only includes foods and grocery store items, but stores, travel information, baking equipment, Celiac centers, and labs for testing.  Boy, I wish this resource would have been available 6 years ago!  There is a new product section that lists all of the newer products on the market.  I think this is my favorite part of the website, as I love to explore and find new gluten-free food and treats!

What resources do you use to shop?

Gluten-Free Certifications

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A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about Popchips now being certified gluten-free by the GFCO. The GFCO (Gluten-Free Certification Organization) is just one of several companies in the United States who are performing gluten-free certifications.

These companies help consumers by making it relatively simple to know which products they consider to be safe for gluten-free consumers. There are certain standards set forth by each company as far as the tolerated upper levels of gluten.

The different companies are:

CSA – Celiac Sprue Association – CSA Recognition Seal products are tested using R-Biopharm RIDASCREEN Gliadin test and must test below 5ppm to carry the seal.  Requirements can be viewed here.

GIG – Gluten Intolerance Group – Their certification (GFCO) is a program of the GIG and is a 501 (c3) non-profit organization.  Over 6,000 products have met these standards!

NFCA – National Foundation for Celiac Awareness – Partners with Quality Assurance International.  Products displaying this logo must meet the standards in place and contain less than 10ppm of gluten.

CCA – Canadian Celiac Association developed the standard for the gluten-free Certification Program.  Companies must meet strict requirements in order to use the logo on their products.

I know that I feel much better about purchasing & eating a product if it has one of the above logos & approval. The thing that everyone needs to watch for is companies using logos (or those that look very similar) without the proper certification and testing in place.

I have been fooled before by a logo that looks a lot like one from the GFCO only to find out that there was no certification in place.  If there is ever any question in your mind, please make sure to check the websites and/or lists that the companies provide with the companies that they certify. It is horrible to think that any company would do something like that, but in a world where some are out to make money, cutting corners may happen.

Do you feel better about buying a product that is certified gluten-free?  What about those that are labeled gluten-free, but not certified?

Review: Uncle Maddio’s Gluten-Free Pizza

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 2 Comments

Typically, at home, we make our own pizzas, that way we can choose our own toppings, and I can be sure what we are eating is 100% gluten-free.  But, this weekend was my daughter’s birthday and she really wanted to go out for pizza, and with how busy I have been, I figured it would be less stressful on me, and nice to get out and not have to cook and clean. The one pizza place I knew of that carries gluten-free pizza, in Atlanta, was closed Sunday, so I asked for some suggestions, and a friend mentioned Uncle Maddio’s in the Toco Hills area of Atlanta.

As usual, I called them beforehand just to confirm they have gluten-free pizza and if they make their own crust or they bring it in from an outside vendor (they bring it in from an outside vendor), and their procedure for making gluten-free pizzas. I felt pretty comfortable with their responses, so we decided to try it out.

Uncle Maddio’s is located in a shopping center but was very cheerful once we walked in the door, and had a nice area to dine outside.  Since it was my first visit, I had to take in the very large menu before ordering.  At Uncle Maddio’s, you order at the counter, and like many burrito places (Uncle Maddio’s was actually created by the founder of Moe’s Southwest Grill), they get your crust, and you go down the line telling the server what you would like on your pizza. There are many signature pizza combinations you can choose from, or you can go solo and create your own unique concoction.  All of the ingredients looked extremely fresh, and there was a lot of topping choices – over 20! Their pizza sauce is made from scratch, and they use local vegetables and organic spinach, and greens. They also use hormone-free, free-range chicken, and all-natural Angus rib eye steak.  Along with pizzas they also offer large, fresh salads.  Panini is on the menu as well, but not an option for those of us who eat gluten-free.

They were extremely helpful in answering any gluten-free questions I had and told me before doing gluten-free pizzas they always change their gloves and get the gluten-free crust out of a separate area.  They also said if I wanted they would get the ingredients out of separate bins – so if I didn’t want them getting cheese out of the same container as they got cheese for a previous gluten-filled pizza, that was no problem, and they would get it out of a new container.  Just be sure to ask them to do this, as they will not do it automatically if this is what you want.

The gluten-free crust only comes in the 9″ individual size, so we each ordered our own pizzas. My daughter ordered simple and had a pepperoni and cheese pizza. My husband choose tofu, portobello mushroom, broccoli, and jalapeño; and I had spinach, artichoke hearts, green olives, and bacon.  They looked fabulous..and tasted even better!  I was with other family members who ordered pizza on the regular gluten-filled crust, and I have to admit….the gluten-free one looked better!  It was thin and crispy and tasted great!

The food (and the price) was great, and we will definitely be coming back for pizza night this Friday! I have a feeling we will become regulars.  This is a great place for children and offers a kid’s pizza deal with a 6″ pizza with one topping and a drink.  It seems to be a popular place, so plan accordingly, the line was growing at 5:30 on a Sunday when we were there.

Review: Gluten-Free Ricola Products

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 3 Comments

Just when you thought cold & flu season was behind us, schools are closing due to flu outbreaks!  I have to say I was a little shocked when I hear that on the news this week, though I do know of several friends fighting the crud.  As I have said before, being sick is bad enough, but having to search for gluten-free products on top of feeling cruddy is no fun.

Ricola has a whole line of gluten-free throat & cough drops & supplements to help battle the symptoms that come along with the cold & flu.

Ricola Cough & Throat Drops – “Since the invention of the Swiss original herb cough drop using mountain herbs, Ricola has produced fine quality herb drops with great passion and skill. Still to this day, all Ricola herb drops have one thing in common: The Ricola herb mixture – soothing for the mouth and throat.”  There are 6 different varieties of the Cough & Throat Drops Original, lemon mint, honey lemon, cherry honey & dual action.  The dual action drops not only help to calm the cough but they are also designed to help soothe the throat.

Ricola with Vitamin C – Just 2 of these drops provide 100% of the daily value of Vitamin C.  Mixed Berry flavor that uses raspberries, black currant & bilberries in combination with a mixture of Swiss alpine herbs and vitamin C.

Ricola Sugar-Free – Same benefits as the Cough & Throat Drops, but sugar-free.  These come in 5 different varieties: Lemon mint, mountain herb, menthol, green tea & cherry.

More about Ricola’s products:

Founded in 1930, with company headquarters in Laufen and subsidiary companies throughout Europe, Asia and the USA, Ricola products now include about 30 different herb specialty flavors. All the herbs used in Ricola products are organically cultivated in the Swiss mountains.

Lactose and nut intolerance
All Ricola products are lactose and nut free.
Gluten intolerance
In the United States, there are no established government standards as to what can be considered gluten-free or what is safe for use in celiac patients. Our products contain less than 0.002% (or less than 2ppm) gluten. We urge you to share this information with your doctor or to contact the Celiac Sprue Association of the USA @1-877-CSA-4CSA.

We received several of the Ricola products to sample and liked them all.  I have been using 2 of the Vitamin C drops per day since they arrived & I love the mixed berry flavor!  The cough drops all have a decent taste to them.  I am normally not a fan of cough drops, unless they taste like candy, so I was impressed with these.  I will definitely be keeping these at the top of my list when we need cough drops.

Ricola products can be purchased in mainstream grocery & drug stores across the US and more than 50 countries.  Have you tried Ricola Cough & Throat Drops?  What is your go-to cough drop?

(source)

Gluten-Free Meal Planning

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Do you find yourself scrambling to figure out what to make for dinner on a daily basis?  Do you stand in front of the refrigerator, pantry or freezer hoping that something will materialize each time you open the door?  I have done that in the past, and even though I do try to make a meal plan on a weekly basis, I am not always successful.  There, my secret is out.

I find myself sitting down late on Saturday or early on Sunday morning to make a plan.  This plan tends to be most successful when I inventory my refrigerator, freezer & pantry as I am writing my plan.  I have found that writing the menu plan from my bed is not nearly as effective, as I can’t always remember what I have on hand.

Before I do anything else, I figure out what proteins I have in the house.  I buy chicken, beef, bison, salmon & shrimp when it is on sale & use our extra freezer in the basement for storage.  If we are low on meat, I’ll check the weekly ads for sales to get started on the menu plan.  Next I look at our schedule for the week.  What is going on?  Are the evenings packed full of activity?  If so, even the best laid plans (menu plan) won’t help if there isn’t time to prep & cook the meal.  Once I have this part figured out, I can move onto planning the meals.

MC900287030After the main dish part of the meal is figured out (based on what I have on hand, what is on sale & what is going on for the current week), I can plan the sides.  I really try to focus on using what we have already so that I am not forced to run out & buy additional ingredients that may not be on sale that week.  Potatoes (sweet & white), brown rice and quinoa all make great staples for sides to keep on hand.

Meal planning can be as simple or as extravagant as you make it.  If you keep a well-stocked pantry with the basic staples, planning should be relatively simple.  To keep from getting bored with the same meals over & over, I like to browse Pinterest in my spare time.  I have pinboards set up for “Need to Make”, “gluten-free Recipes”, etc.  Sometimes all I need is a little inspiration to go from ordinary to extraordinary.

There are services out there that will plan your meals for you.  One of those services is emeals.  My sister is the one who told me about emeals and how they offer options for those with special dietary needs.  Not only do they plan the meals, but they give you a grocery list based on the store where you choose to do your grocery shopping (limited choices).  The plans start as low as $5/month (based on length of subscription; shortest is 3 months at $7/month) and can be personalized to fit your needs.  They even share the average weekly cost of the groceries based on the store/diet meal plan you choose.  For example, the weekly cost for groceries on the gluten-free meal plan, if you shopped at Walmart would be between $82 and $95.

Once you get into the habit of planning weekly meals, it becomes much easier.