Let's Play Catch-Up!

Sorry I've been silent lately – been busy looking for a J-O-B. Anyway, I wanted to catch you up on some things I've noticed while I've been out and about.

Stop & Shop: Love the new shelf tags that proudly proclaim "Gluten Free!" Also, they have a sign on the deli case stating that all Stop & Shop deli meats are gluten-free. Awesome... now we can choose from Boar's Head or Stop & Shop deli meat, as well as some Hormel options – if you are into the pre-packaged type of cold cuts.

With the recent Domino's Pizza debacle – namely that their gluten-free pizza is anything but – there's a lot of chatter about restaurants and their responsibility to consumers when they proclaim that they have a gluten-free menu. In Massachusetts, there is a Food Allergy Awareness Act, which requires restaurant owners to receive allergen awareness training, so that hopefully servers and food prep staff will be knowledgeable about gluten-free food prep and avoidance of cross-contamination. The Rhode Island Senate recently passed a food allergen bill, although this piece of legislation appears targeted toward preventing life-threatening anaphylactic reactions. A copy of the act (and the amended version) can be found at the following links:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0ByxePbK9bdxnWDVVbERVNkRaMGM
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0ByxePbK9bdxnOWtNclNfMm1LUVk

Here's the poster that will hang in restaurants:

 

Do you think the restaurant has a responsibility to consumers if they advertise a gluten-free menu? Leave a comment, and I'll pick one lucky person to win a copy of Elana Amsterdam's "The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook" next weekend.

An update on the West Bay Community Action Program's Gluten-Free Food Pantry program... 

I went "window shopping" today with Joshua Michael Corrente of the West Bay CAP in Warwick. We visited Ocean State Job Lot and Stop & Shop in to get SKU numbers on gluten-free items that will be purchased for the GF Food Pantry Program, which is slated to go into effect on July 1st. At present, JMC is preparing his order for approval, and the details are being ironed out regarding the application requirements and procedure for people to have access to the GF food pantry. 

By the way, the van that West Bay uses to pick up food donations just bit the dust the other day, so if anyone has a new van hanging around that they'd like to donate to West Bay CAP, feel free... I'm just sayin'! No one ever received a miracle by NOT asking!

CeliacGirlRI received a request from the Butterfly Bakery in New Jersey, asking if we'd like to sample and review their gluten-free baked goods, and maybe host a giveaway. Of course, I said "Hell yeah!" 

The company assured me that the food is "prepped in a separate facility within our facility designated gluten free to avoid cross contamination."

I should be receiving product in a couple of weeks.

That's all for now, but I have many irons in the fire right now, including an interview next month with a dentist from Groton, CT, who specializes in celiac disease and dental health.